Kovacevic: Overcoming another sloppy start isn't exactly Penguins' panacea

"One of the things we really tried to place a focus on was the start and assure that we had a good energetic start. We kept the game simple, we played behind them ... and I thought we accomplished that."

This was Mike Sullivan, minutes after his Penguins eventually overcame the Canadiens, 5-3, Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena. And I was fairly certain in that moment that I'd never disagreed with any of his assessments half as much as that one.

Until the next came.

"I thought the first period was really good."

Yikes.

So given Sullivan's enormous edge in expertise, plus a track record of never being wrong, I'm perfectly fine for now in assuming that I'm the one who's wrong in having hated nearly everything I witnessed in that period.

I hated Jake Guentzel's giveaway 15 seconds after the opening faceoff that led to Kris Letang leaving the defensive zone too soon and giving Montreal's Paul Byron an instant breakaway:

I hated Letang getting scorched down the right side by Byron to set up this goal by Jonathan Drouin with 29.6 seconds left before intermission:

I hated this mixup between Justin Schultz and Jamie Oleksiak just 15 ticks later:

And I equally hated both of Conor Sheary's giveaways, two other partial breaks allowed, and a Phil Kessel space-out inside the Pittsburgh blue line that was so egregious Mark Recchi could be seen giving him an earful on the bench afterward.

Yeah, I could conjure up lots of ways to describe that period, and "really good" wouldn't have cracked my top billion. But then, few coaches choose victories to use as examples for criticism, so I'll give Sullivan the richly-earned benefit of the doubt and presume his motive with that assessment was to pile on the positives.

In further fairness, even setting aside Sidney Crosby's spectacular goal in the second, there were three wholly legit positives that, from this perspective, stood out:

• Derick Brassard, of whom that big-game pedigree had largely been a rumor to this natal stage of his time in Pittsburgh, broke that tie 2:38 into the third, whipping a wrister past Carey Price off a twisting drop from Jake Guentzel ...

... then skating to the bench to be greeted by a broadly smiling Crosby, who's been working harder than anyone to make him feel at home. I got a smile out of Brassard, too, when asking how that felt:

• Guentzel, who hadn't scored in 11 games and hadn't even registered multiple shots in six of those, would produce the primary assist on both the Crosby and Brassard goals, as well as this beauty of a backbreaker with 1:33 left that was blown top-shelf over Price's shoulder:

He's maddening, isn't he?

Can disappear for weeks at a time, then just embarrass a world-class goaltender like Price with a casual flick.

"It feels good," Guentzel said of snapping his latest slump. "When you go even a couple games without a goal, you feel like you’re not producing."

• The prevention program eventually took hold, with Casey DeSmith ending up at 27 saves and the defense finally performing with some resolve in front of him, particularly in the third.

DeSmith went so far as to compare that period to the Penguins' thorough beating of Dallas a couple weeks back that Sullivan hailed at the time as their "blueprint" moving forward:

All of that's wonderful. The two points were needed, but a few of those individual boosts were, as well.

Still ... sorry, I'm not forgetting about that first period or parts of the second. That seemed appropriate after the late collapse in Manhattan last week, or even with the sluggish opening 10 minutes in Montreal the next night. But Brooklyn's evening-long lull changed everything, and the start in this game didn't exactly wash that away.

I'll remind here: The Rangers, Canadiens and Islanders are three of the NHL's worst teams, if not the very worst when weighing injury absences and other variables. There was a chance to solidify the collective character and systematic play as the Stanley Cup playoffs approach, and it instead felt like hitting the pause button. Taking all eight points from anyone would have been a challenge, but there definitely shouldn't have any accompanying drama regarding, of all things, proper effort and professionalism. Sullivan should never have needed to waste a syllable on stuff like that.

Look, this coach reaps many rewards from the experienced, excellent cast he oversees. But it can also create limitations.

What, for example, can he address or adjust regarding pregame preparation with a group that's so experienced, so set in its habits that the captain can't get through warmups without stickhandling maniacally over a McDonald's logo on the ice?

I asked Sullivan shortly before the game ...

... and that's as candid an answer as you'll hear from any coach on that subject. Because he can lead the horse to water, he can even dunk the horse's head to the point of drowning ... but he can't make it drink.

Or, at times, think.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY