WASHINGTON -- To be clear, Mike Sullivan did not mean to impugn the greatness of Alex Ovechkin or any other star player when he spoke on Friday.
He was simply praising Sidney Crosby and the captain's effect on Jake Guentzel. The Penguins' first-line left wing and center currently rank Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, atop the NHL's postseason scoring list after finishing in the top four last spring.
With due respect to Guentzel, a terrific young player, to be sure, it's hard to imagine any other team or any other center coaxing the kind of production that the Penguins have received from the 2013 third-round pick from Nebraska-Omaha. Out of Guentzel's 16 points in seven playoff games this spring, Crosby has points in nine of them. That, after Crosby was in on 13 of Guentzel's 21 points in last year's playoff run.
"Sid has the ability to make players around him better," the coach was saying during Friday's off day. "I think that's one of the things that separate him from other great players in the game."
That's not a knock on Ovechkin as much as it's a compliment to Crosby. Just by the position he plays, Crosby has far greater affect on games than his Washington counterpart and longtime personal rival.
That's in no way to suggest that Ovechkin, a left winger, doesn't have any impact, or that he's one-dimensional. The greatest goal scorer of this generation's lead pass on Evgeny Kuznetsov's breakaway goal :17 into Game 1 showed his exquisite touch:
But as a playmaking center, Crosby generates more offense and works every inch of the ice. Placing Crosby in the best four or five players of all-time seems like recency bias, but it's fair to say that he is the best 200-foot player.
Nowhere was that more evident than the third period of Thursday night's game. And that's not even taking into account his role — a goal and assist — in the Penguins' 3-2 comeback win.
Crosby played 12 of his 29 shifts in the final 20 minutes, eight of those coming after the Penguins took the lead. He took 13 of his 30 faceoffs — 14 more than any of his teammates — in the third period. Eleven of those draws came with the Penguins clinging to a one-goal lead over the final 12:12.
Though Crosby wasn't particularly good on the draws, winning just 33 percent, the fact that he was on the ice in those crucial moments speaks volumes about the trust that Sullivan has in his captain in all situations.
And those are just a few of the many things that separate Crosby from other great players in the game.
• The Penguins have won nine of their previous 10 playoff series against the Capitals despite having a 2-8 record in Game 1's. So let's not make too big a deal out of one game.
But you couldn't script a better start or more deflating ending for the Capitals than Thursday. How they respond in Sunday's Game 2 will be crucial. Given their tortured history against the Penguins, they can ill-afford to go back to Pittsburgh in a two-game hole. No, this isn't last year and these aren't the Blue Jackets.
• There were just three penalties called in Game 1 — two on Washington — and I don't think you can argue it was a case of the officials swallowing their whistles. Start to finish, Thursday's game lasted just two hours, 26 minutes and it was an amazing display of hockey by two supremely talented teams. If the next six are anything like Game 1, we're in store for a good one.
• Sprong has sprung. Yep, with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's season ending with a sweep in the first round against Greg McKegg and Charlotte on Friday, Daniel Sprong will assuredly be headed back to Pittsburgh to serve on the Penguins' black aces. Also making the trip across I-80 will be Tristan Jarry, who went 0-3 with a 3.31 goals-against average and .894 save percentage against the Checkers.
• The NHL's failure to promptly release its second-round playoff schedule this week was the most NHL thing ever. The Penguins practiced Tuesday afternoon without knowing that they'd be leaving 24 hours later for Washington or even when they might be coming back. Lot of extra socks and underwear making this trip.
• Um, Pittsburgh fans threw towels and t-shirts on the ice after Patric Hornqvist's embellishment penalty in Game 2 of the first-round series against the Flyers. Had to be told not to do it over the PA, too. Sorry, boorish fan behavior is not limited to one city or one fanbase.
• Marc-Andre Fleury and the Vegas Golden Knights aren't the best story in the NHL this season. They're the best story in sports. Dare you to find one better.
• But the Knights might want to enjoy their success while they can. Nashville-Winnipeg is the de facto Western Conference Final. That series is appointment viewing.
• Got to love Toronto, where fans and media are keeping everything in perspective after the Maple Leafs pushed the vastly superior Bruins to a seventh game and not treating their loss as some crushing defeat or a monumental step backwards. Yeah, right. Auston Matthews and Co. will be just fine, people! Give it some time ... and some defensemen.
• All you need to know about Washington's hockey team: The Capitals' playoff motto this year is "ALL CAPS." But the script logo on their jersey reads "capitals." Even the 'C' is lower case.