Kovacevic: A shift that'd make the Red Army blush

Mike Sullivan applauded.

I can't count on one hand the occasions on which I've seen the man clap after his team scores. Most often, he'll look hurriedly to his left or right to prepare the next line for the next shift. Or he'll glance up at the clock. Or down at his iPad to scan a replay.

But then, this was what moved an NHL head coach to join 2,800 others in cheering:

Don't dare skip one millisecond of that. Stop right here, press that play button and appreciate all 60 spectacular seconds of it.

And for real, it's really 60 seconds. One five-on-five shift by one five-man unit, conducted 100 percent in the offensive zone, connecting 17 passes, three shots, two clean retrievals and, of course, a fine Kasperi Kapanen finish for the decisive goal of the Penguins' 4-2 victory over the Rangers on this Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.

Central Red Army, anyone?

"Well, it was one of the best shifts we had all year, I think," Sullivan would observe later. "It was a clinic on puck possession and offensive zone play. Those guys are so talented and so instinctive that, when they possess the puck like that, they're difficult to defend. And it was a goal-scorer's goal, too. Great goal by Kappy."

Really was. Worth an extra couple slo-mo angles:

"But all five guys were involved," Sullivan continued, "and the extended zone time wears teams down. Fatigue becomes a factor. It was a great shift."

I'd love to have spoken with any or all of the five participants in this spectacular scene -- Kapanen, Evgeni Malkin, Evan Rodrigues, Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin -- and written the kind of column it deserves, but none were among the three players made available by the team for remote interviews.

I did ask Teddy Blueger, who watched from the bench.

"Great shift," he replied. "They were moving the puck around really well. A lot of interchanges. Obviously a highly skilled line, so they're capable of it."

Yeah, with respect and appreciation for the availability and answer, that just doesn't do it justice.

The Rangers' coach addressed it, too, David Quinn observing from the other bench, "They were buzzing pretty good, and we just weren’t able to get through that shift."

Whatever. We all saw it.

Hockey can be beautiful. There, that's the column.

• The third period was a dreadful dud, with Sidney Crosby's empty-netter from beyond center red representing the Penguins' lone shot, but that really shouldn't define this. They came out hard, competed hard throughout -- even in the third, believe it or not -- and it felt like the final 20 minutes were more the Rangers' doing. They're desperate to stay in the playoff race, now seven points back, and it showed.

"I thought it was a tale of two games," Quinn said. "In the first 30 minutes, they completely took it to us, and I thought we finally started doing the things we had to do, being more physical, skating and battling and all of a sudden the whole thing changed. Unfortunately, it took a little longer than we wanted it to."

Couldn't agree more. Two teams out there.

• Also to that point, the goaltender's part of the team. Tristan Jarry's two excellent saves counted. And as well as the skaters had performed for the first five periods of these two games, that wasn't an excessive ask.

• Further perspective: The Penguins are now 15-9-1, including 11-2 on home ice, 4-1 in front of actual humans on home ice, 10-4 in their past 14 overall and, hey, just for good measure, the past four victories have come in regulation. And within that general span, they've rediscovered the best form seen yet from Jarry and Malkin, and they've gradually gotten closer to where they need to be defensively.

I'm not suggesting this is some championship contender. I don't see that without a significant addition or two up front. But I'm suggesting it's all a lot less dire than it looked a month ago.

• Not to be mean, but I have no idea what Mark Jankowski does here.

He needs a meeting with the two Bobs:

No, seriously, this fourth line's largely a waste. Anthony Angello's shown some promise, but Colton Sceviour performed in this game as if he'd hoped to prove that 30 NHL teams were smart to leave him untouched on the waiver wire earlier in the same day.

This is where Ron Hextall and Brian Burke need to get to work right away, not down the road. The schedule's loaded up with 11 games in 19 days beginning Thursday, and that includes back-to-backers next Monday and Tuesday against the bruising Bruins. Sullivan's made clear his intent to roll four lines when he can.

But can he?

• Blueger did well on his shorty to stuff the puck under Keith Kinkaid, but the sequence is made when he and Brandon Tanev enter the New York zone two-on-two, then mystify rookie defenseman K'Andre Miller, with a lateral crossover:

Looks like a basketball play, huh?

Handoff at the top of the key.

• Marcus Pettersson's still off his game, but I can't envision any scenario in which the Penguins would -- or should -- lose trust in him there. He's too good, too bright. He'll bounce back.

• Bryan Rust registered six shots and probably had twice that many opportunities to score. Nothing went. Not even his first crack at the empty net. This happens to him -- two goals in his past 10 games -- but so does the reverse. A hat trick looms. Clip and save.  

• It's absurdly early to judge the 2020 NHL Draft, but I see more in one set of Senators highlights from Tim Stutzle than I've witnessed from the Rangers' Alexis Lafreniere in six full meetings with the Penguins. Meaning zero goals, zero assists and six shots. Maybe Ottawa won out. Time will tell.

• The NHL back on ESPN?

Eh. The broadcasts themselves won't matter much, but there can't be any question that hockey's been hurt by being left out of a lot of the national dialogue that occurs via the ESPN monster. Love it or hate it, that dialogue, especially the silly stuff like best-of-all-time and so forth, matters toward building the brand. And no network does that stuff more effectively.

• The Penguins' next two are up in Buffalo, with the Sabres missing Jack Eichel. They can't say this, but I can: The softer part of the schedule is finally at hand, with a ton of Buffalo and New Jersey the rest of the way. And this weekend, in particular, offers up four drop-dead, must-have points ... and they've got to be approached precisely that way.

• Loved this crowd. Sure, it was the same capacity, but this one showed up with a snarl and held it throughout. Felt a lot more normal than the sentimental initial returns, you know?

• If Jeff Jimerson can sing through a mask -- and he told me before this game he had to work at it -- then all other miracles through this pandemic will be minor.

We're getting there. We are.