Where Have You Gone, Claude Giroux?

13 days ago, Claude Giroux sent a statement to the hockey world in Game 6 of the Flyers' opening round series with their hated in-state rivals from Pittsburgh. Giroux, who asked head coach Peter Laviolette to start the game and then told Danny Briere to "watch this" seconds before faceoff, laid out Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby and fired a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury just 27 seconds into the contest. The game was over before it really started. Because Giroux said it was. After the game, he was praised. Flyers fans rejoiced, for their savior had arrived. Everyone was convinced he had dethroned Sid the Kid as "the best player in the world," whatever that means. You know, because Peter Laviolette said so. Fast forward two weeks later. The Flyers are in a 2-1 hole to their other proximity-based rivals, the New Jersey Devils, thanks to an all-world performance by Ilya Kovalchuk in Game 3, where he returned from an injury by scoring a point on eve...