Bonino! Bonino! This time, cheers are for blocking shots and a speedy return

If you watch postseason sports long enough, you’ll see something that absolutely amazes you. Nick Bonino provided one of those moments Wednesday night in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final. I haven’t seen anything like it since Ben Roethlisberger came off the bench with a practically useless throwing shoulder and led the Steelers to a playoff win in January 2016 in Cincinnati.

It was a simple blocked shot by Bonino midway through the first period, but it was so much more. It didn’t lead directly to the Penguins’ 4-1 win against the Nashville Predators and a 2-0 edge in the series, but it said as much about his team’s incredible want-to as its three goals in the first 3:28 of the third period did about its marvelous talent.

“Special player,” Jake Guentzel gushed afterward.

“I know that Nick’s an inspiring guy for our team,” Mike Sullivan said.

You hear all the time that hockey players willingly give up their body to help their team win. Nobody does it better than Bonino, who led NHL forwards with 99 blocked shots in the regular season. But the block Wednesday night was a little different than the others. It came when the game was scoreless and the Penguins were killing a five-on-three power play, “a big part of the game for us,” Sullivan said. Bonino turned in the shooting lane to block a rocket shot by Predators defenseman P.K. Subban. The puck caught Bonino in the left foot or ankle, dropping him to the ice.

What happened after that is one of the things I long will remember whether the Penguins go on to win a second consecutive Cup or fall short to an incredible Nashville comeback.

With great effort, Bonino hobbled up just as the puck ended up back with Subban, who appeared as if he would shoot again. Somehow, Bonino made sure he was in position for another block, but Subban passed the puck to teammate Roman Josi. Subban got it back one more time and was going to try to shoot it through Bonino again but had to stop when Nashville captain Mike Fisher was called for interference against Ian Cole in front of the net. A thankful Bonino crumpled back down to the ice.

Teammates, as well as trainer Chris Stewart, quickly came to Bonino’s aid. Cole and Patric Hornqvist were there first. Then, there were Phil Kessel and Trevor Daley, who practically carried Bonino to the bench.

Do you think the other players and his coaches appreciated what Bonino sacrificed to stop that Subban shot? You have no idea. “It’s huge,” Cole said. “Obviously, we love to see our guys score goals and make pretty plays, but, with the culture we have in this room, everyone is just as excited if not more excited when guys sacrifice to block shots or take hits to make plays. Any time guys do those little things — those thankless jobs as [Sullivan] calls them — our guys really feed off that.”

“Those are the types of things that help you win at this time of year,” Sullivan said.

Of course, Bonino returned late in the first period because that’s what hockey players do. He didn’t just come back, he was 9-6 on faceoffs in the final two periods after the Penguins went 7-20 in the first period.

I believe Bonino’s toughness set the tone for the win.

Matt Cullen showed his grit early in the game by coming back almost immediately from a hit from behind from Nashville defensemen Matt Irwin that sent him face-first into the boards. Cullen made defenseman Mattias Ekholm pay for that discomfort, drilling him with a hit late in the second period. That was the hardest of the Penguins’ 36 hits on a night when Carter Rowney had seven and Hornqvist had five. “That’s playoff hockey,” Cullen said.

Cole and Rowney showed they were all-in when they went down to block shots on a Nashville power play in the third period. Those were two of the Penguins’ 20 blocks, including four by Cole.

Even Evgeni Malkin made sure the Predators knew he was going to be there all night. He held his own in a third-period fight with Subban. Maybe he didn’t remind anybody of Ali against Frazier and maybe you held your breath as it was going on out of fear Malkin would break a hand, but it was impressive to see.

The win will be remembered for Guentzel’s two goals, the second coming just 10 seconds into the third period to break a 1-1 tie. It will be remembered for goals by Scott Wilson and Malkin 15 seconds apart that gave the Penguins the 4-1 lead and turned out the PPG Paints Arena lights on the Predators. It will be remembered for another strong night by Matt Murray, who had 37 saves and outplayed Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne, who was benched after Malkin’s goal and remains tortured by the Penguins with a 1-7-2 career record against them, including 0-5-0 in Pittsburgh.

But, years from now, when I think of this Game 2 win from the 2017 Cup final, I’ll think of Bonino stepping in front of that Subban blast, hobbling to the locker room and returning to finish the game.

“It was a big response for him to come back,” Cullen said. “That’s been sort of the character of our group for quite a while.”

And one big reason the Penguins are two wins from an historic back-to-back Cup championship run.