Of the 95 goals Phil Kessel has scored in a Penguins uniform, seemingly 90 have come with the stocky winger barreling down the right side of the ice and firing his trademark crow-hop snapper into the top shelf past helpless goaltenders.
Casey DeSmith has seen this shot hundreds, if not thousands of times, in practice.
"It's quick and accurate," the goaltender was saying. "He's definitely a finisher."
Conversely, Sidney Crosby is the game's preeminent playmaker, a center capable of making passes -- even blind and backhanded -- anywhere on the ice.
Combined, they would seem a match made in Pittsburgh hockey heaven.
Thing is, they've rarely seen the ice together at 5-on-5 and certainly not in the three-year reign of Mike Sullivan. But necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, and Thursday night was a necessity. With Patric Hornqvist leaving after the first period with what appears to be his second concussion in 13 days, Sullivan relented, placing Nos. 87 and 81 together on a line.
The results: An even strength goal for each -- that's not even taking into account their collaboration on the power play -- and a much-needed 6-2 win over the Islanders at PPG Paints Arena.
Sans Hornqvist, the NHL's most grating forward, the Penguins earned, in every sense, points Nos. 28 and 29 on the season. Those two points propelled them past the Islanders and into third place in the Metropolitan and, at long last, back into playoff position.
They are now 12-10-5 with an upcoming trip to Ottawa, Long Island and Chicago.
Whether Hornqvist -- who scored a hat trick in this building just two nights earlier -- will play, let alone travel, seems very much in doubt. He was still being "evaluated," according to Sullivan without elaboration, but there's a chance it's another head injury based on this hit late in the first period from New York's Adam Pelech:
Hornqvist finished the period but didn't return after the intermission.
If so, it would be his fourth documented concussion since coming to Pittsburgh in 2014. Sullivan, who cancelled practice on Friday, will update Hornqvist's status after Saturday's morning skate at the Canadian Tire Centre prior to his team's game against the Senators.
"You don't want to lose a guy like that," Riley Sheahan was telling me afterward. "He brings so much energy for us. He's great in the locker room. He's a leader for us. Guys will step up. We have a lot of talent here and when he comes back we'll be ready for him."
Indeed, Sheahan was one of those who stepped up, scoring his second goal in as many games. The Penguins got valuable contributions up and down the lineup, but with this team it's always about the stars, isn't it?
It was the talent -- Crosby, Kessel, and Kris Letang, in particular -- that led the charge Thursday.
"Their stars were good," Barry Trotz said. "Sid was good. Kessel was really good for them. And Kris Letang on the back end, those three ... even Geno was dangerous all the time. I don't think he got a lot of points, but he was dangerous. Their stars showed up and we didn't have enough for them."
Kessel recorded a season high four points with a pair of goals and assists. Crosby had a goal and two assists. Letang had the ninth multi-goal game of his career. The only other knock on Thursday's performance (see The Bad) was that Letang failed in his bid to record his first hat trick despite having 40:29 to score his third.
The Penguins carried a 2-1 lead into intermission where Hornqvist stayed behind. But they emerged with an inspired second period that saw them score three goals to put the game away, holding New York -- a team which had beaten them twice already this season -- to just four shots.
Sheahan, who was bumped up to a line with Evgeni Malkin and Tanner Pearson, scored at 7:21 with what proved to be the game-winning goal.
And then it was the Sid and Phil show.
From the left side of the net, Kessel scored on the power play at 12:09 on a slick feed from Crosby:
And then he scored at even strength on another feed from the captain. This time from the right:
You'll notice that Kessel's two goals went a combined 26 feet. That distance is about the same or less than one of his patented snap shots. A couple of "tap-ins," he said.
"Anywhere inside the blue line, he's dangerous to score," Crosby said of Kessel. "He's just really smart. He knows where to go to score goals."
Whether that dynamic duo -- hey, it was superhero night -- remains intact will depend on Hornqvist's health.
As it was in Boston on Nov. 23 when he was felled by a thunderous hit from Kevan Miller, the concern for Hornqvist's long-term health is the bigger story here, even bigger than an "important win" by December standards.
Though the Penguins went 1-for-3 on the power play Thursday, Hornqvist is arguably the league's best net-front presence on the NHL's sixth-ranked unit. In Hornqvist's most recent absence they were just 1-for-6 with the man advantage.
Despite their struggles on the power play, the last time the Penguins went without Hornqvist, it went about as well as could have been reasonably hoped. They responded by winning two of three, including victories over the Metropolitan Division-leading Blue Jackets and then over the Jets, a Western Conference finalist a season ago.
That win in Winnipeg on Nov. 27 was perhaps the Penguins' most impressive victory of the season.
All things considered, Thursday night's win is also in the running.
Coupled with Tuesday's win over high-powered Colorado, it was the first time that the Penguins have put up at least five goals in consecutive games since Oct. 23, 25 and 27. Those were the final three games of a highly successful road trip through Canada.
But as the Penguins know, they squandered any momentum gained in that trip with a brutal 4-7-3 November. Forty days later, they seem to have finally regained some momentum. But ...
"It's what you do with it," Crosby said.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THREE STARS
My curtain calls go to …
1. Phil Kessel
Penguins right winger
Now somewhat quietly shares team lead with 33 points.
2. Sidney Crosby
Penguins center
If Hornqvist leads by words and passion, Crosby leads by action.
3. Kris Letang
Penguins defenseman
Another virtuoso performance after a dud vs. Flyers. Now has four points in last two games.
THE INJURIES
• Penguins: Dominik Simon, forward, is expected to miss his first game with a lower body injury sustained Tuesday. ... Matt Murray, goalie, is out longer term with a lower body injury. … Matt Cullen, center, is out longer term with a lower-body injury. ... Both Cullen and Murray skated on their own again on Thursday prior to their teammates. ... Justin Schultz, defenseman, is expected to miss four months after fracturing his leg Oct. 13 in Montreal.
• Islanders: Andrew Ladd, forward, is on IR with a lower body injury. He's been out since Nov. 15, missing nine games.
THE GOOD
We'll let DK take a deep dive into how Sullivan's insistence on playing on the right side of pucks is starting to materialize.
THE BAD
Take a wild guess?
Before every power play, PA announcer Ryan Mill shouts out that "It's a Powerball Power Play!"
Question: Is it possible for a lottery to lose money?
Yep, it was another game and yet another short-handed goal against. To be fair, the Penguins' latest -- their NHL-worst eighth, two more than the dreadful Kings -- came with the second power-play unit on the ice.
At 17:43 of the first period, with the Penguins leading 1-0 and Mathew Barzal in the box for high-sticking Jack Johnson, Tom Kuhnhackl got in on the forecheck against Jamie Oleksiak and won a puck battle in the right corner against the big defenseman. Kuhnhackl, showing far more skill than he did in his three seasons in Pittsburgh, flipped a backhanded pass while falling to Brock Nelson at the left circle.
Sure, Nelson makes a nice deke on DeSmith before sliding the puck through the goalie's five-hole, but check out the number of black sweaters:
That's Oleksiak, Olli Maatta and Tanner Pearson fixated on Kuhnhackl, a man with 14 career goals. In a corner. Yeesh.
Short of going back to those unorthodox power play units that Sullivan employed in early November, not sure how a coach fixes this mess. All five Penguins on the ice, including the two defensemen, are fairly responsible in their own end.
"I don't expect a shorthanded chance or a shorthanded goal but it's something we want to try and get rid of if we can," DeSmith said.
At this rate, Powerball will be broke.
THE PLAY
There's always a debate as to whether a short-side goal is a thing of beauty or whether the goalie simply left his post uncovered.
A good argument could be made that's what Greiss did on Letang's first goal to open the scoring at 8:34 of the first.
But that last one?
No idea what more poor Christopher Gibson, who replaced Greiss at the start of the third, could have done differently on Crosby's goal that closed out the scoring at the 13:00 mark of the third.
Crosby took a drop pass from Kessel at the right faceoff circle and skated wide. Then, from 21 feet out and at almost no angle, he somehow found a bit of daylight between the post and Gibson's left ear.
"You watch him out there. He's special, the things he does. Look at that goal, it's impressive," Kessel said. "I just gave it to him, skated behind the net and heard the horn. I'm like, what happened?"
It's more impressive when Crosby scores like that on his backhand but, still, his team-leading 15th of the season was a jaw-dropper.
"I was sure I was going to get that one," Crosby said.
He might have been the only one.
THE CALL
Not sure if Sheahan was much of a Toronto Blue Jays fan growing up in St. Catherines, Ontario, but the forward showed some pretty remarkable hand-eye coordination -- and restraint -- to score his fourth of the season in the second period.
It wasn't quite a Joe Carter walk-off, it was actually more of a well-placed slap bunt.
From the right of the net, Malkin missed on most of a one-timer but he got just enough of it that the puck hit Thomas Greiss' right shoulder and fluttered high in the air to the top of the crease where Sheahan was standing, and waiting:
"I don't know, I just kind of got lucky and saw it go through the air and waited a bit for it to get down to legal height and just got a stick on it," Sheahan said.
Referee Steve Kozari initially ruled no goal on the ice but it was overturned on video replay.
After going 20 games without a goal, Sheahan now has three in the last five. He's been holding onto pucks a little longer and, as Thursday showed, is getting to the front of the net.
Everyone knows that Kessel, Crosby, Malkin and Jake Guentzel are going to get their goals. But it's vital for role players like Sheahan to start getting theirs.
"The secondary scoring is a key component for any successful team," he was saying. "When you can have guys chipping in and feeling good about themselves, it's a good recipe for success."
THE OTHER SIDE
It was probably a bit much to expect the Islanders to sweep the season series against the Penguins. They haven't done that since 1986-87.
Still, they would have liked to have had a better showing than Thursday. Trotz's team has been surprisingly competitive this season but their four-goal margin of defeat was tied for their second-worst this season.
"I didn't like our overall game," the New York coach said. "It was too friendly of a game. There wasn't enough skin invested in the game. Right across the board. We needed a couple saves. Some D could play a little better. Some forwards could be more physical and assertive in that area and our skill guys have to produce. No one was immune today."
Nope, the Islanders were beat soundly in all facets.
Greiss gave up three goals on the first dozen shots he faced. They were held to 11 shots through two periods and lost 56 to 44 percent in the faceoff circle.
After falling out of a playoff spot with their loss, the Islanders will face the Red Wings in Detroit before heading home where they'll host the Penguins on Monday night in the second of 20 games to be played at NYCB Live, the arena formerly known as Nassau Coliseum.
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will not take the ice Friday, having canceled a scheduled practice in Cranberry. They will fly to Ottawa where they'll face the Senators at 7:08 p.m. on Saturday. I'll have your coverage and an update on Hornqvist following the visitors' morning skate at 11:30 a.m.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Penguins team page for everything.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Islanders, PPG Paints Arena, Dec. 6, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
