It was somehow fitting that on the night that the Penguins honored their 2009 Stanley Cup championship team that their third line -- Jordan Staal with Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy -- may have been their best.
To be sure, nobody is confusing Derick Brassard, Tanner Pearson and Phil Kessel with that. But the potential for it is teasingly, tantalizingly there. The three have combined for over 1,300 career points.
It should work, right?
In Sunday night's 5-3 loss to the lowly Blackhawks, that line was perhaps the biggest positive after blowing a two-goal lead and snapping a season-high, eight-game winning streak. Surprising, I know. But no less surprising than that the Penguins are now on an 0-7-3 run vs. the Blackhawks, not having beaten them since March 30, 2014.
The third line wasn't dominant, but it was good.
"I thought it was one of their better games," Mike Sullivan was saying afterward. "I thought they did a better job supporting one another breaking out of the offensive zone, they stayed closer together. They had more zone time. This is the most zone time they've had in a lot of the games and that's what we envisioned when we put them together. They're three really good players."
Indeed, Kessel is a lethal sniper who can dish the puck with the best. Pearson is strong down low, in the corners and in front of the net. Brassard is an excellent skater and playmaker.
On Sunday, the line had a Corsi For percentage of 45.45 -- which isn't exactly great -- but they did generate four high-danger chances to just two against.
After Sunday's morning skate, Brassard said he thought the line could be more dangerous. It was certainly that a few hours later.
Brassard's goal, his seventh of the season at 9:49 of the second period, gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead. It was the result of a nice seam pass from Kessel to Brassard at the right faceoff circle that the center one-timed under the pads of Cam Ward:
"There's some games where we have looks and it doesn't go in," Brassard was telling me. "If that puck doesn't go in, you're probably not talking to me."
True, we might be talking about Brassard's missed chance in the first period when Kessel found Brassard in a similar spot on the ice but this happened:
Brassard hesitated for just a second. Instead of opting for a one timer, he settled for a wrist shot that allowed Ward to square up in time to get a piece of his glove on it.
"The pass was a little hard and the defender was in between us," he said. "I think it (the shot) hit the outside of the post there. I had the entire upstairs on the glove side. On the second shot, the goalies are going to read those plays really well. So tried to just get it (off) a little quicker. I don't know if I beat him off the post, or it went through. I'll take anything, I guess."
Clearly, Brassard's confidence is sagging as he tries to adapt to a new role in a city where nothing less than a Stanley Cup is considered success, but he now has three goals in the last six games. There is something to be said for that.
As rewarding as the goal might have been, the line did some of its best work earlier in the second period when they held on to pucks, cycled and put the Blackhawks on their heels.
With 18:06 remaining, Ward stopped Kessel on a redirect from Pearson:
With 17:38 remaining, Ward denied Pearson's hard wrister as he came down his off-wing:
But without further and more consistent tangible results, the expiration date on that line could come sometime before 3 p.m. on Feb. 25, also known as the NHL trade deadline. That's when Jim Rutherford will have to decide on whether to continue with the Brassard experiment as a bottom-six center or cut bait with the pending unrestricted free agent.
The organization paid a heavy price to land Brassard from Ottawa at last year's deadline and if we know anything about the Penguins' general manager it's that if he feels he made a mistake, he'll take corrective measures. Ask Mike Johnston how that works.
After 61 regular season games, the Penguins have given Brassard ample opportunity to prove himself as a viable third-line center and have certainly surrounded him with a strong supporting cast with Kessel and Pearson. If Brassard is to make a go of it in Pittsburgh, it's up to him to execute.
"I don't put any pressure on myself for the line to work," Brassard said. "I just try to play my game, try to help the team as much as I can. I know Tanner's going to show up every night. I know Phil's going to make those plays. Tonight it worked out."
As good as the Penguins have been since the start of December, there is still another level they can get to if they're getting consistent contributions from their third line.
"We were involved and we're trying to chip in," Brassard said. "If we have four lines that can go, we'll be a more dangerous team."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THREE STARS
My curtain calls go to …
1. Patrick Kane
Chicago Blackhawks
Three-point night for the player who might go down as the best U.S.-born player ever. Kane is worth the price of admission.
2. Duncan Keith
Blackhawks defenseman
Scored game-tying goal, his first of the season, in the second period. If Chicago looks to deal the 35-year-old, he'd be a very attractive rental on a lot of teams.
3. Chris Kunitz
Blackhawks left winger
Ah, call me a softy. In what is likely his final NHL season, it was nice to see the 39-year-old get rewarded with his first goal in the city where he starred for eight-plus seasons and won three Cups.
THE INJURIES
• Justin Schultz, defenseman, is out until mid-February with a fractured leg. Schultz resumed skating on Sunday but Sullivan had no further update on Monday. He clarified that Schultz's return is not imminent and is characterized as "week to week."
THE GOOD
Much like the Brassard line, you also have to recognize the progress that the Malkin line with Dominik Simon and Patric Hornqvist has made in recent games.
That group gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead just 2:43 into the first period when Malkin swooped behind the Chicago net and found Hornqvist at the right dot. No sooner did the puck hit his stick that Hornqvist snapped it past Ward high to the blocker side. It was his 15th goal of the season and third in six games:
In the six games after the Christmas break, Malkin now has seven points and is starting to resemble his former self (see below).
