Make a great play in this league, and you often are rewarded with a goal.
Sometimes, you have to settle for an assist.
And occasionally, a guy has to be content with no tangible reward for what he did, with getting nothing but the respect and appreciation of his teammates.
Which was the case for Evgeni Malkin, after he made a terrific play to hold the puck in the Washington zone, making it possible for Bryan Rust to score the Penguins' second goal in what because a 4-3 overtime loss to the Capitals at PPG Paints Arena Tuesday night.
Malkin was just inside the Capitals' blue line, near the right point, when Washington winger Tom Wilson tried to chop the puck past him.
Malkin stood his ground despite knowing that he was about to absorb a hit from Wilson, one of the NHL's most ferocious checkers.
Wilson, as expected, crashed into him, but Malkin managed to keep the puck inside the offensive zone as he was falling to the ice, pushing it to Jake Guentzel near the right corner.
Guentzel slid the puck across the ice to Sidney Crosby, who promptly threw it to Rust on the right side of the slot.
Rust pulled the puck from his forehand to his backhand and flipped it past Capitals goalie Ilya Samsonov for a 2-1 lead.
Goal: Rust.
Assists: Crosby and Guentzel.
Kudos: Malkin.
"Just a tremendous play," Guentzel said. "If that gets by, it's two-on-one for them. Just a great play by (Malkin) to keep that puck in. He might not get an assist on it, but that's the reason for the goal."
Mind you, Malkin already had one of those before he made the play that contributed to Rust's goal.
He had tied the game, 1-1, during a power play at 6:26 of the first, beating Capitals starting goalie Vitek Vanacek from inside the right circle for his fifth of the season.
That goal gave Malkin a nine-game points streak and at least one point in 10 of the 12 games he has played since returning from major knee surgery.
"Just to have a star player like that back in your lineup, it helps," Guentzel said. "He's one of the generational talents. For us to see him back in the lineup and see what he does on the ice, he makes us a better team. He's scoring a lot of goals and getting a lot of points out there for us. It's been nice to have him back."
Even if, as Malkin noted, his ice time isn't quite as high as he hopes it will be after the all-star break that's now underway.
"I'm trying to play simple right now, but I think my confidence is back," he said. "At a high level right now."
He added that, "now I feel like my knee is normal right now. I'm not scared anymore."
Perhaps opponents should be, however.
"I know I can play better," Malkin said. "And I will."