WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- On a night when one of the franchise's resident superstars asserts himself like never before, when the team overcomes the loss of its heart-and-soul player, when its top prospect puts up seven points across the continent ... yeah, somehow, Nick Bonino pulling off a hat trick still could seem like a bigger deal.
The Penguins crushed the Jets, 7-4, Wednesday night at MTS Centre, so Bonino's three-goal contribution could conceivably get lost, especially amid Evgeni Malkin's two goals, assist and fight. Justin Schultz and Jake Guentzel scored, as well.
But if looking beyond this game, which the visitors most assuredly did not, let the record show that the undercurrent to about, oh, half of all of Mike Sullivan's assessments of his group's progress over the winter have been some variation of this: Three scoring lines are a must.
That's why he loathes loading up one line, even two.
That's why he's given chance after chance to reunite the HBK Line.
Two problems with the latter, though: Carl Hagelin, the H, has never been a big scorer but, still, is on a career-low pace with six goals. Phil Kessel, the K, can't be cloned and, thus, is being spread all over creation. And Bonino, the B, has been nothing at all like the playoff maniac from last summer.
Hagelin is who he is. Kessel's doing well wherever he goes. So that leaves B.
Bonino had one goal in his previous 13 games until all this ...
... which put him at 12 goals for the season. Which actually isn't all bad for a third-liner, provided it can come with a whole lot more consistency than one wonderful night in Winnipeg. The hat trick, completed late in the second period, was Bonino's first since Feb. 2, 2013, while with the Canucks. And get this: It was the first time he'd scored twice in a game since the trade to Pittsburgh.
If he gets on a roll, akin to the one he began at almost exactly this time a year ago, and if he could offer Mike Sullivan a legit third scoring line, the kind that makes matchups impossible for opposing coaches over a best-of-seven series, and if this showing provided that spark ... wow, keep all the rest, right?
I asked Sullivan about his favorite topic:
