Behind The Net
'Sick' Kovalev Keeping Penguins Healthy With Scoring Touch
Jagr Must Catch Kovalev's Bug
By Bob Grove

Right up until the moment when Mario Lemieux's comeback leaked into the consciousness of Pittsburgh hockey fans on Dec. 7, the long-awaited convergence of Alexei Kovalev and his mammoth offensive potential was the feel-good story of the Penguins' season.

The 27-year-old right wing, whose wondrous skills with the puck have never translated into the point-per-game production his coaches have expected, had 17 goals and 36 points in his first 32 games. That put him on pace to score 43 goals and 92 points, not a bad neighborhood for a guy who did not reach even 30 goals or 70 points in any of his eight previous National Hockey League seasons.

The reasons Kovalev had become the Penguins' most consistent offensive threat were both intangible and tactical.

Kovalev's game has been more focused and therefore more consistent this season, for which he has set a personal goal of reaching the All-Star Game for the first time. Gone are the week-long stretches when he seems to be playing in a world all his own. Gone are many of the lazy penalties and nonchalant power play rushes that produce scoring chances for the opposition.

On the ice, Kovalev has finally adopted the mantra promoted by every NHL coach who has ever sent him on the ice: shoot the puck. Two-thirds of the way through last season, with Herb Brooks preaching that simple approach to scoring, something finally clicked for Kovalev. His shot-per-game average soared from 2.75 to 3.75 over the final 28 regular-season games, allowing him to finish the season with a career-high 254 shots, the 17th-best total in the league.

"The coaches have been saying that to everyone," said general manager Craig Patrick. "Kovy is certainly one who's taken it to heart. This is the best he's played so far, and hopefully he'll get better. He's more focused on getting the puck to the net. I think that's the biggest thing. He's just intent on scoring goals."

Through 32 games this season, Kovalev was averaging a whopping 4.25 shots per game, leaving him second in the league to teammate Jaromir Jagr. His scoring totals were thus a logical extension of his new approach, because Kovalev has one of the most impressive shots in hockey.

"That's what this team needs. We have a lot of guys from Europe, and all we've been doing is moving the puck around," he said. "We know we can move the puck around and make a lot of fancy plays. But one thing this team needs is to put the puck in the net. . . get yourself in position where you can shoot and take a shot. That's what I've been doing.

"That's why we were so successful on the power play earlier, because we were taking as many shots as we could from the point, and we had always two guys in front of the net. That's the kind of goals you expect on the power play; it's not always going to be pretty."

Nonetheless, scoring plays most often are pretty when they come off Kovalev's stick. Asked to comment on Kovalev's play after the Russian recorded a hat trick that was an aesthetic work of art against Philadelphia earlier this season, teammate Darius Kasparaitis said this: "He's a sick man."

The Penguins, then, probably toasted the New Year with wishes for Kovalev's continued ill health.

Jagr's Frustrations

While Kovalev's career has soared this season, it has been a torturous first half for Jagr, who scored just two goals in 14 games during a month-long slump that defied logic and brought to light a particularly troublesome fact: he twice asked Lemieux to trade him earlier this season.

Lemieux, of course, rebuffed Jagr and told him he would be staying in Pittsburgh at least through the conclusion of his current contract, which runs through the 2002-2003 season.

Jagr's frustration over his inability to contribute in his normal way was understandable, but the trade requests were a shocking departure from the kind of behavior expected of a 28-year-old captain whose team has been in or near first place all season.

The scoring slump, which finally promised to end with a natural hat trick in a 4-4 tie in Montreal Dec. 16, was no garden variety drought. Jagr lost his ability to win one-on-one battles, made poor decisions and seemed resigned to scoring failure, sometimes taking himself off the ice prematurely during power plays.

In short, it was a disappointing reaction and one which can't be erased by a flurry of second-half points.