"That pass ... oh, man. That pass was a rocket."
There we were at the captain's stall tonight, well after Sidney Crosby's natural hat trick pushed the Penguins past the Senators, 6-5, well after all those goals had transported the Consol Energy Center crowd back to the high-octane '80s, well after the cameras had cleared out, and we were talking about -- no marveling over -- of all things, an assist.
But it made sense. It was perfect, actually.
"I mean, that thing got to my stick so hard, all I could do was stop it," Crosby continued. "Once I did, it was obviously just a tap-in. But that pass ..."
Yeah, that pass ...
That tape-to-tape special came off the blade of Phil Kessel. And at the risk of injecting a bit too much drama into one pass that played one small part in one largely awkward awakening from All-Star hibernation, I dare say that one pass just might represent the very best of what Mike Sullivan has done for these Penguins.
And here's why, via Crosby's completed thought: "He saw my stick open, and he wanted to make the play. Phil passes the puck like he means it."
That's it to the letter. And I'm not at all making an isolated reference to Kessel but, rather, to the singular focus of this coach since taking over for Mike Johnston. From the day Sullivan was hired, he has prioritized one simple philosophy above all: See the play that's there, and execute it. With authority.
Crosby's entire evening was a sight to behold. Yes, even for those of us who saw it coming. (Sorry, had to.) But it wasn't just about his scoring the Penguins' final three goals in succession, or his setting up Kris Letang for the second, or his eight shots, or linemate Chris Kunitz's exceptional three-point showing.
No, the real story, as it's been all along with Sullivan, is that the Penguins played well.
Which is to say, they passed well.
From the drop of the puck, they exited their zone seamlessly and with ample support, crisscrossed through the neutral zone without a slip, made sure they gained the Ottawa blue line and, from there, worked deep and along the edges. It wasn't just the stars, either. On one shift, the fourth line of Matt Cullen, Scott Wilson and some guy named Kevin Porter cycled for more than a minute. There was even a change on the fly while all this took place, as Carl Hagelin leaped over the boards and kept the gears going.
The 18,420 on hand roared their approval, though no goal had yet been scored.
"I think that was our best start as a team," Kunitz said. "Everyone contributed."
"You look at our guys and how they played from the start, and we had the puck all the time," Marc-Andre Fleury observed from behind. "We stayed together. We kept making plays."
Again, that's because they passed well. Which is easy to do when the coach's No. 1 point of emphasis is to take what's there.
Sullivan explained this to me in Winnipeg last month and, to be honest, I thought he was deliberately oversimplifying to avoid discussing too much about his system. He wasn't. It really does come down to this: When one of the Penguins has the puck, he needs to a) get supported by his teammates in clear lanes and b) take the most obvious option available.
Well, duh, right?
"It's all of us moving, getting open, being available, and then it's about making the right play," as Crosby would explain it tonight, no more complicated than Sullivan's. "If we do that, there's always a smart option."
Usually a shot, too. Get this: Under Sullivan, the Penguins have outshot their opponents in 17 of 21 games. They've put up 30-plus shots 18 times. They've put up 40-plus six times, including the 44-23 domination tonight.
They put up 40-plus twice in 28 games under Johnston, not once in the first 22.
Photos from the Penguins-Senators game Tuesday. -- GETTY