For anyone who has been following the Pittsburgh Penguins this season, it's been a pretty remarkable campaign for their top-line trio of Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell, and Bryan Rust.The trouble is that - in comparison to the rest of their teammates - it's been a bit too remarkable.Individually, each player has been playing some of his best hockey.
Several milestones and career-highs are in play for each player:Crosby (25 goals, 53 assists, 78 points): Crosby is just two points shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky's point-per-game seasons record, which he figures to clinch at 20. He also has a chance to register his 13th season at 30 or more goals, as he has six goals in his past seven games.Rakell (32-30-62): Rakell's 32 goals is just two below his career-high mark of 34, which he set in 2017-18.
He is also just seven points shy of his career-high of 69 points set that same season.Rust (25-29-54): With two goals in Sunday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers, Rust is just three goals shy of 200 for his career. The six-time 20-goal scorer - all in succession over the last six seasons - would be just the ninth player in franchise history to reach the 200-goal plateau with the organization.
But the success of the first line has really exposed the Penguins as a true one-line team this season. Of the 212 total goals the Penguins have scored this season, at least one of Crosby, Rust, and Rakell has factored in on 56.6 percent of them, and they have scored 38.
7 percent of the team's.
