I was more talking about the playoffs in general but if we're just talking about the San Jose series I can't help but note that Crosby scored as much as Kessel in the series while Couture himself outscored Thornton and Pavelski combined.
So if the match-ups were Crosby-Thornton's line and Kessel-Pavelski's line it seems pretty clear Crosby had better results.
I realize that's a pretty simplistic reading of it but I'm not so much trying to make a pro-Crosby case as I am saying it's not a clear cut choice.
In all-situations Kessel was on the ice for just 6 goals for and 2 goals against during the series. Crosby was 7 goals for, 5 goals against. And at 5-on-5 it was 4-2 for Kessel, 4-4 for Crosby. So Couture outscoring Thornton and Pavelski didn't happen on Phil's watch.
Yeah, from what I saw, Kessel was outplaying Sid for most of the playoffs. But the former went into the finals as a Conn Smythe favorite on the strength of his scoring and cooled off as the latter's key, small plays started really standing out in the tighter games. Maybe if Phil had broken through during game 5 (the one Jones stole?) he'd have clinched it. But he didn't.
There are 2 ways I can see going with Sid. First, the Pens strength throughout the playoffs was their depth and system, so giving it to the team's leader makes plenty of sense. Second, Sid hasn't got one of these, and I'm sure the committee members were aware that by giving it to him, they'd be cementing Sid's place as the star of his generation. Kessel's 3 more points aren't going to flip that...