Where Have You Gone, Petr Sykora?

Nine months ago, Petr Sykora scored one of the most important goals in Pittsburgh Penguins playoff history, roofing a laser of a wrist shot behind Chris Osgood in the third overtime of game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, forcing a game 6 in Pittsburgh (in case you didn't know, Detroit won). Fast forward to this year's opening round playoff series with Philadelphia -- and the past month of the regular season -- and Sykora is nowhere to be found on the score sheet, or the ice, for that matter.

As we mentioned in Sunday's recap, Sykora has recorded just three points (two goals, one assist) since the beginning of March, and has seemingly struggled to fit into Dan Bylsma's aggressive style of play. The Penguins, as a team, have excelled under their interim head coach (including playoffs, they're 20-4-4), while the 32-year-old forward has slumped, tallying just six points in 28 games, averaging over 15 minutes of ice-time per night ... most of which has come on the wing of Evgeni Malkin, the leading scorer in the NHL.

Sykora's recent struggles have led to some fans, such as the folks over at Pesonen And The Pens, calling for him to be benched in game 4. If the Penguins were to make such a move their alternatives would be Miroslav Satan, who was demoted to the minor leagues just prior to the trade deadline, and their resident enforcer/tough guy, Eric Godard. As long as Riley Cote is out of the lineup for the Flyers, the Penguins have little to no use for Godard in this series, leaving them with Satan as their only other option.

Would swapping Sykora for Satan accomplish anything for the Penguins? Probably not. Let's take a look at their regular season numbers:

Petr Sykora vs. Miroslav Satan Player Points Pts/Minute Pts/Game Petr Sykora 46 .037 .60 Miroslav Satan 36 .035 .55

Obviously, they're nearly identical players, not only in terms of production, but also style. You could always go with the "message sending" angle in defense of benching Sykora, but he's a 12-year veteran and a Stanley Cup champion. This isn't his first trip to the dance, and I'm not sure what message you could possibly deliver by giving him a seat in the press box.

During Sunday's 6-3 loss in Philadelphia, Sykora found himself open in his customary position in the slot but seemed hesitant to release his howitzer of a wrist shot, while also fumbling opportunities on the door step. If you've ever watched Sykora play, you know that if he's not scoring goals, he's not making much of an impact on the ice. Replace the word "Sykora" with "Satan" in that sentence, and it's equally true.

The bottom line is this: Sykora is an extremely streaky player, and if he finds a way to get his name on the score sheet in the not-to-distant future, it might be all the spark he needs to go on one of his five-game runs where he fills the back of the net six times. At least, that's what the Penguins have to hope.