Kovacevic: Now this, my friends, is why Evgeni Malkin stayed home

It might be the steal. Or it might be the stride. Or the snipe. Or even the situation.

Or heck, it might've just been the celebration.

Here, absorb the whole sequence, the whole scene, complete with soul-rattling sound from the ESPN national broadcast:

Spectacular. All of it. 

Every split-second of Evgeni Malkin's electric winner with 1:20 left for the Penguins' final push past the Capitals, 4-3, Saturday night before 18,456 dropped jaws inside PPG Paints Arena made for a leap-from-the-seat finish worthy of Soixante-Six himself, and that's a reference I'll scarcely cite.

And yet, for me, to be honest, it was more about the ... setting?

Because this, my friends, is the only city in which this should -- or could -- ever have occurred. And for whatever reason, in the instant that puck sizzled beneath the blocker of poor Darcy Kuemper, that's the thought that'd whizzed through the brain. That this extraordinary talent, among the elites in NHL history, shouldn't -- or couldn't -- ever have embraced this specific challenge to this degree anywhere else.

Why?

Because Geno's still every bit the beating heart and soul of this franchise that Sidney Crosby remains. And because neither of them wants anything to do with being part of a Pittsburgh team, regardless of roster deficiencies or injuries or whatever, that misses the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 17 years.

The other night in Dallas, after an exasperating 3-2 loss to the Stars in which the visitors deserved better, it was Geno, as often has been the case throughout his tenure, who stood tall in a tough time afterward and spoke, "We need everyone, not just first line or goalie - every line, every player, we need to keep going. We understand every game is important right now. A little bit of luck next game, and we'll be fine."

He even found an elegant way to state what'd been glaringly obvious for months but to that point went unstated, that it can't just be the same handful of guys getting it done night after night. That the bottom six forwards, the backup goaltender, the blue-line replacements for the currently missing two-thirds of the defense ... all of them needed to be participants, not passengers.

I've got no particulars, but I've been told there was quite the collective conversation in advance of that stirring 5-2 victory in Denver this past Wednesday. And from there, it can't be coincidence that Jeff Carter scores not once but twice out there. That Drew O'Connor emerges that much more as a forechecking force. That Brian Dumoulin and P.O Joseph put up points. That the new third pairing of Mark Friedman and 34-year-old journeyman recall Taylor Fedun surprisingly steadies the back.

And in this game alone, that Ryan Poehling scores on a breakaway beauty for his first goal since January, that Chad Ruhwedel rivals those style points with his own first goal since ... uh, last April, and above all, that Casey DeSmith was phenomenal through 40-plus.

"It takes every piece, for sure," Geno'd say after this one, when those Dallas remarks were raised anew. "Poehls. Rudy. Everybody. It gives them confidence. It gives all of us confidence."

To repeat, I don't know what was said a mile high, or even by whom. But I do know that this engine's still fueled by the Core, and it's inconceivable that Geno, Sid and Kris Letang wouldn't be front and center. Because those three aren't messing around now anymore than they were when Geno and Letang committed to contracts to close out their careers here alongside Sid, all three of them with the pursuit of another Cup as the sole priority.

No, they're not naive to think this edition of the Penguins will be anyone's favorite. Probably not even to escape the first round. But to know all three, to have covered their championships to date, I'll attest that their shared view's always been that, if they're in the field, there's a shot. Just like 2016. Just like 2017. Just like, believe it or not, every playoff that's followed, including the failures. That's how they're wired. No one achieves all that winning any other way.

Yeah, they want in. 

Geno wants in.

So when the Penguins put up the evening's first three goals, the last of those on a Jake Guentzel breakaway 27 ticks into the third period, and then again fell flat on their figurative faces to give back all three to Tom Wilson, Alexander Ovechkin and Dylan Strome, the latter tying it up with 2:44 left ... oh, let's roll through it all again for fun:

It's impossible to proceed without panning Anthony Mantha for the giveaway that just might've kept the Capitals from the playoffs, as they're now six points out. But man, even for a player with a rep for not caring about defense, he's got Ovechkin on one side, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and he tries to dip the shoulder to get by Malkin? At center red? With his defenseman changing? Right after that riveting rally? And against Malkin, long one of the league's leaders in official takeaways?

Peter Laviolette's view from the Washington bench: “It’s frustrating to tie it up and then have it go the other way.”

Mantha wasn't made available to reporters in the visitors' room.

But give Geno his props, too, for circling back into the neutral zone upon the Capitals' breakout and pouncing with as much precision as one could seek from a one-handed poke. Or, per his own intricate description, "I took the puck."

Next was the shot, this on the third clean breakaway Kuemper faced: 

The shots by Poehling and Guentzel beat him to the short side, which might've caused that lean to his left up there, but there was no chance of that with Geno, who lives for the low-blocker side.

I asked:

"Just try to do my best," he'd reply. "Last game, I tried on a two-on-one to shoot low blocker, and I can’t score. But finally, it gives me confidence, for sure. It’s a huge goal for me, and two points for the team."

The latter was his hard emphasis.

"We need to play better in the third period, for sure," he'd continue, adding that he feels the team tends to back off with a late lead rather than keeping up the pressure. "I hope it’s the last game we play like this ... but I hope our fans love this game, for sure," 

This isn't about any silly streak. It's about getting in.

That's the response we all witnessed in the form of that goal and what followed:

And this from his captain on the bench:

That was the fire. Not just because of who Geno is and what it'd mean to him but also where Geno is. Still.

I remarked to him after the game, away from the cameras and microphones, that this night might've been the reason he came back.

This reply came with a soft smile: "I know. I know."

• What's above is a shot from the crowd. Riveting stuff. Eruption in all directions.

What a crowd. What a night. Wasn't sure we'd see another of these this year in this place. Certainly not after New York.

• Poehling's goal was still better than anyone's, at least at the end, so he gets his own mandatory-read Freeze Frame.

• Could DeSmith become the starter over Tristan Jarry? I felt compelled to write a separate article on that alone.

• This is 2-1 since the Ottawa debacle and, translated to the Eastern Conference's standings, the Penguins, at 36-27-10, remain in the eighth and final playoff spot with 82 points, one point behind the Islanders and three ahead of the Panthers, both of whom lost in regulation earlier on this day. The Penguins are a fraction of a point-percentage ahead of the Islanders, .562 to .561, which actually is the final arbiter in these things.

• Anyone else unable to recall the last time the Penguins scored all their goals on rushes?

Really, all four came that way, three of them on breakaways. I'd known the Capitals weren't defending that well but sure didn't expect this. Nor that they'd total 19 high-danger chances.

• Jason Zucker's day began with being held out of the morning skate because he's so banged up, and it concluded with an assist, a team-high six shots, nine shot attempts, two takeaways, a hit and a blocked shot. Unreal.

• Speaking of tough: It's not just that Josh Archibald, all 5 feet 10, 176 pounds of him, dropped the gloves with the Capitals' Rasmus Sandin ... it's that he made that dude one with the ice and, to boot, made himself a social media sensation:

I had to ask Archibald afterward if he knew his HockeyFights.com scorecard off the top of his head.

"Eh, no," he'd reply with a grin. "Can't say I do."

• I'd thank you for reading my hockey coverage, except that there's more. Two more pieces. Pounce on those as if I'm Mantha lugging the puck up ice.

THE ESSENTIALS

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

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE THREE STARS

As selected at PPG Paints Arena:

1. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins C
2. Jake Guentzel, Penguins LW
3. Dylan Strome, Capitals C

THE INJURIES

• Tristan Jarry, goaltender, has a lower-body injury dating to this past Wednesday. He skated with the team Saturday and suited up as backup for the game.

• Jeff Petry, defenseman, has a head injury dating to March 16. He skated with the team Saturday and said afterward he hopes to return "soon."

• Jan Rutta, defenseman, has an upper-body injury dating to March 16.

• Marcus Pettersson, defenseman, has a lower-body injury dating to March 18 and is on LTIR.

• Dmitry Kulikov, defenseman, has a left foot injury dating to March 12 and is on LTIR.

• Nick Bonino, center, has a lacerated kidney dating to March 9 and is on LTIR.

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan's lines and pairings:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Danton Heinen - Ryan Pohling - Mikael Granlund
Drew O'Connor - Jeff Carter - Josh Archibald

P.O Joseph - Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin - Chad Ruhwedel
Mark Friedman - Taylor Fedun

And for Laviolette's Capitals:

Alexander Ovechkin - Dylan Strome - Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas - Nicklas Backstrom - T.J. Oshie
Anthony Mantha - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Craig Smith
Nicolas Aube-Kubel - Nic Dowd - Conor Sheary 

Martin Fehervary - John Carlson 
Rasmus Sandin - Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev - Trevor van Riemskdyk

THE SCHEDULE

The team's got Sunday off, then an 11a.m. practice Monday in Cranberry, then a 7:08 p.m. game Tuesday in Detroit.

THE MULTIMEDIA

THE CONTENT

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