This was Sidney Crosby's night, of course.
He's the one who received the video tributes from former teammates and current opponents.
The one who was presented with the traditional silver stick by his team, and who got a mural from his co-workers to celebrate Crosby appearing in his 1,000th NHL game.
The one who was honored as the No. 1 star in the Penguins' 3-2 victory against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena Saturday night.
Tristan Jarry?
All he had to show for his evening's efforts were 33 saves, and whatever satisfaction accompanies being named a No. 3 star.
Oh, yeah, and one other thing.
He also got credit from his co-workers for almost singlehandedly making sure that all of the Penguins' memories of this landmark day in Crosby's career will be positive.
"Tristan won us that game, hands down," Mike Matheson said. "After the second period, it was 1-1, and we had no reason to be in that game. We didn't play the way we should -- and need to, to stay with a team like the Islanders -- but he kept us in it."
So while Crosby had a couple of assists and a typically good showing at both ends of the ice, being honored as the No. 1 star might have been as much a lifetime achievement award as it was an acknowledgement of Crosby's play against the Islanders.
Fact is, the Penguins could have been blown out of this game early -- or at several points later in it -- if Jarry hadn't turned in the latest in a series of excellent performances.
The Islanders ran up a 35-18 advantage in shots on goal, and that was a reasonable reflection of how the game played out.
"Quite honestly, we got outplayed a lot of the night," Mike Sullivan said.
New York absolutely dominated most of the opening period, as evidenced by its 16-4 edge in shots on goal, but had to settle for being in a scoreless tie at the first intermission. During those 20 minutes, Jarry repeatedly stopped the Islanders after the guys in front of him were unable to do so.
"He was amazing all game," Kris Letang said. "Especially in the first period."
Of course, Jarry quite didn't do it all --- he let Letang, who got his first two goals of the season, and Matheson handle the scoring -- but he was the primary reason the Penguins claimed their fourth victory in the past five games and climbed into a four-way tie for second place in the East Division.
Jarry nearly was compelled to try to make a 34th save as the third period was about to expire, but Jake Guentzel made that unnecessary when he sacrificed himself to block a Josh Bailey shot that could have sent the game into overtime.
"That's how you win games," Crosby said.
Setting good screens can help, too, and Guentzel did just that on Letang's game-winner, which came on a wrist shot from the center point.
But while the Penguins obviously did some things well -- and Jarry did as much as anyone could have expected -- New York dictated play much of the time.
"We probably deserved a point tonight, at least," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said.
They didn't get it, at least in part, because the Penguins received three goals from defensemen, matching the total guys at that position had contributed in the previous 15 games.
The two from Letang had to be encouraging for Sullivan and his staff, because Letang has the talent to be a true difference-maker on their blue line, but if Matheson's play in recent games is a portent, he could have a major impact, too.
He not only scored the goal that tied the game, 2-2, at 7:35 of the third -- "Huge goal for us," Crosby said -- but made it possible with a nice rush that began at his own net.
Matheson carried it into the neutral zone before sliding a pass to Teddy Blueger. He got the puck back to Matheson, who beat Semyon Varlamov from near the right hashmark.
"I felt like I had the forechecker on my back and was just trying to skate until somebody got open," Matheson said. "Nothing really came of it, so I jut shoveled it up the (boards) to Teddy, and he made a great play."
That sequence not only illustrated Matheson's offensive abilities, which are considerable, but the degree of comfort he is developing with the Penguins, and the offensive latitude he has in their system.
"Mike is gaining more confidence with every day that he plays here," Sullivan said.
For all the Penguins could -- and should -- have done better in this game, even the most demanding critic had no reason to complain about their power play.
After going 1-for-29 in the previous 10 games, it needed just 12 seconds on its only chance of the game to get a goal from Letang, who hammered an Evgeni Malkin pass by Varlamov from above the left circle for a 1-0 lead at 12:35 of the second period.
"That's an important goal for us," Sullivan said. "We really didn't have a lot going, quite honestly. That power play certainly gave us a spark."
That spark, though, never managed to ignite long stretches during which the Penguins had the better of play. The Islanders can be relentless, and they had an advantage in most aspects of play.
"It certainly wasn't how we drew it up," Sullivan said.
On some levels, that has to be troubling for the Penguins, because points are so precious in a 56-game season. Particularly when every game is against a divisional opponent.
Conversely, it should be encouraging that they defeated a quality opponent despite a performance that was subpar in so many ways.
"It tells you that even if we don't have our 'A' game on one of those nights, we can actually still be in the fight to win and gain some points in the standings," Letang said. "This team never gives up. It doesn't matter. It keeps working hard."
• Kasperi Kapanen started the game on the No. 1 line and finished it on the bench, taking just one shift in the third period. "I was trying to find guys who were bringing it tonight, who were competing hard and would give us the best chance to win," Sullivan said. "I didn't think (Kapanen) had his game going tonight, so I was trying to find guys who were going to give us an opportunity to win." Kapanen finished with 11 minutes, 42 seconds of ice time and two shots on goal.
• Malkin missed part of the first period and the early moments of the second because of an unspecified injury he appeared to get in a futile attempt to check New York's Mat Barzal. Mark Jankowski filled in for him in the middle of the second line.
• The Islanders got their only power play of the game with a little less than six minutes to go in regulation, but were limited to two shots on Jarry while Jason Zucker served a hooking minor.
• Matheson said he learned from Letang, a longtime workout partner, that the Penguins would be acquiring him from Florida. "It got out on social media that (the trade) had happened, and it hadn't," he said. "He texted me, welcoming me to the team. I was sitting on the couch with my wife and I turned to her and said, 'I think I got traded.' Sure enough, a couple of days later, it came to fruition."
• New York had a 53-30 edge in hits, including eight by fourth-line winger Cal Clutterbuck.
• Referee Furman South, a Sewickley native and former Robert Morris player, went down hard behind the Penguins' goal line early in the first period after after hitting skate blades with Crosby. He appeared to land on his elbow and was in considerable pain, but finished the game.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
• Highlights
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. Sidney Crosby, Penguins
2. Kris Letang, Penguins
3. Tristan Jarry, Penguins
THE INJURIES
• Juuso Riikola is out "longer term" with an unspecified injury, but has resumed practicing.
• Evan Rodrigues is out "longer term" with an unspecified injury, but has resumed skating.
• Brian Dumoulin has an unspecified lower-body injury, but is skating.
• Jared McCann is "week to week" with an unspecified lower-body injury, but is skating.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Kasperi Kapanen
Jason Zucker-Evgeni Malkin-Bryan Rust
Zach Aston-Reese-Teddy Blueger-Brandon Tanev
Drew O'Connor-Reese-Mark Jankowski-Sam Lafferty
P.O Joseph-Kris Letang
Mike Matheson-John Marino
Marcus Pettersson-Cody Ceci
And for Barry Trotz's Islanders:
Anders Lee-Mat Barzal-Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier-Brock Nelson-Josh Bailey
Leo Komarov-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Oliver Wahlstrom
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock
Nick Leddy-Scott Mayfield
Andy Greene-Noah Dobson
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will be off Sunday and are scheduled to practice Monday at 11 a.m. in Cranberry before traveling to Washington to face the Capitals Tuesday.
THE CONTENT
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