Kovacevic: Six smart ways to sink Islanders taken in Uniondale, N.Y. (DK'S GRIND)

Patric Hornqvist finds the camera during the morning skate in Uniondale, N.Y. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- "We have all the tools to be successful. We just have to pull together, play the same way. I think that’s the key in the playoffs: Everybody’s got to pull in the same direction."

This was Kris Letang earlier in the week. He was assessing these Penguins' chance at another Stanley Cup championship. And he was, of course, correct. They do have the tools. They've got the skill, the speed, the smarts and, maybe above all at this stage of the stars' careers, they've got the pedigree.

But when they aren't dedicated to what Letang's describing above, as we all witnessed again and again over the past winter, none of that matters.

Another parade down the Boulevard?

Hey, sure. I mean, show me one team the Penguins can't beat in a best-of-seven -- Lightning, Capitals, anyone -- when they're doing that proper pulling. They're capable of outperforming anyone, including over a full series. Not outlasting or out-lucking them. Hardcore outperforming. I firmly believe that.

At the same time, show me that other thing that they do, and I'll show you the Islanders, against all odds, advancing to the second round. Because to win four series, that consistency's got to be concretely entrenched, not subject to an on-off switch. And to win the fourth series, they've got to win the first.

So right here, right now, a few hours from the 7:38 p.m. faceoff of Game 1 inside old Nassau Coliseum, I'll humbly offer six ways to escape this round on the road to a sixth Cup:

6.  Don’t stink.

Give it up for the Islanders. Becoming the first team in NHL history to go from worst to first in goals allowed is amazing. Going 48-27-7 after losing John Tavares for nothing, after the franchise had to have felt like its heart was ripped out, is all the more amazing. As I've written all year, Barry Trotz should win the Jack Adams Award running away, even in a season where Craig Berube and Rick Tocchet inspired similar turnarounds in St. Louis and Arizona, respectively.

"I don't think anyone in here is surprised by what they've done," Jack Johnson was telling me. "That's a good hockey team with good players and a good structure. We have a lot of respect for what they've done, but we aren't surprised."

That's nice. And possibly legit. But let's also be real: The Islanders ranked 22nd in scoring, didn't have an individual with more points than Mat Barzal's 62, ranked 29th in shots on goal, ranked 29th on the power play and, although founded on defense, ranked 18th on the penalty-kill.

They've achieved well over their heads to reach this stage and, again, that's to their collective credit. But let's not pretend that the Penguins losing this series would be more about the Islanders than about the Penguins allowing a whole lot to go awry.

Be the better team.

But in the same breath, I'll add ...

5. Front the puck.

"When we have everyone back, when we're supporting the play the way we can, we're pretty hard to beat," Erik Gudbranson told me. "That's important for any team but, with this group, I think you've really seen that."

Only all the time. Which is why I've pounded this point in good times and bad. When shutting down the Lightning and Capitals. When being blown out by the Senators. This singular facet, the practice of maintaining position on "the right side of the puck," as Mike Sullivan repeats ad nauseam, is the foundation of his philosophy in all three zones. And it applies whether the opponent's an offensive powerhouse or these very Islanders.

Best of all, it contributes the most toward another Sullivan foundation, one he reiterated yesterday when asked about New York: "We worry about how we play."

When doing this, the Penguins forecheck, sustain the attack, track back through the neutral zone and, naturally, defend at their peak. From there, they get the puck. Once they get the puck, the skill, speed and all that take over.

4. Pinch away.

One theme that emerged through the Penguins' loss to the Capitals last spring was that Trotz had solved Sullivan's system, specifically by countering the Penguins' pinching defensemen with plenty of stretch passes. And even though that faded deeper into the series, it wasn't false. Washington winged this as well as anyone had against Sullivan's teams.

But these Islanders aren't those Capitals. If anything, in this regard, they're the polar opposite. They stay tight in a pack all over the rink and, being blunt, they aren't exactly equipped with John Carlson to spring those stretches, or Evgeny Kuznetsov to convert them.

"They do some things the same as Washington did," as Patric Hornqvist would acknowledge of this New York team, "but they're also really different."

They are. So go at them. Go at them hard. With all defensemen pinching, per the standard, and all forwards cycling and rotating back as needed.

I might repeat this a lot in the coming few days, but here's the first: There's no defense, no system the Penguins can't penetrate. The antidote's yet to be discovered for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the other elite offensive talent at hand. Now, a hot goaltender can do that, but I'm not inclined to elevate Robin Lehner and/or Thomas Greiss to Braden Holtby's status after one regular season of sticking aside a couple dozen pucks a night.

Get in there. All five. Skate, create and shoot.

3. Cover and freeze.

Boy, is this one boring. As it should be.

When Matt Murray's at his very best, as he was in starting 20 of the final 21 regular-season games and putting up a 2.33 goals-against average and .928 save percentage, he's also quiet. He's coolly directing traffic behind his net, steering rebounds into corners or, most commonly, smothering those rebounds. Really, he might choose to cover the puck as much as any goaltender in the NHL.

Watch for this in Game 1 and beyond. He'll be the first to admit it's a sign of strength for him.

"I have confidence in my guys that, if we reset, that's a better spot than the one we'd have been in," Murray told me. "It's just something I've always done."

It might be doubly valuable now. The Islanders' 47.4 success rate on faceoffs was third-worst in the league.

Settle the process. Make them earn every possession.

2. Shoot on the power play.

Shout it from the top row of Section 316 when they get home, but send the right message.

Yeah, yeah, it's the lowest common denominator of hockey fandom to urge the team to shoot with the extra man. But with these guys, it really applies, as I illustrated in detail from a game against the Red Wings last week. If they set themselves to shoot, with bona fide intentions, it alters so much about how they're defended. The box spreads out. A forward will collapse for a block. A goaltender will commit more than he might like. And from there, any perimeter passes that do follow can morph into real threats.

"You always want to make sure you're at least thinking shot first," was how Justin Schultz worded it.

This will be another meme of mine, I promise: The Penguins will go as far as the power play takes them. And in this series, they need it to discourage the Islanders from bending the rules in their relentless pursuit of team defense. And that 18th-ranked PK won't bail them out unless it gets lots of help from Lehner, Greiss or the Penguins themselves.

This is the wild card for this team. They've got something no one else has. This is the greatest variable. This will be huge.

And yet, this will be huger ...

1. Don’t be dumb.

In the Penguins' world, it doesn't require a seat in the coaches' office to know of the chief emphasis for any opponent. One just has to listen to Sullivan's current catch-phrase of choice and, from there, pick up on how often his players repeat it.

"We have to manage the puck," Sullivan would share yet again yesterday.

“We’re going to have to make sure we make the right decisions,” Crosby would essentially echo.

As did Jake Guentzel: “We can’t feed into their transition. That’s the biggest thing for us."

And Olli Maatta: "It's about not making mistakes with the puck."

And Johnson: "You watch the video, and you see what they do, how patient they are, especially in the neutral zone. They'll wait for you to make a mistake, have numbers back, and you've just got to make the right decision. Because if you don't, they've got guys ready to pounce and take it back the other way. Just be smart."

Got it yet?

If anyone's picturing the 1995 Devils, that's off. Trotz does have the Islanders bring bodies back between the blue lines -- Sullivan actually has the Penguins do that, as well, once there's a clear forfeiture of possession in the attacking zone -- but they're also aggressive in any 50/50 situation anywhere.

Still, the trap is as dangerous as it is dull. It comes with different looks, including one in which one New York forward will strive to force a breakout to a side he knows has not one but two teammates waiting to pick it off. But for the most part, it's really what Johnson cited: They have numbers back.

Watch this from the Islanders' 3-0 victory Saturday in Washington:

The sequence begins with only Capitals in the frame, but for the backpedaling Barzal, until they gain the New York blue line with one, two, three, four, five white sweaters -- Barzal, too -- awaiting them. Nick Jensen, the Washington defenseman, surveys the scene and dumps the puck deep.

Excruciating, right?

Get used to it. Get used to a lot of 0-0, 1-1 and so forth. But, if the Penguins aren't dumb, get used to seeing them handle this adroitly. They primarily need to ensure they make it that far up the rink. It'll be a grind, but they'll get there.

Much like the series itself. Penguins in six.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY

Penguins at Islanders morning skate, Game 1, Uniondale, N.Y. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

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