Conor Sheary (and Bryan Rust… and all the rookies)
This is Conor Sheary‘s first NHL postseason, and his success in the tail end of the regular season has definitely carried over. Within a game or two he found himself promoted from the fourth line up to the first, on Sidney Crosby‘s wing.
These two players have great chemistry together, as we saw from the sick Crosby-to-Sheary goal in the game that eliminated the Rangers.
Sheary is fast and agile, fitting into the Penguins’ system perfectly. Another player who’s done that particularly well is Bryan Rust – who not only picked up his first NHL postseason goal in that same game but also scored another one, just for good measure.
Rust was also out for a little while with an injury heading into the postseason, and he’s really shown how effective he is in the lineup since he’s been back.
Honorable mention goes to Tom Kuhnhackl, who’s a short-handed goal-scoring whiz. Though he only scored one goal in this series (I say like it’s a bad thing, for a rookie fourth-liner), it was a critical shorthanded goal that gave the Pens some momentum.
Next: Team Dad Matt Cullen