However, there's still much more room for improvement. Though the line controlled possession, they left a little to be desired defensively. They surrendered four high-danger chances against, per naturalstattrick.com.
THE BAD
One of the catalysts to the Penguins' eight-game winning streak had been their special teams. On Sunday night, even they finally let down.
Chicago's 25th-ranked power play cashed in at 16:23 of the first period when Alex DeBrincat one-timed a shot from the right circle past DeSmith.
That power play came as a result of Malkin taking an offensive zone hooking penalty on Drake Caggiula. See? Geno is back in vintage form.
"When you're taking penalties that far away from your net, that's something you want to avoid," Sullivan said in an understatement. By the way, Malkin has a team-leading 44 PIMs and with another 15 more will surpass Bryan Watson for fourth all-time in team history.
Technically, DeBrincat's goal was the Hawks' lone power play goal. But Keith's goal at 16:59 of the second and Dylan Strome's at 1:48 of the third were de facto power play goals that were scored just seconds after penalties to Pearson and Kris Letang had expired.
"We made some errors on the penalty kill that cost us tonight, errors that we haven't made over this last long stretch that I know we're better at," Sullivan said.
After seeing its five-game streak without giving up a power play goal snapped on New Year's Even in St. Paul, Minn., the Penguins had been a perfect 3-of-3 entering Sunday's game.
Conversely, the Penguins' fourth-ranked power play, which had converted on nine of its last 13 chances, went 0-for-3 against the Blackhawks' league-worst penalty kill (73.2). Worse, the Penguins managed just one shot on 1:11 of a 5-on-3 advantage late in the first period.
"We didn't get it done," Sullivan said. "Those guys had been on fire of late, scored a lot of goals, won a lot games, but didn't find a way to score tonight."
THE PLAY
Keith might be a future Hall of Famer, but at 35, he isn't the player he was in the Hawks' heyday.
His second-period goal was his first of the season and one that DeSmith should have been able to stop.
As the Blackhawks' power play was expiring, and Pearson was racing to get back into the play, Brent Seabrook had his point shot blocked by Zach Aston-Reese. Seabrook then slipped the puck over to Keith at the top of the left circle where he fired an unobstructed slap shot that beat DeSmith under his left arm:
If there is a weakness to DeSmith's game, it's that the 6-foot, 181-pound goaltender -- small by today's standard -- is susceptible to shots in that area. The NHL-mandated smaller chest protectors don't help either.
DeSmith has been rock solid nearly all season but the backup was a little leaky on Sunday, allowing four goals on 30 shots. He has surrendered four-plus goals in just three games this season, two of them against the Blackhawks.
"Same team, same score," said DeSmith, who allowed four goals on 27 shots on Dec. 12 at United Center. "Definitely frustrating. Kind of wanted a little bit of revenge tonight in our own building. Just let it slip away."
THE CALL
Dominik Simon really needs acting lessons.
THE OTHER SIDE
For the Blackhawks, 16-21-7 and last in the Central Division, this game won't have any meaningful impact on their standings. This is not a playoff team.
But it was a hell of a morale booster.
The Blackhawks came into Pittsburgh riding a two-game losing streak and with low spirits, judging by the atmosphere of the locker room after the team's morning skate. Following a win in which the Blackhawks showed so much resiliency, the locker room had a much more upbeat, lighthearted mood, with a lot of joking around among the players.
This game perhaps meant the most to Kunitz. On a night that celebrated his 2009 Stanley Cup championship team, Kunitz scored his first goal of the season.
"It's been a tough year production-wise," Kunitz said after the win. "Any time you can contribute it gives you a little confidence. It's one of the easiest things to do in this league when you have confidence and play the game. ... I think being in a building where you have great memories, that might just give you that special feeling anytime you go on the ice."
Kunitz entered the game a healthy scratch the previous four games, and 19 of the last 23. It isn't easy for any player to sit in the press box that often and slide back into the lineup with ease, but Kunitz did just that. Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton acknowledged how difficult this season has been for Kunitz after the game.
"It's not easy," Colliton said. "We haven't been that fair to him. He sits for a couple of weeks, he plays one game and then comes right out. We've done that to him a couple of times. We're happy for him to have a night like tonight, especially in this setting."
For Colliton, one of the biggest takeaways from this game was his team's ability to battle back. After falling into an early two-goal deficit and falling behind 3-2 in the second period, the Blackhawks didn't quit.
"I think one thing we've established is we're not going to quit," he said. "We're going to play until the end. It was certainly not the start we wanted. Kind of gifted them a couple, but credit to those guys. They just kept playing. Found a way to score on the power play and that was big. I don't know, I was just really happy with how we competed and nice to see the guys get rewarded."
The Blackhawks will head back to Chicago for a three-game homestand. They'll host the Flames on Monday night, and the Predators on Wednesday. A second 2009 Penguins reunion will take place on Saturday evening when Marc-Andre Fleury and the Golden Knights come to the Windy City. -- Taylor Haase
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will practice at noon today in Cranberry, then host the Panthers on Tuesday night.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Penguins team page for everything.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Blackhawks, PPG Paints Arena, Jan. 6, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS