Regulation NHL rinks measure 200 feet by 85 feet.

But Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel could ply their craft in a phone booth.

If that’s an exaggeration, it’s a slight one. Crosby and Guentzel are hockey’s best at playing in small areas, sometimes almost on top of each other. They make series of give-and-go passes in close quarters, usually below the hash marks, that often result in a gilt-edged chance.

It’s the NHL’s version of the NBA’s two-man game. It’s remarkable.

“That’s one of the reasons why they’ve established almost instant chemistry since we put them together is their ability to play in traffic,” coach Mike Sullivan said after Crosby and Guentzel combined for five points in the Penguins’ 5-1 home win over Columbus on Tuesday.

“They excel at it. They play that give-and-go game down low, below the goal line or underneath the hash marks where there’s not a lot of ice to play on. There are a lot of 2-foot passes, 1-foot passes to try to create separation, or they gain a step on someone. They create offense out of those areas. I don’t know that there’s two players in the league that do a better job of it.”

Guentzel is among the league’s most underrated players. He has 31 goals and 32 assists in 58 games. He might be seen as a Crosby creation. But he’s close to being Crosby’s equal.

OK, not that close. Guentzel is playing terrific. But Crosby, at 34, is performing at a level that still puts him among the NHL’s very best.

Crosby won’t be talked about for MVP. He is underrated in his own way. Taken for granted is probably a better description.

But he has 14 points in the last nine games, 30 in his last 21. You have to go back to season’s beginning — when he had three points in eight games after not starting till October’s end following wrist surgery — to find a stretch that dilutes Crosby’s numbers.

Crosby has 22 goals and 42 assists in 52 games. That ranks him 23rd in scoring, but he missed 12 games.

If Crosby had played every game and produced at the same pace, he’d be tied for fifth at 79 points.

No matter. Crosby has the Penguins winning — they’re 8-2-1 in their last 11 games — and on nights like Tuesday, they look like a serious contender.

But the Penguins won’t be playing Columbus in the playoffs.

But the Penguins will be playing in the playoffs for a 16th straight season. Perhaps the biggest reason the Penguins have kept succeeding longer than recent (post-2000) multiple Stanley Cup champions like Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles is because Crosby has been better, and better longer, than any player on those teams. (Let’s see how Tampa Bay does.)

Crosby won’t be MVP. That race is interesting, if only because two of my front-runners have another award they can win: New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin and Colorado defenseman Cale Makar. Each has incredible and consistent impact.

The bookies’ favorite is Toronto center Auston Matthews.

He plays in the perceived hockey capital of the world. That helps.

Shesterkin is a lock to win best goalie, Makar to win best defenseman. That helps.

Edmonton isn’t very good. That helps, because it lessens the value of their superstar, Connor McDavid.

Matthews has a league-high 46 goals in 57 games. That helps.

So the smart money is on Matthews.

But Minnesota winger Kirill Kaprizov is a solid darkhorse. He has 32 goals and 44 assists in 60 games and is, by far, the most legitimate offensive threat and playmaker on a Wild team that has netted an unlikely 228 goals, fourth-most in the league.

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