Mark Madden: Penguins' stars shined in Game 1, but team's minutemen can't be diminished

If you’re one of those dullards with a low hockey IQ who doubts the value of Kris Letang to the Pittsburgh Penguins, witness Tuesday’s triple-overtime win against the host New York Rangers.

Letang played well. More importantly, he just kept playing.

Letang logged 46 minutes and 41 seconds on the ice. That was the most of any Penguin by over eight minutes. He kept it simple, especially as the minutes piled up, and just kept making plays.

It was reminiscent of Sergei Zubov’s heroic performance in the Penguins’ four-overtime win at Washington in 1996. Ice-time stats weren’t officially kept then, but Zubov played nearly 60 minutes of the game’s 139 minutes, 15 seconds.

Teammates got IVs after. Zubov had a beer and a cigarette in the shower.

Mike Matheson wasn’t far behind Tuesday at 38:22. Like Letang, his skating wasn’t impaired by the heavy workload.

It was an inspirational win with a fistful of storylines. What the toll is moving forward remains to be seen.

If the Penguins are without Casey DeSmith and Rickard Rakell because of injuries suffered Tuesday, it may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory.

But it was nonetheless a necessary victory.

After being mostly outplayed and outskated by the Rangers in the teams’ four regular-season meetings, the Penguins couldn’t afford to see that sort of effort wasted. They were worthy winners. Their compete level and work rate were off the charts. They somewhat closed the existing speed gap. They came back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2.

The win is already being talked about as one of the great moments in franchise history. But that’s only true if it leads to a series win.

If Jeff Zatkoff is “Mr. Game 1,” Louis Domingue must be “Mr. Triple Overtime.” Any save your third-string goalie makes is a great save. Domingue definitely has a decent glove.

Late in the third period, the Rangers had what would have been a game-winning goal nullified for goaltender interference. It was a tight call but correct. Bryan Rust’s second-period goal that tied the score 3-3 came via a 5-on-3 power play.

If the Rangers feel hard done by, that’s good. The Penguins want the Rangers’ frustration to pile up. (The New York media will doubtless help.)

Presumptive Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin was brilliant in the Rangers’ net, stopping 79 shots. But he was somehow one goal worse than DeSmith and Domingue.

Much of the Penguins’ win involved the usual suspects: Evgeni Malkin got the OT winner and set up Rust’s goal. Sidney Crosby got the primary assist on each of Jake Guentzel’s two tallies.

Guentzel is listed at 5-foot-11, 180 pounds. Both figures are lies. He is annually targeted in the playoffs. He takes a beating.

But Guentzel just keeps coming. His bravery is off the charts. He could invade somewhere.

But the Penguins also got unexpected contributions.

John Marino and Kasperi Kapanen assisted on Malkin’s game-winner. That capped the best game played by each in memory that goes beyond recent. Both have had disappointing seasons. Both rose above that and made a difference Tuesday.

That absolutely must continue. Perhaps Jason Zucker returns for Game 2. Rakell seems a doubt. Who knows about DeSmith?

For the Penguins to post an improbable series win, they must keep getting improbable contributions.