Kovacevic: Penguins grasping they'll go nowhere without first defending

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The pass had been saucered, a guy in a green sweater was gliding toward it, a goal seemed to be gift-wrapped ... and Sidney Crosby came whisking back to cut it off.

The puck had been tangled in Marcus Pettersson's skates below his goal line, he was gangling around to find it, a guy in a green sweater knocked him down ... and Evgeni Malkin churned by, full speed and top-length stride, to begin a human breakout.

The puck had been dumped into the Pittsburgh zone, a guy in a green sweater might as well have grafted himself onto Kris Letang's back ... and Jake Guentzel swooped in front of both, seemingly out of nowhere, to skate away with it.

I've been around hockey my whole life, my friends, and I know the difference between defensive effort and defensive effort. This was the latter.

So no, don't fret that the Penguins yet again needed a barrage of offense to prevail, this time by a 6-4 score over the Wild on this Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. And don't fret, further, that they yet again blew a two-goal lead, conceding two Minnesota goals within a dozen seconds in the middle period. At least not as it relates to the defending.

"I think there was a lot to like about the game," Mike Sullivan would say afterward. "We still had some lapses in the game where we hurt ourselves. We've got to continue to work at getting better at those circumstances. But for a lot of the night, we really liked our game."

They should've. It was far, far better than they've fared in that facet through most of this .500 start at 7-7-3. And what's more, each lapse was followed not by pouting or falling apart but rather by this:

Boom. That was Letang's first of the year, believe it or not, and it capped a no-nonsense collapse-the-crease power play that, if it were up to me, they'd utilize religiously. I've got a separate Freeze Frame on that subject.

That brought a 3-2 lead with 1:40 left before the second intermission, it brought vital relief to a power play that'd been 1 for its past 13, and it further brought ... well, what a power play's supposed to bring.

"It was a big momentum swing there," Sid would say of Minnesota's quick strikes. "But I think we still felt pretty good. We don't like giving up goals that close together and, obviously, for them to tie it up. So to respond with that power-play goal with how we've had our struggles ... "

He faded, then completed, "We have to be difference-makers on the power play, and tonight it was the difference in the game."

It was part of the difference but, respectfully, I wouldn't go that far.

Because this one was defined, at least for me, by the defending. Of which there were two things I loved on this day, as well as one that I didn't.

To start ... man, they defended hard. From the first line to the fourth, and through all the D-pairs. No, the results weren't always there, but this was as convinced as I've been to date that the right message is being sent and, more important, that it's being received.

Following the morning skate, I'd asked Sullivan if his team, as I'd been positing for weeks, needs to forge a defense-first identity to truly find itself, and his response didn't disappoint: "If we're going to gain consistency in our game, it's going to be through defense. The route to consistent play is through defense. I know our team's capable of scoring goals, and we'll continue to work and work at that aspect. But we're also capable of being a stingy team defensively. And that, for me, is the most important aspect."

That's who he is. And that's who he wants the Penguins to be. Never forget it.

But to see them take that onto the rink, laser-focused and lethargy-free, unlike the mega-mess the other night against the Maple Leafs, that's different. And the score be damned, they did that: The Penguins outshot the Wild, 31-23, marking a season low for shots allowed. They also limited the Wild to seven total high-danger scoring chances all evening, two of those coming on Minnesota's three power plays.

"We're getting there," Letang would tell me. "We're doing some good things."

The other object of my hockey affection was Blueger himself, who had a gorgeous assist that was matched by this Ryan Poehling finish for the Penguins' second goal ...

... and that on top of another superlative two-way performance.

Get this: In his first two games back since missing the season's opening month to injury, in the wake of the fourth line having achieved next to nothing in his absence, he's been on the ice for 22 Pittsburgh shot attempts to the opponents' 14, and those opponents totaled zero high-danger scoring chances.

Zero, as in zero.

I asked Sullivan how much he'd missed what Blueger brings, and that response didn't disappoint, either: "Yeah, you know, you take guys like that for granted. When you have them in the lineup, you realize how good they are when you don't have them in the lineup. He's a guy who's just such a conscientious player. He's good in the faceoff circle. He's a great penalty-killer. He's a sound defensive player. He's hard to play against. And he has an offensive game, as well. So I think he's a real important player for us."

I also asked Blueger a bunch of stuff in this fun one-on-one exchange that I'll share in full:

The pertinent highlight therein regarding the defending: "I thought we were pretty solid, for the most part. I thought the best part was how, the whole night, we kept responding. And how we didn't change our game. They tied it at two, and we kept going at them and being aggressive and kind of had that foundation throughout."

The foundation they so very sorely need.

And the only thing missing?

Yeah, this individual:

I'm not here to bury Tristan Jarry. I believe in him, and I believe that'll be borne out over time. I really do.

But I'm also not here to back his showing to date. On the sequence above, as I'd confirmed in the locker room, the goaltender's only responsibility is to settle the puck for the nearest passing defenseman. Or, in this event, Marcus Pettersson. Once Pettersson's got it, the zone exit's a breeze.

As Sullivan confirmed: "I think he would've liked that goalie handle back. We work on those things a lot, that communication with our defenseman and the goalie and that exchange, and that's normally one of Tristan's strengths. I thought he responded after that and he settled into his game."

Eh. A head coach gains next to nothing from criticizing anyone at that position, but I'm plenty comfortable saying that the peak version of Jarry prevents at least three of Minnesota's four goals, and I'm equally comfortable saying that the worst version of Jarry ... has an .895 save percentage for the season that's tied for forty-freaking-sixth in the NHL.

He needs to be better, and that needs to be immediately.

And yet, one final time, I'm not conflating what he does with what the skaters do in front of him. One irritating issue at a time, please.

GETTY

Sidney Crosby pins the Wild's Kirill Kaprizov on the boards Thursday night in St. Paul, Minn.

• Oh, Sid had a four-point game?

Yeah, Sid had a four-point game, on two emphatic finishes of his own that saw a long-range wrister through Jake Middleton's wickets and a trademark drop to one knee ...

... plus assists on Letang's goal and Guentzel's empty-netter.

"We got off to a good start," the captain would come back to a general question about the team's output. "It always feels good when you can score a couple early."

Never take him for granted. His teammates sure don't, presenting him with the latest silly helmet afterward:

• Weird stat I: Sid's now scored the first goal of a game four times already this season, and he's now got 100 of those for his career, tying Mario Lemieux for most in franchise history.

• Weird stat II: Of the Penguins' seven victories, they've now scored exactly six goals on five occasions. The other two times, they scored four.

• Poehling's growing on me. It was obvious he had good size at 6-2, 196, and that he had exceptional speed for that size. But he's appearing to be a more controlled player than what I'd originally assessed, including on the penalty-kill.

Unrelated, but there wasn't anyone happier after this game. He was born in Lakeville, Minn, about 20 miles south of the Twin Cities, and he had family and friends in the house.

"It's special," he'd say with a big grin. "It showed me how blessed I am as a person. To have all the support that I do have here, it means a lot."

• In the interest of fairness and context, for all of Brian Dumoulin's woes so far, his 68.97 Corsi For percentage at five-on-five -- which gauges both team's shot attempts while a player's on the ice -- was the best of anyone on either team.

The eye can play tricks on anyone. Although Dumoulin's out there for that ugly Minnesota second goal, making a desperate attempt to undo Jarry's mistake ... it's still Jarry's mistake.

• In the interest of further fairness and context, for all of the Penguins' finesse in scoring six times, probably half of those would've been prevented by a bona fide NHL goaltender. Which, to be kind, Filip Gustavsson, Pittsburgh's second-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft who was forced into duty by Marc-Andre Fleury's injury at midweek, doesn't appear to be yet with Minnesota.

That said, Dean Evason's focus in his postgame session was entirely on the Wild's offense, which now has scored 12 goals in the past eight games, a third of those in this one.

"Obviously, we're not scoring enough goals," Evason would say. "You can look at the four we got, but we had opportunities, probably, to score earlier and didn't."

• In contrast, the next opponent's now flying high in all ways at 10-4-1, including scoring, goaltending and all else, so the next challenge will be wholly at another level:

• What a place. Can't say enough about the smaller of the Twin Cities. So quiet. So quaint.

DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS

Statues of native son Charles Schulz's Peanuts characters, Rice Park, St. Paul, Minn., Thursday afternoon.

• In fact, I appreciate it so much that I'll offer up a two-minute walking tour even if it's a feels-like 15 degrees outside:

• Thanks for reading my hockey stuff. I enjoy writing it ... almost as much as I intend to enjoy the next stop.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE THREE STARS

As selected at Xcel Energy Center:

1. Sidney Crosby, Penguins C
2. Joel Eriksson Ek, Wild C
3. Jake Guentzel, Penguins LW

THE INJURIES

• P.O Joseph, defenseman, returned after missing a week to a lower-body injury, taking Chad Ruhwedel's place. That made this the first game all season at which the Penguins were at full health.

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan's lines and defense pairings:

Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker-Evgeni Malkin-Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn-Jeff Carter-Danton Heinen
Ryan Poehling-Teddy Blueger-Josh Archibald

Marcus Pettersson-Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin-Jeff Petry
P.O Joseph-Jan Rutta

And for Evason's Wild:

Kirill Kaprizov-Freddy Gaudreau-Mats Zuccarello
Brandon Duhaime-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno
Mason Shaw-Connor Dewar-Matt Boldy
Sam Steel-Marco Rossi-Tyson Jost

Jacob Middleton-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Mathew Dumba
Jon Merrill-Calen Addison

THE SCHEDULE

The Penguins flew overnight to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where, they're scheduled to practice Friday, 2 p.m., Eastern time, at the Jets' practice facility, the Hockey For All Centre. The game with the Jets is Saturday, 7:08 p.m., at Canada Life Centre. I'll be there.

THE CONTENT

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