Four times already this NHL season, these Penguins have rallied in the third period to prevail, with three of those overcoming multiple-goal deficits. And they've done so, seemingly, with the flip of a switch.
Which is really impressive, of course.
Until it isn't.
Because the caution flag with comebacks is that they're almost always accompanied by a whole lot of luck. And when that luck inevitably flips its own switch, the formula is exposed as fatally flawed.
Think Brooklyn, for example.
So shortly before Mike Sullivan's boys took the ice again Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena, less than 24 hours after watching their latest third-period rally deflate into a last-minute to the Islanders, I asked the coach if maybe, just maybe that could prove to be a powerful lesson:
https://vimeo.com/193958296
Yep. That's it. To paraphrase the man's point, "We don't want to chase games."
Penguins 6, Stars 2.
No chasing, no erasing deficits, no other assembly required.
For all else that might have characterized this outcome, from Marc-Andre Fleury's 33 saves to another spectacular Sidney Crosby goal to the extension of that increasingly cool we-never-lose-back-to-back-games streak to 17, what probably should have stood out most to this group is that they got the job done without unnecessary drama.
Ian Cole scored first ...
https://vimeo.com/193973003
... and Dallas tied less than four minutes later.
Patric Hornqvist scored five-on-three midway through the second ...
https://vimeo.com/193977324
... and Dallas tied less than four minutes later.
So the Penguins, especially with the visible fall-off that followed the 2-2 score, could have lapsed back into Brooklyn mode, when they maddeningly allowed the inferior Islanders to take command. And a 3-0 lead into the second intermission.
But they didn't lapse. They resumed churning near the end of the second period, and Crosby's beauty with 22 seconds left — oh, wait, plenty more on that to come — brought the pivotal moment. Because even the Stars, with all their firepower, are now 0-10-2 when trailing after two while the Penguins are 7-0 when leading after two.
That's how those figures are supposed to sound.
"It's big when you get those and can take that energy into the locker room and carry it right back out for the third period," Crosby said. "That's what we did."
Fleury fended off a storm at the period's midpoint, but Crosby set up Conor Sheary for a two-on-one tap-in at 16:22, and Eric Fehr and Nick Bonino followed up in the next minute and a half to create the feel of a rout.
It wasn't a rout. But it sure offered a far better formula going forward.
DK'S THREE THOUGHTS
1. My God, Sid.
Remember the goal last week, one I dedicated an entire column to appreciating primarily because Crosby just thinks of things that other players don't think?
Well, pop some fresh popcorn ...
https://vimeo.com/193979221
Wait, you want it from more angles?
OK, we've got butter and salt, too ...
https://vimeo.com/193979247
Sorry, I've got nothing to add this time.
Anyone?
"I've seen Sid score a number of goals like that," Sullivan said. "But there aren't that many players in the league who would even think to make that type of a play. It might look to the casual fan like a fluke goal or happenstance goal, but for me it's a really skilled play, a really heads-up play by a guy who thinks the game differently than most."
"There's only a few players in the league who can do that or even try," Hornqvist said. "You see him ... he tried it the first time and went up in the air, and he tries a second time ... hey, if you have that skill, you might as well do it."
Only one lonely soul in the place came across as nonplused.
"I don't know," Crosby opened when asked to explain the thought process. "I mean, it's just one of those things. Goalies have to challenge. There are going to be opportunities when there are loose pucks. Some of the rinks you play in, the boards are more lively. But you have to get the right bounce, too."
Reminded that a certain franchise owner once called his own bank shots, the franchise captain replied, "Yeah, there's just not much daylight anymore against goaltenders. Their gear is so big you just have to take what's there."
The goal was Crosby's league-leading 16th in 18 games. He's scored at least once in 12 of those 18 games. In each of the six games he hasn't scored, as happened in Brooklyn, he's rebounded with a goal in the next one.
2. That Cole-Schultz pairing, though.
Sure, they were on the ice for the Stars' storm midway through the third, but overall, they carried play at both ends at a level — each had two points and a plus-3 rating, and they combined for five hits — that I'm not sure I've seen. At least not collectively.
Cole has been solid all season, but Schultz is the one rising up not only with his often spectacular skating but also with a consistency that few could have envisioned he'd have found while struggling for years in Edmonton.
"He's been awesome," Cole said. "And awesome to play with."
There were occasions last season when Sullivan clearly didn't trust Schultz yet, but that pendulum has swung wildly the other way.
"We really like his game right now," Sullivan said of Schultz. "He's a great puck-mover. He has really good offensive instincts. He's very good at the offensive blue line. I think his defending away from the puck is really improved. I know that we've spent a lot of time with him as far as his play away from the puck, his positioning, his use of the stick, strategies to defend, all of those things. I think between myself, Jacques Martin and Sergei Gonchar, there's been a lot of time spent in helping him improve that aspect of his game. We like what he's bringing right now."
About being a great puck-mover, watch this rocket pass to spring Crosby and Sheary on the late two-on-one goal:
https://vimeo.com/193989488
3. Hornqvist was a beast.
Rinse, repeat, then pick his splinters out of your teeth all over again.
The difference he makes for the Penguins when he's in the lineup, in the opposing goaltender's crease, in defensemen's faces ... well, it's really the same difference he's made since arriving from Nashville. But it definitely shouldn't be taken for granted, goal or no goal.
Especially on the power play, where he has produced five of his six goals and where the Penguins convert at a 22.6 percent rate with him but 10 percent without.
"Horny's one of the best at what he does," Sullivan said. "He's willing to go there. He plays with a lot of courage. He takes pride in it. And I think he creates a lot of opportunities for the guys who are out there with him."
MORE PENGUINS
Kovacevic: Fleury stars among Stars
Matt's Stats: The blue line project
Yohe: Troubled Stevens in town
Drive to the net: Build from the back
DK Sports Radio: Tim, DK postgame