ST. LOUIS -- There's no more formidable weapon in hockey than a fearsome forecheck, right?
Think about it: The Penguins' past two Stanley Cup championships were founded on skill and speed, but their execution was much more about how the sum of those contributed to burying an opponent at the far end of the rink. Because by achieving that, they address both the offense and the defense with a single methodology.
Maybe, maybe it's back.
I offer that partly because, aside from that Newark atrocity a few days ago, the Penguins have punched up 39 shots against the Capitals, 38 against the Golden Knights, 37 against the Stars and now ... uh, 23 in beating the Blues, 4-1, Sunday at Scottrade Center.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEOOK, so 23 is nothing special. Neither is the total of 39 attempted shots, including misses and blocks. But the high shot totals have been the norm, and this particular game powerfully qualifies for an asterisk in the forechecking category on these two counts alone:
Say what one will about Vince Dunn's decision to try a D-to-D pass in that spot, but it shouldn't detract from Bryan Rust's aggressive -- ambitious, actually -- skating to put himself in position to deftly swat that pass from the air to carve out a breakaway goal.
Forechecking at center red?
Hey, whatever. Same approach, same mindset.
That turned out to be the Penguins' winning goal, and the third, which sealed it, was much more the standard:
Dominik Simon sees the Blues' Alex Pietrangelo skating back to chase an aerial dump. Theoretically, a lot like the Rust sequence, this has the feel of potentially wasted energy on Simon's part. Pietrangelo has two steps on him, and he's a superb skater.
Three problems for St. Louis here:
1. Pietrangelo looks over his right shoulder. That's tantamount to taking out an advertisement across the Gateway Arch that he's about to backhand the puck to his waiting partner, Carl Gunarsson.
2. Pietrangelo takes his sweet old time with his last couple strides.
3. Simon keeps coming.
Oh, and one other problem: For a fairly little dude, Simon's seriously strong on the forecheck. Meaning physically, as you'll hear how Mike Sullivan described it for me afterward:
Really hope you watched that. It's excellent, enlightening stuff from the coach, even more than usual.
Add to the above that Carl Hagelin's become a forechecking force of nature again, plus a little extra jump of late from Conor Sheary, Jake Guentzel and others, then mix in added urgency to pressure opponents in Patric Hornqvist's absence, and it's making for the most encouraging round of forechecking all winter.
A much better test will come Tuesday, of course, as Guy Boucher's trapping Senators will simply sit at the blue line, link arms and wait. But that's then, and this is now.
• The Blues sounded even more impressed with this facet than I was.
"They showed why they’ve won a couple Cups the past couple years, the way they managed the puck, the way they didn’t turn pucks over and the way they created those on us," St. Louis coach Mike Yeo observed. "With their forecheck, the way they use their sticks, the way they poach, it’s going to lead to problems. We saw that."
So did Jake Allen, the victimized goaltender on those.
"That’s how they’re so good. That’s how they’ve won Stanley Cups," he said. "They force teams to make mistakes and we coughed a couple nice ones up."
• To ensure I'm not piling on the Blues, a confession: In my daydreams, I shoot a hockey puck like I'm Vladimir Tarasenko.
• Wonder why Simon got benched in the third period against Vegas, even though the Penguins were already down two forwards?
Well, Sullivan strongly suggested why in his answer above through praising Simon's forecheck here and in Dallas. And suffice it to say the message made its intended impact. Because Sullivan made only one change in his lines -- on the morning of an 11:08 a.m. Central time faceoff, no less -- and that was bumping Simon back up with Sidney Crosby, while bumping down Guentzel with Sheahan.
There was no shame in the latter. I'm told it had way more to do with how Simon's clicked with Crosby.
• This was supposed to be a significant challenge for the Penguins, this Dallas-St. Louis trip in which they'd run into two of the NHL's hottest -- and generally best -- teams, particularly since they'd been 10-15-2 on the road for the season.
So, three points out of four?
I asked the captain:
• The ugliest non-Blues exhibition of hockey here was, without question, Kris Letang pinching deep -- no, really deep -- while both teams had their fourth lines on the ice.
There are times when the risk is worth it, given Letang's ability to recover, but this wasn't one of those:
What throws off a lot of judgments about Letang, I think, is that his mistakes tend to be glaring like this. Overall, he does so much more good than harm, and that's only improved over the past couple months.
But man ...
• Zach Aston-Reese's done more good than harm, too, in his first week in the NHL. But he's going to want to work those AHL-level passes out of his system in a raging hurry.
That's not a criticism. The ability is there. He just attaches an awful lot of hope to the puck at times, and that's because recipients are so much more open in the minors.
• Kessel didn't have a point in these two games. He was still the Penguins' best player in both, with three shots in each and an amazing amount of seamless passing and other possession.
I think Ken Hitchcock agrees with me:
• OK, so this is as much about sentimentality than about hockey, but man, let the kid play when he gets called up.
• There will come a day in Pittsburgh that remarkable hockey milestones aren't routine. But that day won't come soon, thanks to Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle and David Morehouse unwaveringly standing behind the concept of keeping their elite talent. That's worth an occasional reminder.
Teddy Blueger's a semi-fringe 23-year-old prospect in the Penguins' system, and he experienced the thrill of his career when he was promoted from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for this trip. But then, he sat in Dallas in favor of Carter Rowney, who was banged up and would be the Penguins' worst forward that night. Then, he sat again here yesterday.
That's not a big deal in the hockey sense, to put it mildly, though fresh legs would have been welcome on both sides with the morning faceoff. But one never knows if or when a player will get another chance in the NHL. And it was Sullivan himself who spoke eloquently in Dallas about how important it is for the entire organization to feel that performance at the AHL level will be rewarded at the top level.
I'm reminded of Jeff Banister, now the Texas Rangers' manager, and how he singled in his only big-league at-bat with the Pirates, forever carrying a four-digit average on the back of his baseball card. Banny will beam about that to this day.
Blueger's on deck! Don't send him back without a swing!
• Matt Murray is just such a good but tough kid. Maybe stronger now, out of necessity, than he's ever been.