Once every spring, it seems, we've celebrated Brian Dumoulin's uncanny ability to unearth his annual goal at the most opportune possible time.
And why not?
For a defenseman who's scored twice in 174 regular-season games but three times in 54 playoff games -- including one last spring in the Eastern Conference final and, of course, the one to open the Stanley Cup clincher in San Jose -- he's certainly built up enough stark contrast in that corner of his resume.
But here's something that doesn't get celebrated nearly enough: Dude can skate.
"I've always taken a lot of pride in that," Dumoulin was telling me after the Penguins put down the Oilers, 2-1, on a Phil Kessel overtime goal Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena. "I know I'm not the most offensive guy out there, obviously, but I feel like there's a lot more I can do out there with my speed than just score. Especially on a night like this."
Especially.
The Oilers, you've probably heard, have maybe the fastest-skating human in hockey history in Connor McDavid. And for all the fuss anytime Sidney Crosby and McDavid meet -- just wait till you see how absurdly they'll hype up the one next week in Edmonton, as if October hockey should ever matter -- the more relevant matchup is always a whole lot less glamorous.
And in this case, McDavid vs. Dumoulin went decisively to the defenseman who never scores.
"No question," Ian Cole was telling me. "Dumo was awesome. All night long."
It's not like McDavid was invisible. He registered five shots, rushed up the ice in trademark fashion again and again and, most significant by far, tied the game with 2:53 left on this top-shelf sizzler while Dumoulin was on the bench:
Hey, the kid's not good. He's great.
But the game within the game was that, for every superhuman stride McDavid took, Dumoulin more than kept pace.
This was in the third period:
And this one, which really caught my eye from on high, was in the first:
That stuck out for the simple reason that, although a backpedaling Dumoulin had already kept a safe gap on McDavid steaming through the neutral zone, he still felt compelled to turn and skate in the same direction. This despite being an exceptional backward skater.
I had to ask.
"No, honestly, it's not something I do much," Dumoulin said. "But when you've got a guy coming like that, your only concern is that he can't make that last cut on you to get to your net. I just wanted to be safe there and force him to the outside."
Is there another opposing player in the league who could compel him to do that?
"Probably not. He's a big challenge. Really forces you to think differently about how you defend him."
The evening forced a lot of unwelcome changes for the Penguins, beginning with Justin Schultz being lost to a concussion in the first period -- on a cheap, uncalled elbow by Drake Caggiula -- and limiting Jacques Martin to a five-D rotation. And never mind Chad Ruhwedel being badly hobbled by a shot to his left leg and Cole having his now-officially-beleaguered chops assaulted anew by another elbow from Leon Draisaitl.
As a result, no, there wasn't some hard shadow being applied by Dumoulin to McDavid. Nor did Mike Sullivan or Martin tell Dumoulin beforehand that he'd have some special assignment.
"There was no chance, really, for something like that, the way it turned out," Dumoulin said. "We really had to roll through and, actually, they pretty much rolled four lines, too. But yeah, as the night went on, you could tell they were trying to get me out there. I like that. I'm fine with that."
Sullivan sounded more than fine with the outcome.
"No. 1, he's a competitive kid," the coach began when asked about Dumoulin's night. "He's won a championship in college. He's got two Stanley Cup rings. You know, my guess is he probably won a championship as a peewee. I don't know."
Big smile there.
"But he seems to win everywhere he goes, and I think that's an indication of his competitiveness."
As for Dumoulin's skill, Sullivan added, "Brian is a really solid two-way defenseman, and I think what allows him to have success is his mobility. He can really skate. He can skate with the top players in the game. And when you get into a game like tonight, against a team like Edmonton, they're built a lot like we are. They're a speed team. And I think that's when Brian's at his best, because he can skate with guys."
I'll be sure to file another update on Dumoulin by, oh, at least next May or June, right?
• The goaltending on the evening was exceptional. What a show put on by both Matt Murray and Edmonton workhorse Cam Talbot. For two periods and change, they turned aside a combined 51 shots, with a wildly high percentage of those representing high-danger chances.
So naturally, the icebreaker on the game's 52nd shot would belong to Cole, at 3:24 of the third:
I asked Cole questions that I could only ever ask Cole:
It's still a spectacular smile, no?
• It really was a chippy affair. I counted five total flagrant elbows, including an uncharacteristically nasty one by Patric Hornqvist that felled the Oilers' Kris Russell. These teams meet again next Wednesday in Alberta, and it just might carry over based on some of what I heard in the home team's room.
• Riley Sheahan's Pittsburgh debut couldn't have gone much better, if taken in fair context: He logged 14:47, about five minutes more than he'd been getting in Detroit. He went 9-4 in the circles, including 6-2 in the defensive zone and 2-1 when short-handed. He contributed to a 2-for-2 night on the penalty-kill. And he even rang up the second assist on Cole's goal, followed by the screen that blinded Talbot.
"Big guy. Can really skate," Murray told me. "What's not to like?"
Not much in this one. Sheahan stayed strong on the puck and seemed an instant good fit with Hornqvist and Carl Hagelin on the third line.
"That was a lot of fun," Sheahan said. "Those guys are both really hounds on the puck, and there's a lot of talking. It's easy playing with guys when they're talking. They're just always in the right position. I thought we played pretty well. Obviously, it's going to take more than one game to be perfect. But I thought we had a lot of fun out there."
• Evgeni Malkin's sweet, soft saucer set the stage for Kessel to blow the puck by Talbot's blocker for the winner ...
... but Malkin also was responsible for McDavid -- just flat-out released him in the neutral zone and came to a standstill -- before the kid's tying goal.
Taketh and giveth, right?
• Crosby vs. McDavid might or might not be a big deal to Sid. But if it is, man, he's magnificent at keeping that under wraps.
"I don't know," he replied when asked about their matchup. "I think we both had some chances. I don't think it was crazy-competitive. We don't play each other that much. We're both trying to create chances and trying to prevent them the other way. But I wouldn't say anything out of the ordinary."
Nope. Not at all. The captain was held without a point, but he put up five shots, went 13-5 on draws and merited legit praise from Sullivan for his backchecking.
Oh, and contrary to Sid's possibly deliberate downplaying, he and McDavid actually did share the ice quite a bit.
"The one thing we just love about Sid is his two-way game," Sullivan said. "I thought his defensive play tonight was on display. He made some real good plays. He's stiff in the battle zones. He works down low in our end. He's a complete player. And sometimes I think that gets overlooked. For me, Sid could be in the conversation for the Selke if he wanted to be that. That's one thing we love about him. He plays at both ends of the rink. And when he goes head-to-head with a guy like McDavid tonight, I think it brings out the best in him at both ends."
Sullivan never, ever says stuff like that without a purpose. Again, remember this for Edmonton next week. It's guaranteed to come up again.
• The Jets are next, first here, then Sunday in Winnipeg. They're no less offensively gifted than these Oilers, but they're also no less strange, no less unpredictable, no less chippy. Be ready for more of the above.