With each passing day, the Penguins should be more and more thankful that they couldn't find a trade partner to deal away P.O Joseph before the season began.
Joseph hasn't been a game-breaker this season, but he has solidified himself as an NHL-caliber defenseman -- one who can positively impact the team in a second- or third-pairing role.
The key to doing so has been "taking what the game gives him," as Mike Sullivan loves to say. That was on full display on Sidney Crosby's goal to open the scoring in the Penguins' 3-2 overtime loss to the Hurricanes here at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday night:
At first glance, that might seem like nothing more than a simple stretch pass out of the zone and up the ice from Joseph, but there's more there.
When Joseph received that pass in stride from Rickard Rakell, I was certain he was going to hit Crosby, who was flying up the right wing with speed. But with a subtle change of the angle at the last second, Joseph went to the opposite side of the ice with a pass to Jake Guentzel.
"I saw Sid with a lot of speed and he’s someone you want to give the puck to, but when I saw Guentzy, he was coming to the middle with a lot of speed, too," Joseph told me following the game. "I know how good of a passer he is, so after that pass, he made an unbelievable play for Sid and it ended up in the back of the net."
Joseph's the kind of guy who'll credit everyone else before he credits himself, but the truth is that this sequence likely wouldn't have resulted in a goal if the breakout pass had gone straight to Crosby.
Think about it, the Hurricanes were already shading over to Crosby's side of the ice and, even if the pass made it through, Crosby would've had to deal with some pressure that surely would've slowed his momentum. What makes the pass to Guentzel so great is that it got the Hurricanes moving laterally as Crosby continued his straight-ahead bull run into the offensive zone.
Build speed from the back. Change the attack angle. Get the opposition moving.
That is how you break down defensive coverage. Make 'em think you're doing one thing, then hit 'em with something entirely different before they even have the time to process what's going on.
Drifting to the boards while facing the middle, Guentzel hung onto the puck just long enough to pull Brent Burns out of Crosby's way before the pass went out front. And to cap it off is Crosby's incredible reception to go from his skate to his stick and into a quick snapshot all in the same motion.
"I think it started from the breakout in the D-zone," Joseph told me of the sequence. "I think a lot of the guys in this room have unbelievable instincts and whenever skill takes over, goals like that happen. Raks made a good play to the middle and I just had to make a pass to one of the good players in the league, then the magic happens."
So long as Joseph continues to be deceptive and decisive with the puck, there'll be plenty more opportunities like this one for the magic to happen.
