quoipourquoi
Goaltender
There is literally no difference there with PPG. What exactly is supposed to be the case for Forsberg based on these stats? Goal differential from their teams?
Did you happen to notice the difference in the quality of defensive teams Forsberg and Crosby were shooting on? I've said it before, the difference between the goals against average of the teams Forsberg was shooting on in 1999 and 2002 compared to the teams Crosby was shooting on in 2009 is essentially the same as the gap in league average GAA from 1995-96 to 2003-04 (1999 being a bigger gap, 2002 being a marginally smaller gap). So yes, Forsberg's points-per-game is only slightly higher than Crosby's (not literally the same), but he achieved it while playing against significantly stronger teams. And in the case of 1999, while playing 2:30 on the penalty kill.
I threw the goal differential in there because you insisted Colorado had greater depth. They sure didn't in those playoffs.
He helped close out a series much better in his two best years. Forsberg didn't as much. 1 assist in the 4 losses against Detroit in 2002. 2 assists in the 4 losses against Dallas in 1999. These were both 7 game series when Colorado had the series lead going home to Game 6. Forsberg played a part in Colorado not advancing.
You know who played a bigger part of Colorado not advancing? Ed Belfour and Dominik Hasek and the 16-point and 19-point favorites for whom they played. Colorado made it to Game 7 against teams that were heavily favored based upon their regular season record, so there's a silver lining to this cloud. And Forsberg still reached at or above a point-per-game in those series, which is the major reason they made it to Game 7 in the first place. Now, how about Crosby's series against Osgood and Detroit in 2009 again?
I'm not sure Martin Biron and Cam Ward were the same level of threat to Crosby and the Penguins in advancing to the Finals. Colorado went down to the combination President Trophy/Stanley Cup winners.
But hey, all Forsberg did in 2002 to help close out games was score 4 GWGs (2 in overtime; one in a 1-0 game) and set up the winner in another overtime game.