Kovacevic: Who's better than Penguins in goal? Believe it or not, nobody

Rasmus Dahlin, the Sabres' one-time No. 1 overall pick, smoothly, slowly glided into the Penguins' slot, a goal-in-waiting on his blade, seemingly sizing up Casey DeSmith.

Who appeared to be in no mood.

Hey, look, there aren't many highlights to be had against the most god-awful group of glaringly obvious quitters the NHL's seen in decades, so just go with it, OK?

Anyway, here's the save on that sequence:

Now, watch it again. 

Then once more.

DeSmith displayed little use for Dahlin's patience, and even less faith that he'd dish. So, rather than plant himself in the paint and wait on the kid, he went way out into the white, ignoring big Eric Staal to his left, ignoring any other repercussions.

And even though Dahlin's shot dipped when deflected by Bryan Rust's outstretched stick, DeSmith not only rejected it but also kept himself up for the rebound.

My friends, that's not good goaltending. That's great goaltending.

The very best goaltending in the NHL, as a matter of ice-cold fact.

See, while everyone else among the 2,800 spread out inside PPG Paints Arena for the Penguins' 4-0 shutout was appreciating Radim Zohorna's first NHL goal on his first shot, Jared McCann wristing home two of his own and Sidney Crosby's three assists to reach 1,300 career points ... one oddball up in the press box stayed focused on the crease. Not just on DeSmith's 36 saves here, but also what was happening in Boston.

Because, in the event the Bruins would put a few goals past the Islanders -- they did, albeit in a 4-3 loss -- and things would transpire as expected here, I'd be able to type the following sentence: The Penguins have the very best goaltending in the NHL since Feb. 1, this after having arguably the very worst goaltending in the opening month of January.

For real, on this night, the Penguins' .9276 save percentage these past two months overtook the .9271 of Barry Trotz's defense-first Islanders.

Arbitrary?

Wow, no, I'd call it awesome.

On Jan. 31, the Penguins' save percentage of .862 was second-lowest in the league, with Matt Murray and the Senators at the bottom. But given that Ottawa had allowed 10 more total goals and 117 more scoring chances, signifying a far leakier defense, it's fair to posit that the Penguins were worse when it came to making the actual save. 

Jarry's save percentage had sunken to .859, DeSmith's to .875, and the subject du jour -- this keyboard was no exception -- was how one or both needed to be replaced for the team to have a prayer of even making the playoffs, as well as how Mike Buckley, the beleaguered goaltending coach, needed to be jettisoned into the hot sun.

And since then, Jarry's .923 save percentage is fifth-best among goaltenders with 15-plus games in this span -- he's appeared in 17 -- and DeSmith's .951 save percentage in his eight games is the best of ... um, anyone.

Oh, and this is worth a stark reminder: Five of this team's top nine forwards are now injured, with Kasperi Kapanen added on this day. And before that, a bunch of defensemen were injured. And all through this, the defense hasn't exactly been brilliant, allowing 11.2 high-danger chances per game, third-most in the league.

I asked the captain after this game how much the goaltending's meant to his team's simultaneous surge.

"Yeah, I mean, it's huge," Sid replied. "There's tons of momentum that comes with getting the big saves. They've held us in games, allowed us to get our chances, and capitalize."

I asked the head coach much the same.

"It's critical," Mike Sullivan replied. "Both of these guys have been really good for us. Both have given us timely saves, night in and night out, and it's hard to win in this league if you don't get that. And these guys are providing that for us. I think the guys are playing hard in front of them. We're trying to defend as hard as we can. But when we break down, these guys are there to make big saves for us. And they're doing it as a tandem."

He then referenced the team playing 16 games in 28 days this month.

"If you look at our schedule and the logistics involved, we're relying on both of these guys to get the job done. I think it's almost a requirement in today's game, especially this year, to have two guys you can rely on to win. Both of these guys are doing that for us, and that's certainly a luxury we're enjoying right now."

JOE SARGENT / GETTY

Casey DeSmith tracks a puck Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena.

It's to the considerable credit of all concerned that DeSmith, Jarry and, yes, Buckley could so dramatically flip the most significant script of the season. It really is. It's not as if they wouldn't have heard or read all the complaints about their collective work. And it's not as if they wouldn't have had their own doubts regardless. In Jarry's case, it was his first chance to be a No. 1 in the NHL. In DeSmith's, he'd just been relegated to Wilkes-Barre for all of the 2019-20 season, riding buses despite an NHL contract that paid him $1.25 million.

But here they are.

I asked DeSmith after this game how this must feel now for all three of them:

"Yeah, I think all three of us knew the tide would turn for us eventually," he replied. "Jarrs and I know we're good goalies, and Buck has worked with us. He knows we're good goalies, as well. We just had to stick with it. The team cleaned up a lot of things, too, in our defensive zone, and they're helping us out a ton. They can't get enough credit."

Uh-uh, sorry. This started in back.

As for being back in the league, easily better than ever, he added, "It feels really good. It's special. You know, obviously, last year wasn't what I drew up in my mind. But I just tried to work hard down there, stick with it, be a good teammate, stuff like that. And now that I'm back up here, I'm kind of reaping the benefits of the hard work I put in last year."

Amusing aside: Buffalo's goaltender on this night, Dustin Tokarski, was DeSmith's partner in Wilkes-Barre.

"That was fun," the latter spoke with a smile.

The antithesis of goaltending fun is being had, of course, at the wrong end of the commonwealth.

The Flyers were ripped apart by the Rangers for a second consecutive meeting on this same night in Philadelphia, this by an 8-3 count after that 9-0 soul-crusher a week ago at Madison Square Garden, an occasion hilariously punctuated by Mika Zibanejad producing matching hat tricks and six-point outputs in each.

Shots on goal: Flyers, 44-22
Saves: Carter Hart, uh, six on 11 shots

Hart's got an .869 save percentage, backup Brian Elliott's at .887, and they're performing as if they'd concede touchdowns if they were out there together. This month alone, the Flyers are 4-9-1 while allowing 64 goals, or 4.6 per game.

As defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere shared following this latest embarrassment, “This team has really lost its identity from where we were at the beginning of the year to where we are now."

I share this partially so I can squeeze this infantile meme into a genuine journalistic exercise ...

... but also to stress again that it all starts in back. When Gostisbehere refers to where the Flyers "were at the beginning of the year," I remember it well because I was out there in Philly, too, watching Hart beat Jarry twice in that opening series. The winning side was feeding off its young goaltender shining, and the losing side was just beginning to have its confidence chipped away for the opposite reason.

That's changed so much that the Penguins are now 21-11-2 after a 5-5-1 start and more man-games lost to injury than any other team, and the Flyers are leading the league in beach-ball memes.

I wrote on the eve of that opening series that goaltending would decide the East and, within that column, that Jarry could become the division's best. I hadn't a clue he'd keep this kind of company.