WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- No, Mike Sullivan hadn't lost his marbles.
Trust me, I double-checked: He really did size up all his options for the final 4.6 seconds of the Penguins' 4-3 victory over the Jets on this Tuesday night, he really did recognize that a man-child who'd just scored five goals in a single game a couple days earlier would be doing the gunning, and he really did send over the boards ... Jake Guentzel?
Damned right he did.
Again.
And man, did it work.
When Winnipeg's Brian Little lined up at the left dot across from Sidney Crosby, everyone inside Bell MTS Place knew where Little wanted to go. If only because, you know, Patrik Laine exists. And he was lined up directly behind Little just atop the circle, legs planted, stick cocked back. And, on top of all that, the only other point option was Blake Wheeler, a right-handed shot on the right side who'd have no chance to release in time.
Seriously, this part of the play might as well have been posted in red neon at Portage and Main.
Far less obvious was how the Penguins would counter.
Three nights earlier, back in Pittsburgh, Sullivan dispatched the unlikely duo of Crosby and Guentzel for the final 20 seconds against the Blue Jackets. And, as Sullivan would explain to me, he did so because his priority if the faceoff was lost would be to get Guentzel and Bryan Rust rushing Columbus' point men, Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, as aggressively as possible. Both those players have speed, and both have the gumption.
But that was with 20 seconds left, and this was with a handful. That was with two decent threats to score, and this was with maybe the NHL's most dangerous shooter.
This would be simpler, though not necessarily easier.
Watch below as Crosby does, indeed, get beaten cleanly by Little, and the puck comes right back to Laine:
When I watched this live, as I'd later share with Sullivan, I initially looked at Kris Letang going shoulder-to-shoulder with Mark Scheifele at the outside hash. No way would he be the one going to Laine because he'd have to stick to Scheifele. Which he did.
Guentzel was on the inside hash, right up against Dustin Byfuglien, though the size disparity could easily have gotten Guentzel confused with one of Byfuglien's legs. No way would Guentzel be there to keep Byfuglien from going to the net. And because Byfuglien, like Wheeler, is a right-handed shot, no way could he pull the trigger, either.
So, yeah, Guentzel was headed out to Laine. And he gave up the body with an exceptional block, one that went full-blast into the inside of his lower left leg.
But even that wasn't enough. Because he'd been spun around on the block, Guentzel was out of commission as the puck went right back to Laine's blade. And it was then that Riley Sheahan, whose primary responsibility was to take away any passing option Laine might entertain -- note Nikolaj Ehlers peeling back atop the screen -- reacted reflexively to Guentzel going down by coming across and giving up his own body for his own exceptional block.
Ever seen a grown head coach coo like a proud papa?
Behold:
"Huge," he called those blocks. "I put Jake on the ice because I knew he's such a smart player, and he's brave. He's courageous. And he's willing to get in the lanes. And then we get another big block from Riley. Those are just two examples, but there were more."
There sure were.
The NHL's official scorers would credit the Penguins with only 11 blocks on the evening -- that's terribly low, at least from this perspective -- but the quality outshone the quantity regardless, considering five of them came in the final seven minutes while protecting a one-goal lead.
This was Garrett Wilson, recently recalled to add grit to a fourth line that hadn't been scoring, on Laine with 6:59 left:
On that one, Little cleaned Sheahan on the faceoff -- Little's great at this, by the way -- but Wilson went full-horizontal to make sure nothing got through. This wasn't exactly what hockey people derisively call the 'flamingo,' where the player pretends like he's blocking the shot but coolly lifts a leg to let it pass by without contact. This was a grown man risking ... uh, a lot.
"It's not something you think about," Wilson would say. "Part of the job."
Next was Tanner Pearson, with 5:49 left, on Jacob Trouba:
This is risk of a different sort. Pearson rushes right into Trouba's full windup. Unlike the other blocks cited so far, there's precious little clue where this puck's headed, including the possibility it'll come right at his face. But Pearson goes with proper form -- stick blade down and facing forward, skates tight together -- and gets not only a block but also help on the ensuing clearance.
It's really early in his Pittsburgh tenure, but this guy's been a find. No idea he had the grit he's shown to go with the goals.
"We've been very happy with Tanner, his overall game," Sullivan said.
He appears to be a fine fit personality-wise, as well. Other players seem to gravitate toward him.
Next is Guentzel, with 1:14 left, on Wheeler:
OK, that's a different technique, different risk. That's a guy who just put up a hat trick, who's just starting to score, who's headed toward the biggest contract of his life, putting his right leg in the direct line of pain and possible injury. Feet, ankles, knees ... this is how they get broken.
It's enough to get one's number called again when it matters most.
"It's hard to play defense," Sullivan said. "You've got to pay a price to play defense."
I'd have asked Guentzel what he thought of all this, but he was too busy shuttling back and forth between the locker room and the trainer's table for paying that price.
