Drive to the Net: Second line reunites 'dangerous guys'

PHILADELPHIA -- With a towel draped over his large shoulders, Evgeni Malkin held court with reporters in one corner of the cramped visitor's locker room at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night.

In his halting English, Malkin -- like only he can -- was rattling off all the wonderful things his Penguins accomplished in dismantling the Flyers, 5-0, in Game 4 to take a chokehold in their first-round playoff series.

"All 60 minutes, we played a great game," Malkin was saying.

"I can't say any bad words tonight," he added. "Power play worked, penalty kill worked, 5-on-5 we played hard against physical team. It's an amazing team win."

Da, Geno.

But the best -- and potentially most important -- thing the Penguins accomplished in Philadelphia was lighting a fire under Phil Kessel. For that, Malkin and Mike Sullivan can give themselves the assists.

In reuniting Kessel and Malkin, the crown (and clown) princes of the 2017 Stanley Cup run, Sullivan issued one simple directive: If you're together, you have to shoot the puck:

"One of the concerns we have when we put Geno and Phil together is they want to pass to one another and they play that east-west game," Sullivan said. "We try to encourage them to play more north-south and shoot the puck. Because both of them are dangerous goal scorers."

Well, consider that message received.

At the 14:37 mark of the first period, it was like old times with Phil and Geno.

Kessel tipped the puck between his skates up to Malkin just before their own blue line. That little move caught Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim flat-footed, and set up a 2-on-1 break with only Shayne Gostisbehere back. Malkin fed Kessel at full speed at the top of the right circle where Phil took one stride before he fired one of his patented wrong-footed wristers that beat Brian Elliott through the five-hole:

It was Kessel's first of the postseason and it could not have come at a more opportune moment.

Prior to that goal, the Flyers -- already down 1-0 -- had started to mount a serious push. The Flyers' top line, sans Sean Couturier, had hemmed the Penguins in their own zone. For the first time all evening, the Philadelphia crowd roared its approval and then ...  just like that, it was over.

"We just start playing patient, wait for right moment," Malkin said. "Huge second goal. I think they dominate, like, 5-6 minutes. We just take a moment and score. It's huge goal for sure."

Though that was Kessel's only goal, he was only getting started. In Game 4, Kessel shot the puck and then, failing that, he shot it some more.

Early in the second period, he gained possession in his own zone and darted through the neutral zone at speed, backing up the Flyers defense, before firing this deceptive missile from the top of the circles that Elliott was barely able to get a piece of with his catching glove:

And in the third period, with the game comfortably in hand, Kessel still kept shooting. This time, Kessel took a drop pass from Carl Hagelin. Again, note the way Flyers defensemen Radko Gudas (3) and Brandon Manning (23) had to back up, respecting both Kessel and Malkin's shot. Kessel was able to skate in another 20 feet before launching a wrist shot from the high slot:

Kessel's four shots on goal in Game 4 were as many as he had the previous three games combined. That is why Sullivan was agreeable to reuniting Malkin and Kessel despite his previously stated desire to keep Sidney Crosby, Malkin and Kessel on separate lines to balance out the scoring.

However, desperate times called for desperate measures. Playing through an apparent upper body injury, Kessel's play had tailed off in the final weeks of the regular season. In placing him with Malkin, the hope is that it will spark Kessel.

Not that Hagelin was ever concerned about Kessel:

"Someone interviewed me before the game if we were worried about Phil, we’re not," Hagelin was telling me. "He doesn't need much to score goals. Tonight he got one and he’s going to keep doing that."

Whether these are the lines that Sullivan will go with the rest of the playoffs remains to be seen. "Nothing," the coach likes to say, "is etched in stone."

But Malkin would seem to like that. He said there is always a chemistry between himself and Kessel:

"I always feel it," Malkin said. "We understand we're dangerous guys. We understand we need to help the team to win. I know Phil wants the puck in the offensive zone. He’s trying to get open, I’m trying to use my skill to get him the pass right away and I know he loves to shoot the puck. I’m glad he scored. It gives him more confidence."

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY