Phil Kessel, two-time Stanley Cup champion, is not the Penguins' most valuable player.
OK, let me clarify that, he is not just the Penguins' most valuable player. He is the NHL's most valuable player.
There I said it. Kessel for the Hart Trophy. Serious.
On a night of superstars at PPG Paints Arena, when Evgeni Malkin had four points and Alex Ovechkin had three and Sidney Crosby had two, it was Kessel's star that shone brightest. He had two goals and an assist in a 7-4 romp over the Capitals that pulled his team within four points of the Metropolitan Division lead.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEOIt also pulled Kessel to within two points -- 64-62 -- of the Lightning's Nikita Kucherov for the Art Ross Trophy lead. In his 11-year career, Kessel has never finished higher than sixth in the league scoring race. He did that twice, 2011-12 and 2013-14, while with Toronto.
Not that scoring titles matter much to Kessel, who spoke afterward. Enjoy this clip, folks. Kessel interviews are rarer than Punxutawney Phil sightings:
"No, we're just trying to keep on track here," Kessel said. "We've started to play some pretty good hockey. We just have to keep it going."
The way the Penguins have been going is nothing short of remarkable after their sluggish start to this season. Friday night's win was their fourth in a row and 10th in their past 13 games. The only two consistencies for the Penguins this season have been their power play and Kessel. And those two have usually been intertwined.
The Penguins' top-ranked power play, which is clicking at a historic rate, converted on three of four chances Friday against the Capitals and, get this, Kessel -- the league leader in power play points (33) -- didn't get a single one of them. All three of his points came at even strength, including this beautiful, vintage Kessel crow-hop, roof-job goal in the third period that ended Braden Holtby's night:
Before that, Kessel opened the scoring just 2:11 in on a backdoor pass from Riley Sheahan. How the H-E-double hockey sticks did Matt Niskanen leave Kessel unmarked at the side of the net? (Hey, maybe Sheahan can be the third-line center that Jim Rutherford has been coveting, but that's a debate for another day). Anyhow, here's the goal:
Oh, and who says Kessel is just a goal-scorer?
He's always been an underrated playmaker, but his assist on Malkin's goal early in the third period was just sublime. Crosby might even be a little jealous of this backhand sauce to Malkin at the blue line as the Russian enters the zone with speed:
And it's not like Kessel wasn't involved in the power play's success; he was. In fact, it may have been his most impressive play. On Patric Hornqvist's goal in the second period, John Carlson and Tom Wilson were drawn to Kessel, mindful of not getting burned. That's showing some respect. But it also opened a small seam for Crosby to thread a pass to Hornqvist in the slot who buried it past Holtby:
When you have the plethora of weapons that the Penguins possess on their No. 1 unit, who do you cover?
"When your power play is going, it helps your team win," Kessel said, stating the obvious. "Again, like you said, 3-for-4, we just have to keep it going."
With 28 games remaining in the regular season, Kessel is on pace for 90 points, which would be a career high, eight points more than his previous best of 82. That ought to garner some serious Hart Trophy consideration.
During last week's All-Star Game festivities in Tampa -- for which Kessel was snubbed -- the Pro Hockey Writers Association released its midseason awards. Kucherov captured the faux-Hart followed by the Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon and the Islanders' John Tavares.
All are worthy candidates, to be sure, but Kessel can't be snubbed, can he?
He shouldn't just be in the conversation, he should be at the top of it.
I asked Kessel if he thought this was the best hockey of his career and, in true form, he tried to walk away.
"I don't know," Kessel said. "You guys can decide that."
We're just trying to keep up, Phil.
2. Carl Hagelin doesn't need to score to be effective.
But, obviously, it doesn't hurt when he does. Hagelin scored his fifth of the season, one short of his 2017 total, at 15:50 of the first period.
You could say this was an awful turnover by Washington defenseman Christian Djoos, and you'll get no argument here, but don't underestimate Hagelin's role in creating it. This was a classic example of the Swede using his speed to force a mistake:
It's plays like that which make Hagelin so valuable, particularly in the postseason when less-experienced players and teams are more likely to be gripping their sticks tighter. Hagelin creates havoc at both ends of the ice.
Much like the team he plays for, Hagelin has also been on a tear since the calendar turned to 2018. Clearly, he's been rejuvenated playing top-six minutes with talented players like Malkin and Hornqvist.
In the last 10 games the $4 million man has three goals and six assists. Prior to that, he had just one assist in 12 games.
But Sullivan said the organization had never once lost faith in him. He said his staff tracks every scoring chance and that nothing's changed for Hagelin other than his luck. Now the puck is simply going in the net for him.
"I hope it's given him a boost of confidence, it certainly should," Sullivan said. "But never did any of us doubt his ability to help this team win."
3. Ryan Reaves' presence was felt.
With 11 goals combined, Penguins-Capitals lived up to its advanced billing. There were plenty of offensive stars and plenty of physical play. But nothing got out of hand, thanks in part to Reaves. There were just nine combined penalties and no fighting majors.
In the first period, Tom Wilson (who else?) took this run at Kris Letang, leveling the much smaller defenseman in the corner midway through the first period:
Reaves responded on the very next shift with a hit on Alex Ovechkin. A star for a star. The two had a, let's say, talk and the temperature of the game got considerably cooler after:
A year ago, that just doesn't happen. That's the kind of security that Reaves provides, and Sullivan deployed his enforcer properly.
"I think it's one thing to get in the face of fourth-line players, you get into the faces of some of the stars? Sully was throwing me out there against them a couple times puts them on edge a little bit," Reaves said. "Get that out of the way in the first period and set the tone for the rest of the game."
The much-anticipated Reaves-Wilson fight never materialized but, don't worry, there's always April 1.
4. Bryan Rust is indispensable.
If we're being honest, Rust isn't ideally suited to play on the top line. At least not long term. He had just six goals in 41 games this season entering Friday. And two of those goals came Tuesday night against the Sharks when he was skating on the fourth line.
But in a pinch, Rust can do a bit of everything, including skating on a line with Crosby.
Since coming back from a lower body injury on Jan. 23, Rust has scored five points, including this third-period power play goal on a rebound:
"He's just a real versatile player we can use in a lot of situations," Sullivan said. "I just love his game. I think he's a real good hockey player."
With Hornqvist out for tonight's game against New Jersey and possibly longer -- we'll know more later -- Rust becomes even more valuable.
If Jim Rutherford is to land a third-line center, though, he'll likely have to dangle either Jake Guentzel, Conor Sheary or Rust as trade bait. But Friday night showed yet again that Rust's versatility makes him almost irreplaceable.
5. It's a trap game. Beware.
Tonight's game in Newark against the Devils is sandwiched between a win over a bitter divisional rival like the Capitals and Tuesday's game against the Golden Knights, which could be the most emotional game of the season, if not the history of Pittsburgh professional sports.
The Penguins have won four in a row, but all have come at home. Though they played fairly well in California, they went just 1-2 on their last road trip.
No one expects the Penguins to go unbeaten the rest of the way, but they need to build on what they've done the last four games and earn two points when they are there for the taking. It shouldn't matter who the opponent is.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Capitals, PPG Paints Arena, Feb. 2, 2018. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS