New York Islanders at Pittsburgh Penguins [Round 1, Game 5 thread]

So I was reading this post from the Penguins side of the Athletic because our Islanders Anxiety podcast referenced the line that a “high ranking Penguins official” (for the umpteenth time) has complained to the league about officiating.

I came for the Mario-culture crying, but I stayed for the analysis: Several instances referring to Kris Letang as the “best player in this series” before outlining many of the things he did wrong in Game 4.

Aside from giving me a chuckle about how the best player in a series could have such a bad 25% of it, it got me wondering: Who has been the best player in this series? It’s not something I typically think of — it’s a very “Rank the 5 best potato chip flavors based on facts” kind of exercise — but I suppose it works for a pre-game discussion, if you arrive to our game thread early and want to shoot the breeze.

Another way to look at it: Who is likely to be seen as the “best player of the series?”

If the Islanders win the series, it’s a decent bet it will be Ilya Sorokin. If the Penguins win? I’m thinking it will be...actually, I don’t care.

Official game time for Game 5 tonight in Pittsburgh is 7 p.m. EDT. Winner gets the chance to clinch Wednesday at the Coliseum.