PHILADELPHIA -- Mike Sullivan's message to Conor Sheary, from one Bostonian to another, has been a simple one: "It can't last forever."
Or "fah-evah," as they say.
It sounds like they might have been talking about Carl Yastrzemski or David Ortiz but, in fact, they were talking about Sheary and his scoring drought this season.
"As I said to Conor, it's like Hall of Fame hitters in baseball go through slumps. They don't forget how to hit," Sullivan said. "I think that's the nature of pro sports. It can be hard. You go through ups and downs. You just have to try and simplify your game and control your attitude and push through it."
Sheary didn't forget how to score, but it certainly started to seem that way. He had gone 15 games and 46 days without a goal -- "It felt like an eternity" -- before scoring twice in the Penguins' 5-2 win over the Flyers on Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center. Good timing too, as the team improved to 3-0 against their archrivals and moved back atop the Metropolitan Division.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEOObviously, Sheary hasn't had the season that he or the Penguins had envisioned after signing a three-year, $9 million contract extension last summer. He has 14 goals and 10 assists in 65 games after putting up 53 points in 61 games in 2016-17, his first full NHL season.
Despite the slump, Sheary had tried to keep a positive outlook and put on a brave face during his struggles, but it clearly hasn't been easy for him, as he told me after this game:
"You take it a little personally. You think you're not playing well," he said. "I think it's just important to come to the rink with a positive mindset and working to get better each night."
Sheary's struggles seemed to take on a life of their own in recent days when he was demoted to the fourth line.
There was plenty of talk that the Penguins would try to unload Sheary at the Feb. 26 NHL trade deadline, and they tried, but there were no takers. Not an hour after the 3 p.m. deadline, Jim Rutherford boldly proclaimed that Sheary "has contributed to two Stanley Cups here. He’ll contribute to another."
But it would be hard to do that in a fourth-line role, which is where he found himself in recent games, including the start of Wednesday's game. Due to injuries to Bryan Rust and Dominik Simon, Sullivan's hand was forced, and he reunited Sheary with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel.
That line, the old "Sid and the Kids," had been instrumental to the title defense last summer. It was certainly instrumental, if not crucial, to their win Wednesday. Coincidentally or not, Crosby had his first multi-point night in nine games.
"He just keeps working hard," Crosby said of Sheary. "His game doesn't change regardless of what situation he's in. He always has the same work ethic. He goes to tough areas, he goes to the net. Plays a lot bigger than he is. It's great to see him get a couple tonight."
No, neither of Sheary's goals here will go viral, but who cares? He did what Crosby said, he went to the net, ending his slump by pushing a busted two-on-one with the captain past Petr Mrazek. That proved to be the game-winner at 14:25 of the second period:
Five minutes later, he broke the game open with this no-angle rebound shot:
"Right place, right time," Sheary said of that goal, but he could have been speaking of his night. It remains to be seen if Sullivan will keep Sheary back with Crosby and Guentzel, but there is a chemistry and a history there.
"That line's been good in the past," Sullivan said. "Obviously, we're thrilled for Conor and, hopefully, that will give him a big boost of confidence. It certainly should. We know he's a good player, and we know we're going to need him."
1. A playoff preview? The Penguins can only hope so.
Yes, they've beaten the Flyers now three times by a combined 15-7 with a March 25 game at PPG Paints Arena still to come. But if Wednesday proved anything, it's that the Flyers, though much improved, still don't have the speed to keep up. If they meet this spring in the first round, it will likely be a short series.
Consider this, as much as the ice was tilted in Philadelphia's favor in the early minutes of the second period, the Penguins still scored three goals.
"Philly plays a really aggressive style," Sullivan said. "They pinch the walls pretty hard. They commit their defensemen in the offensive zone. If you can defend it, you can potentially take advantage of their aggression."
The Flyers have some very good up-and-coming players -- Nolan Patrick, Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, etc. -- but they aren't yet in this class.
2. It's always Sidney in Philadelphia.
Know why else the Flyers can't beat the Penguins this spring?
If you're counting -- and I'm sure they can't forget here -- Crosby now has 91 points in 62 career games against the Flyers. By comparison, he has 73 points in 68 games this season.
He says he can't explain his dominance over Philadelphia:
But I can. No one relishes sticking it to a bitter enemy quite like Crosby, who seems to have never forgiven the City of Brotherly Love for the treatment he got here 13 years ago -- 13 years ago! -- from Derian Hatcher and Ken Hitchcock.
It's not mere chance that he broke out of, what for him is, a bit of a slump against the Flyers. Since his last multi-point game on Feb. 13 against Ottawa, he had just three goals and two assists.
After the tremendous seasons being put together by Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin -- who joined forces on the Penguins' first goal, a power play tally -- Crosby has seemed a bit of an afterthought. At least as much as the NHL's 14th-leading scorer can be.
Crosby is a proud guy and, though he'd never say it publicly, he'd want to win the scoring race and the Hart Trophy. That's not likely to happen. It has been especially trying for him at times in recent weeks, as the top line has been a carousel as Sullivan has tried to balance the lines. Maybe the re-emergence of Sheary allows the Penguins to find some consistency.
3. Jamie Oleksiak's got some game.
The ginormous defenseman was sporting a fresh cut on the bridge of his nose courtesy of a postgame scrum with Brandon Manning, that to go along with the remains of a bruise around his left eye that came from his fight with Zdeno Chara last week.
That stuff you already know about Oleksiak. It's a part of the job description that the 6-foot-7, 255-pounder does with zest.
But he's also got an underappreciated offensive element, and he displayed that again Wednesday when he scored his third goal in 33 games -- second against the Flyers -- since coming to the Penguins at 9:24 of the second to tie the score:
Note the D-to-D passing with Justin Schultz, his new partner, but also the shot. It's not just a cannon but it's on net. Accuracy trumps velocity for defensemen and, above, Oleksiak was able to get his shot through a sea of bodies.
"We got a lot of forwards that will get to the net and aren't afraid to muck it up there," Oleksiak said. "As a D-man, that's what you like to see. You just kind of throw it on there and hope that it'll hit a stick or pad or a deflection."
By playing with Schultz, Oleksiak should have more opportunities, certainly more than when he was paired with Ian Cole. That should please the offensive-minded Sullivan, who didn't sound the least bit surprised at Oleksiak's skill:
4. It's Tristan Jarry's job.
Technically, it's still an open audition between Jarry and Casey DeSmith to be the backup to Matt Murray, whenever he returns from his concussion. But with 13 games to go, it's time to end the charade and just name Jarry as the No. 2 for the postseason.
Jarry did nothing to dispel that Wednesday, stopping 26 of 28 shots. When the Flyers controlled territorially early in the second period, it was Jarry who calmed things down. That's what the 22-year-old can do when at his best:
Meanwhile, Murray continues to skate on his own and should be returning soon. The only question is whether he'll return in time for this weekend's back-to-back games, at Toronto on Saturday and home to Dallas on Sunday. The Penguins will practice Friday at the Lemieux Sports Complex and we'll have a better indication of things then. Either way, Jarry figures to get one of those starts against the Maple Leafs or Stars.
5. Last call for Daniel Sprong?
The only way it would have seemed possible that the organization's top prospect would return to Pittsburgh this season was in case of injury. Well, now the Penguins have two of them after Rust and Simon went down.
The severity of their injuries isn't known -- again, we'll know more Friday -- but the fact that neither could finish Wednesday is not an encouraging sign.
With only 13 games left, this might be the best time to recall Sprong.