The mystery may be solved as to why the Pittsburgh Penguins entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a favorite to hoist the best trophy in sports and fizzled out in the second round, and the answer may lie in their ailing captain.
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According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Crosby, who won the Hart Trophy as league MVP for his performance last season, will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right wrist that "impeded his performance in the postseason."
According to the report, the surgery was required for Crosby after therapy didn't resolve the issue and while it is not a major procedure, the Penguins' captain wouldn't play up to par without it.
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Crosby led the NHL in points (103) and assists (68) while finishing in seventh overall and leading the Penguins with 37 goals in the 2013-14 regular season en route to his second-career Hart Trophy, but much like the team he faltered in the playoffs.
The four-time All-Star and former Stanley Cup champion mustered just one goal and eight assists in 13 playoff games for the Pens as the team struggled throughout the spring after entering the playoffs as the top seed in the newly aligned Metropolitan Division bracket by finishing 51-24-7 in the regular season.
Crosby and the Penguins played an uneven series against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Round 1 but were eventually able to bounce them from the playoffs in Game 6. Round 2 wasn't much better as Pittsburgh blew a 3-1 series lead against the New York Rangers and lost a pivotal Game 7 at home.
The struggles in the postseason led to the dismissal of head coach Dan Bylsma and general manager Ray Shero, who were replaced by Mike Johnston and Jim Rutherford respectively. Bylsma and Shero were fired just five years removed from giving Pittsburg its first Stanley Cup since 1992.
Crosby isn't expected to miss any regular season games next year, but the wrist injury and subsequent surgery explain why the NHL's leading scorer failed to find the back of the net very often in yet another disappointing postseason in Pittsburgh.
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