Drive to the Net: Luck of Geno's draw? Hardly

Set plays off faceoffs are commonplace in the NHL. It's just rare that they work, as there are so many variables within what's largely an improvisational game.

For one, even the best faceoff artist might win little more than 50 percent of his draws.

Then, to win it back cleanly and on to the stick tape of a teammate makes it that much more difficult.

Throw in the number of bodies and assorted sticks and skates standing 60 feet or so between shooter and goaltender.

But when it works?

Man, hockey coaches suddenly look like a cross between Vince Lombardi and Bill Belichick, and the Penguins' first goal in their 4-2 win over the Golden Knights on Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena makes for a great case in point.

Three years after he retires, Evgeni Malkin will almost certainly enter the Hockey Hall of Fame on the first ballot. He already has 371 career goals and 936 points to go along with two scoring titles, a Hart Trophy and a trio of Stanley Cup rings to his resume. But as stated in this space following Saturday's humbling home loss to the Canadiens, there are some very real limitations to Malkin's game. You can probably add his faceoffs, with his career 43.7 winning percentage, to that list.

Every once in a while, though, Malkin will do something in the circle that will drop your jaw, and that's exactly what happened between Malkin and linemates Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin at the 8:03 mark of the opening period to wipe out an early 1-0 deficit.

"We all have an understanding off every faceoff what we're trying to do," Hagelin was telling me afterward. "Things are going to change over the course of it, but I think it's important that we're all on the same page."

Malkin was 3-0 in the first period Thursday, including this clean win over Ryan Carpenter:

Evidently, the Penguins had a plan. The left-handed shooting Hagelin moved to the right wing while Kessel, a right shot, moved to the left to set up a potential one-timer.

Malkin's faceoff win set up Kessel's first goal of the season, a wrister — the sniper's shot of choice — from the top of the left circle that beat Malcolm Subban to the short-side before he ever saw it.

"That's one of our looks," Hagelin was saying. "I'm trying to pick a guy and Phil's got a lethal shot from there."

Though to be fair, the Penguins did get a little help on that one from the Golden Knights. In his own bit of strategy, Gerard Gallant opted to have Carpenter, a right-handed left winger, take the draw on his strong side instead of Cody Eakin, a left-handed center. Obviously, the move backfired. Eakin wound up winning 4 of 7 faceoffs Thursday, Carpenter 1 of 3.

That goal, however, was just the first of three that the Penguins' second line produced against the Golden Knights.

Kessel would go on to record his first hat trick in a Penguins uniform and first since Feb. 1, 2014. And Malkin, who had three points in the season-opening win over the Capitals, assisted on all three.

His assist on Kessel's first goal went all of about 8 feet. His stretch pass on Kessel's second goal went about 80. They all count the same, though.

At 9:37 of the second, Malkin gathered a loose puck in the defensive zone and retreated toward his goal line. Looking up, he noticed Kessel fly the zone and casually saucered a perfect pass to center ice where Kessel picked it up on his backhand in stride, splitting the Vegas defense, and skated in all alone to beat Subban high to the glove:

Kessel completed his natural HT at 15:43 of the second on another breakaway, this time with Hagelin springing the sniper in the clear:

"Both kept their heads up and made great plays," said Kessel, a man of few words. "I was on the good end of them."

As the ice crew picked up all the hats that were tossed onto the ice following the third goal, the crowd at PPG Paints Arena began an earnest "We want Fleury!" chant in honor of the former Penguins goaltender, who should probably have counted himself fortunate to be sitting this one out.

Though he gave up four goals on 22 shots, it was hard for Gallant to find much fault in Subban's performance.

"Breakaway goals," he lamented. "You'd like to have those saves, but Phil Kessel's a pretty good shooter."

True. And Malkin and Hagelin are pretty good at setting the stages.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY