Kovacevic: Malkin's triple-OT winner seals a statement performance

NEW YORK -- A spacey, self-centered superstar doesn't go where Evgeni Malkin did.

As Kasperi Kapanen backpedals his way up the half-wall in surveying the scene, before sliding the puck up to the right point for John Marino, the spacey, self-centered superstar in this scenario would commonly gravitate toward open ice nearby. He'd make himself available as an alternative, present a target, be in position to make the next high-level touch.

And that's doubly the case when the spacey, self-centered superstar's sharing the rink with a grit guy up front, like, oh, say, Brock McGinn. Because the grit guy can be counted on to go the grimy area.

Know the adage about a picture saying 1,000 words?

Well, here's 1,071:

GETTY

Evgeni Malkin redirects a shot past the Rangers' Igor Shesterkin in triple-overtime Tuesday night in New York.

Yeah, exactly. McGinn had only one body in his way, as the full-motion video further demonstrates:

Now, particularly for those who couldn't stay up for the climactic moment four hours and 38 minutes later, go right ahead and soak it up: Penguins 4, Rangers 3. 

In triple-overtime of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, no less.

This Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden unfolded into one of the most extraordinary events in the 54-year history of a franchise that's blessed with its fill of them. And it was punctuated by one of the most extraordinary players within that history and, in fact, in hockey history. One who showed on this long night, from his first stride to his last, that he ... well, that he really wanted to score.

I'd gotten that sense all evening long, just reading his body language ...

... and I asked him about that after the game:

"I think the whole team feels, like, good right now," he'd reply in his inimitable English. "I mean, like, we played physical, like, hard game. And, like, give credit to New York team ... they, like, play unbelievable, too. We we know it's not easy and, again, like, find some people here ... "

No, I didn't get all of that, either. Doesn't matter. Never mentioned himself, and that's the point.

Not everyone in our little corner of the world seems to get this, so I'm here to do some punctuating on top of Geno's own punctuation.

Sure, he'll get rock-headed on occasion. His body language can be the polar opposite of what I'd detected early on here. He can plunge into slumps that make him appear pouty. But the inherent will to win, I can attest from having covered the man's entire career up close, including his tours in the Vancouver and Sochi Olympics, is superseded only by his wish to play a prominent role within that win.

Don't take it from me. The head coach worded it far more artfully afterward.

"I think he's a driven athlete," Mike Sullivan spoke when that subject was broached. "He's ... you know, he sees the opportunity that we have in front of us, he sees the team that we have, and the capability of this group, and I think he's excited about it. And the way I know Geno, he plays his best when the stakes are high. He's proven that over and over again. The career that he's built to this point speaks for itself. He's a generational talent. He's one of those guys who, when he gets on a big stage like this, it doesn't faze him. He has a certain composure, a certain confidence in himself and the team. And he wants to win. He's just a he's a fierce competitor. He wants to win."

Then finally, this ...

"And so I just, I can't say enough about about the the core group that's here, and the leadership, and how driven they all are. They're an inspired group. And they inspire us as a coaching staff, I'll tell you that."

Bingo, as Geno himself might say.

Look, I'm not going to get all schmaltzy over a single playoff win, no matter how many fun footnotes it might've accumulated. As I'll delve into below, this group, now gutted down to No. 3 goaltender Louis Domingue with Casey DeSmith fallen, now with Rickard Rakell also lost, now likely forced to grind its way to further success, faces garish odds to take this series, never mind anything more. 

But in the same breath, I'm not inclined to gloss over greatness that might be making its last collective gasp in Pittsburgh.

Because that, at least from this perch, was a big, big, big part of what took place here. Unless, of course, one can accept as coincidence that the Penguins' other two top performers were ... Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang.

That's not to take anything from Jake Guentzel, who scored twice, or Bryan Rust, who had a goal and two assists, or Marino, who set up the winner and weighed in with astronomical advanced analytics, or DeSmith, who stopped 48 of 51 shots, or Domingue, who stopped all 17 despite entering ice cold after several hours in a folding chair.

It was, as Rust called it, "a team win."

But this team, when it wins, still tends to have the Core as its centrifugal force, even a decade and a half later, and this wasn't an exception.

Pretty as both of Guentzel's finishes were, they paled next to Sid's passes that preceded them:

Not pictured: Sid's sweet feed to Letang seconds earlier on a two-on-one that Shesterkin stoned. The captain didn't quit, chasing down the puck in the far corner and firing across to Guentzel.

Then there was this gem, which ... oh, just watch:

Remember my writing on the eve of this game how all three of Sid, Guentzel and Rust had been underwhelming in the past three first-round exits?

All they achieved here was those two goals to erase not only the Rangers' 2-0 lead by the second period, but also Gerard Gallant's glaringly obvious plan to run the Penguins out of the building with belligerence in the opening few minutes. And it didn't stop. By the time it was done, the top line was on the ice at five-on-five for 44 shot attempts for Pittsburgh, 16 for New York, as well as 16 high-danger chances for Pittsburgh, two for New York.

"I thought they had a they had a great game tonight for us," Sullivan replied when I asked about that line. "But they did a lot more than that. They they had some D-zone starts, they defended when they had to ... those guys, they're such an important aspect of our overall team game. And, you know, I thought they led the charge tonight."

Within that, Sid led the charge. Stop reading for a spell, scroll back to the very top of this column and look at his expression.

Uh-huh. Looks like he's literally leading a charge.

Next came Malkin's one-touch feed to Rust on a two-man advantage that tied, 3-3:

And next came the less tangible but never-stops-being-a-blast spectacle of watching a game drag almost as much as the participants ... all except for Letang. He'd log a game-high 46 minutes, 40 seconds of ice time -- just under twice his average -- he'd partake in all special teams, he'd make as many defensive-zone starts as anywhere else on the rink, he'd be on the ice for 35 scoring chances for Pittsburgh to 15 for New York and, not to be ignored, he spent part of one shift taking several shots and cracks at Ryan Reaves with zero pushback.

He was exceptional. All three were.

Once more, with gusto: That's no coincidence.

Sid and Letang had spoken in the days leading up to this how they're aware this might be the Core's last chance together, Sid doing so in stark terms for the first time. Not without cause, either. Geno and Letang can both be unrestricted free agents this summer. They're both 35. They consume nearly $17 million space under an airtight salary cap. Rust, Rakell and others need to be retained.

And while Geno wouldn't bite on a question on that count after the game, saying principally, "I'm not thinking about my contract," he'd go on to add, "We just want to win."

Nothing too spacey or self-centered about that.

• For this occasion, I've collected a ton of milestones and other notes related to this long game.

• Taylor Haase, on hand here at the Garden, covers the goaltending situation, complete with her exclusive update on Tristan Jarry's status. She also updates Rakell's status and examines the hit that took him down. And remotely, Danny Shirey offers a bonus Drive to the Net breaking down the Penguins' persistent forecheck as a formula for further success.

• I hate the hit, and I'll make a rapid-fire two-point case:

1. Imagine the NHL knuckleheads who had a golden chance -- prominent matchup, ESPN broadcast, world's most famous arena, blah, blah -- to send a signal to the whole league that head shots won't be tolerated, but instead opted to senselessly reduce an on-ice major penalty to a minor for ... roughing?

2. This was sent to me by a friend on Twitter, and it'll afford me a chance to move on:

Best sport, worst league. And they never let anyone forget it.

• No, I'm not sticking by Rangers in five. But to reiterate, the task here's now even taller than before if DeSmith and/or Rakell can't return. I'd go so far as to suggest it'd be one of the bigger upsets in Pittsburgh hockey history, and I offer that respectfully.

• DeSmith wasn't super-sharp on two of the three goals he allowed, but man, there's no criticizing his overall showing. That's rising up.

• Marino was the victim of two big hits in the first period, one by Alexis Lafreniere, the other by Reaves, with the latter rattling his head into the glass and visibly shaking him up.

He'd leave the ice four-plus hours later leaping into Malkin's arms, and with the game's best analytics, not least of which was that, when he was on the ice at five-on-five, the Penguins generated 51 shot attempts to the Rangers' 17. And 11 high-danger chances to the Rangers' one.

"I thought he took a big step," Sullivan would say. "You know, playoff hockey is intense. And there was a lot of energy in the building tonight. The Rangers come out really hard, give them credit. And I thought our defense responded as a group. But John in particular, he did take some big hits, but he goes back for pucks. And he's, he's brave. He goes back, and he's undeterred. And, you know, I thought for the rest of the game, I thought he really took his game to another level. The play he makes on Geno's goal in overtime, where he scales the blue line to create a lane to the net and delivering that puck to the net, I think that's a high-end play."

Marino's very much one of the variables.

• Sullivan mentioned the energy in the building, and that was very much the case in the first period, during which I filmed this for my own amusement from the gondola-style press box:

Funny, but they'd go deathly silent with Guentzel's first goal -- one that several participants credited with changing the whole feel of the game -- and never really reclaimed all that energy.

• I wanted Kapanen scratched for Game 1. I was as wrong as wrong gets. He took three high-quality shots on Shesterkin, all of which resulted in some of his sharpest saves, then contributed prominently to Malkin's goal. Good for him.

• If Rakell's out, that could open the door for Drew O'Connor, anyway. He'll help. Big kid who's a force on the forecheck.

• Or Jason Zucker will be back. If he keeps flying around the way I saw him at the optional skate, there's no reason to hold him out. In that event, Danton Heinen could slide across to Malkin's right wing.

• Not for nothing, other than DeSmith, Heinen was the player who looked the coolest through that first period. He was eminently deserving of a goal but had to settle for one of the four clangs the Penguins recorded behind Shesterkin.

• Taking zero praise away from Shesterkin ...

... he'll be a handful every step of the way. Dude looks fortunate at times, but the best ones always do.

"I mean, he made like 80 saves or whatever it was, so he was good," New York forward Ryan Strome would say on the other side. "He's done it all year. Our best player, and he showed it tonight. He did everything he had to do, and we couldn't get one for him, obviously."

• Gerard Gallant's been around long enough not to blow a single loss out of proportion, and that's how he sounded.

"Great game by two teams," he'd say. "I thought the first 25 minutes we were real good, that we dominated that part of the game, and then they come back in the second and they played really well after that. It was one of those games, three overtime periods ... it's tough to lose like that, but you get back on the horse and get ready for the next game."

He and his staff have work to do. The possession edge was very real.

• I won't waste anyone's time debating the nullifying of Filip Chytil's apparent go-ahead goal with 3:10 left. The replays couldn't have been clearer that Kaapo Kakko made contact with DeSmith while driving to the net. Brian Dumoulin was all over Kakko, but he wasn't the one driving Kakko to the net. The NHL's replay review was tellingly quick and just.

• Not all was well. So much more is needed from Jeff Carter, I don't know where to even start. There wasn't enough assertiveness from Teddy Blueger, who still feels as if he's searching for his old wingers. Evan Rodrigues has disintegrated to the point he can't even receive a pass properly. And Dumoulin ... eh, he at least got better as the game went along.

• Man, it's been so long since the Penguins were involved in anything even interesting in the playoffs -- probably back to Chris Kunitz vs. the Senators in 2017 -- that I can't even recall how to avoid being critical.

• Quite a night here. I won't forget it.

• Thanks for reading, as ever.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule

THE THREE STARS

As selected at Madison Square Garden:

1. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins C
2. Igor Shesterkin, Rangers G
3. Bryan Rust, Penguins RW

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• Rickard Rakell, forward, exited this game in the first period after a hit to the head by the Rangers' Ryan Lindgren, needing help off the ice. Sullivan described Rakell only as "out," and I'm not exactly stretching it to presume he's in concussion protocol.

• Casey DeSmith, goaltender, exited this game in the second overtime with what Sullivan described as a "lower-body injury," adding that his status is "day to day."

• Tristan Jarry, goaltender, is considered out day-to-day because of a broken bone in his foot.

• Jason Zucker, forward, skated both before and at the optional skate. Sullivan ruled him out of Game 1 in the morning but didn't rule him out of Game 2.

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan’s lines and pairings:

Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Heinen-Malkin-Rakell
McGinn-Carter-Kapanen
Boyle-Blueger-Rodrigues

Dumoulin-Letang
Matheson-Ruhwedel
Pettersson-Marino

And for Gallant's Rangers:

Kreider-Zibanejad-Vatrano
Panarin-Strome-Copp
Lafreniere-Chytil-Kakko
Goodrow-Rooney-Reaves

Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Nemeth-Schneider

THE SCHEDULE

The Penguins will practice here at the Garden at 1 p.m. Wednesday. Game 2 faces off at 7:08 p.m. Thursday.

THE CONTENT

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