Alexei Kovalev

Like when he unabashedly describes Kovalev, never so much as a point-per-game man during his NHL career, as one of the three or five most gifted players he has ever seen.

Those words, remember, are coming from a guy who has played alongside Mario Lemieux and against the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Pavel Bure, Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya, among others.

But then there are times such as yesterday, when Kovalev scored the Penguins' first two goals in their 5-2 victory over Boston at the Civic Arena. And when Jagr's gushing descriptions of Kovalev's talents seem almost inadequate. That was particularly true on the Penguins' second goal, when Kovalev weaved through a dozen or so Bruins, nine vendors and a handful of parking lot attendants before chipping his own rebound past Boston goalie Rob Tallas at 14:24 of the first period. "I was waiting for him to beat another guy," Penguins defenseman Kevin Hatcher said. "I didn't realize that was the last guy he had to beat."

Kovalev had scored less than seven minutes earlier, but it was his second goal - which, in some ways, resembled one Jagr got during Game 1 of the 1992 Stanley Cup final against Chicago - that best illustrated his remarkable abilities. "That," Jagr said, "is what I'm talking about."

Kovalev, for his part, shrugged off the play as "just taking the puck to the net." Which is kind of like saying that Franco Harris simply caught a pass in that playoff game against Oakland in 1972. And while Kovalev's goal didn't win a playoff game or get christened with a swell name like "The Immaculate Reception," it was fairly significant because it helped the Penguins (22-15-7) claim a couple of critical points.

The victory was their second in three days and tightened their grip on the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Penguins moved three points ahead of eighth-place Florida, pending the outcome of the Panthers' game against Dallas. Boston, which is ninth, is four behind the Penguins. Montreal, the Penguins' opponent at 2:08 p.m. today in Montreal, trails by seven.

Kovalev, who missed the final 12 minutes and 15 seconds of the second period after absorbing a hard and controversial hit from Boston's Rob DiMaio, planned to accompany the team to Montreal but declined to speculate on whether he will play. "It's hard to tell," he said. "You never know what to expect the next day."

Suffice to say, having Kovalev sit out the game would be a serious setback for the Penguins. "It would be real unfortunate to lose any one of our top players," Coach Kevin Constantine said. "But Kovy would be one who you'd especially be worried about." The Penguins knew they had genuine cause for concern when, at 7:45 of the second, DiMaio crushed Kovalev behind their net after linesman Ray Scapinello waved off an apparent icing against Boston.

He was just one of thousands in the building who made the mistake of believing the officials would call icing after Boston center Joe Thornton's pass from inside his blue line skidded the length of the ice. Why Scapinello waved off the icing is unknown, although it's conceivable he did so because he believed Penguins defenseman Brad Werenka turned away from the puck as it passed through center ice.

"I didn't [turn away] on purpose," Werenka said. "Absolutely not." That non-call was compounded when DiMaio wasn't penalized for charging or boarding. Referee Terry Gregson might have declined because DiMaio didn't take a stride after reaching the hash marks.

Kovalev returned for the third period and picked up the second assist on Hatcher's game-winning goal at 2:29. His three-point game came on a day when Jagr's 13-game scoring streak - which tied the longest of his career and is the longest in the league this season - ended. Not that Jagr, who noted that he was just a bit shy of Gretzky's record of 56 games in a row with a point, seemed terribly disturbed about it.

"If I would have finished my streak at 55," he said, smiling, "then I would have been [upset]." Jagr and his linemates, Jan Hrdina and Kip Miller, had nary a point among them, which made the three-goal, four-assist effort of the No. 2 unit - Kovalev, Robert Lang and German Titov - all the more important.

"That group - in a big way, obviously - was very good today," Constantine said. So was the Penguins' penalty-killing. Again. They have not allowed a power-play goal in four-plus games, a streak dating to the second period of their 5-3 loss in Anaheim Jan. 18. They have killed 18 power plays in a row since then, six of which were Boston's.

And while the Penguins were 0 for 4 with the extra man, that disappointment was offset by Straka's short-handed goal that made it 4-2 at 7:26 of the third period. Titov closed out the scoring at 15:14, as the Penguins seized the game from Boston during the final 20 minutes. "We came through in the third period, in a real important game for us," Constantine said.

A lot of guys played like they appreciated the stakes - Darius Kasparaitis and Hatcher were among those who threw their bodies around freely - as the Penguins played with an intensity missing for most of their recent 1-5 skid. "They wanted to put that back in their game," Constantine said. "And a lot of guys have. ... A lot of guys are competing harder in the last two games than they did in the previous six."