The No. 1 line, after all, must be the line on which Mario Lemieux skates. To consider Lemieux's group as anything else but that would be sacrilegious at best and heresy at worst.
More significantly, such a perception might also deflect some of the spotlight and a great deal of the defensive attention onto the likes of Marin Straka, Robert Lang and Alexei Kovalev. And that's a scenario the Pens' most productive threesome from a season ago would just as soon avoid.
All three enjoyed career years in 2000-01, as Kovalev and Straka finished tied for fourth in the NHL in scoring with 95 points and Lang checked in at No. 20 overall with 80. Now that Jaromir Jagr and his league-leading 121 points have been dispatched to the Washington Capitals, Straka, Lang and Kovalev are well aware of the raised expectations they've created for themselves this time around. But with Lemieux in the lineup for the first time on opening night rather than in late December, the 'Arbitration Line' has no reason to believe it can't equal its production from a year ago, if not surpass it.
'Obviously Mario's going to be the key guy,' said Straka, the group's left winger. 'They're going to try to match up against him and beat him up. Hopefully, we can sneak up (on the league) again.'
'We'll probably get a little more attention,' acknowledged Lang, the threesome's center. 'But with 'Ace' (Lemieux) on our team, hey, they're always going to pay more attention to him.'
Opponents that did so last season paid the price. Should they fail to do so this season, Lemieux may run amok against checking lines and defensive pairings that are less than the best another team has to offer. Should other clubs once again commit to containing Lemieux, the door will once again be open for Straka, Lang and Kovalev, all of whom have reported to training camp determined to build on last season's stunning success.
'You can do anything, it just depends on how bad you want it,' maintained Kovalev, the line's right winger. 'You can't stop by having one good season. You want to keep climbing. Every year you want to play better and better.
'In particular, we want to stay together. To stay together we have to play well. That's what we're concentrating on. Maybe we'll play even better than we did last season.'
Straka, Lang and Kovalev played the role the Penguins will be anticipating them to almost flawlessly on Monday night, combining for four goals and 10 points in a 5-3 exhibition win over Atlanta at Mellon Arena.
Straka's game is speed. He 'hides' in the neutral zone, according to Kovalev, and then darts through gaps in the blink of an eye. Kovalev craves the puck, the better to take advantage of his uncanny ability to control it and shoot it. Lang is the responsible defensive presence every explosive line needs to maintain balance.
That, at least, is how Kovalev sums them up.
Lang hasn't thought out the unit's remarkable ability to work together in that much detail and doesn't intend to.
'I don't know what it us that makes it work. I don't even want to know,' he said. 'Last year was a great year. Hopefully, it's going to be another one this year.'
'We just want to play hard,' Straka said. 'You just want to win the games ad whatever's going to happen, however many points you're going to make, it doesn't matter.
'We just have to play hard like we did last year.'
