It’s possible the highest-profile series in the current division-final round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs could come down to the contributions of Matt Niskanen and Matt Cullen. Whichever one does better could decide the outcome.

Northern Minnesota hockey fans may have bailed on the playoffs after the Wild lost to St. Louis in five games, but that would be a mistake. A special treat is in store for anyone watching the ferocious battle between Pittsburgh and Washington, which could hinge on the play of Matt Niskanen of the Washington Capitols and Matt Cullen of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

If it’s a tale of two players with Northern Minnesota roots, it’s a good one.

I first watched Niskanen play in high school, and I don’t mean when he played defense for the Virginia Blue Devils. I’m talking about walking the sidelines at Malosky Stadium on a cold, harsh night when Mountain Iron lost a tough, hard-fought section final that prevented a return trip to the state tournament. Niskanen, already ticketed to come to UMD to play defense, was urged in no uncertain terms by the Dallas Stars and by USA Hockey to leave his senior year in high school behind and go play junior hockey.

He refused. He said he wanted to stay in high school for his senior year and play with the guys he had grown up with. Mountain Iron, a small high school, didn’t have a hockey team, so Niskanen could go to Virginia to play high school hockey. But he also could play quarterback and middle linebacker for Mountain Iron’s football team, and then he could also return to Mountain Iron to play catcher for the baseball team.

At the time, I wasn’t sure how big-time a hockey player Niskanen would be for the UMD Bulldogs, but I knew I liked everything there was to know about his character.

So he showed up at UMD, and proved wrong all those who thought he’d made a big mistake by turning down the year of junior hockey by becoming an almost immediate standout for the Bulldogs. After two seasons, he left UMD and signed with the Dallas Stars. He did well with the Stars, as he has since moving on to the Pittsburgh Penguins and now with the Washington Caps, where he proves his value every shift with his solid defense, his puck-clearing ability, his puck-rushing talents and his big shot.

It is ironic that right now he is the center of an unfortunate controversy. The rude report ridiculed Niskanen for “cross-checking Crosby in the face,” and went so far as to explain that Crosby was ”skating by Washington goalie Braden Holtby with the puck when he turned and faced Niskanen. Niskanen raised hi stick and hit Crosby flush.”

Crosby needed to be helped to his feet and to the dressing room, while Niskanen was tossed with a 5-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct.

 What actually happened was that Niskanen was skating back up the right side in a defensive mode while teammate Alex Ovechkin chased Crosby up the left. Ovechkin swatted Crosby a couple times, and the last time he smacked him on the right shoulder, with his stick bouncing up and over Crosby, conking him on his helmet on the way. Niskanen, having assured that no Pittsburgh winger was coming for a Crosby pass, veered toward the right post just as Crosby realized he couldn’t get a clean shot off.

Crosby cut to his right and lost his footing, stumbling awkwardly right at Niskanen, who wasn’t even intending to check him. Niskanen brought up his left hand, in a manner to use his forearm to protect himself from the impending collision, and Crosby’s head went face-first into the back of Niskanen’s glove, then fell heavily to the ice as Niskanen straddled him.

Naturally, being a right-handed shot, Niskanane had the knob-end of his stick in his left hand, so when he raised his left hand his stick was in it. But he wasn’t holding both hands up with the stick horizontal, the way he would if he was cross-checking his foe. Since his left leg had buckled, Crosby’s head was about chest-high on Niskanen when they collided.

It was sad, and scary, that Crosby, who has had a history of concussions, appeared to obviously suffer a new one. But I was surprised that the officials gave Niskanen a major for cross-checking, when the head-on video clearly showed he never struck Crosby with his stick — Associated Press and TV commentators notwithstanding.

Niskanen later quietly faced the media horde and said he was not trying to cross-check Crosby and he never intended to hurt him. The Capitols, who lost the first two games of the series in Washington, led 2-0 until the last two minutes, when, with their goalie pulled, the Penguins got a goal from Evgeny Malkin at 18:07, and another from Justin Schultz at 18:55. The Caps got it together in overtime, and Kevin Shattenkirk scored on a power-play at 3:13 of sudden-death for a 3-2 victory.

It was heartening to see that the NHL resisted what would have been a PR move to suspend Niskanen, and he was slated to be back on the ice for Game 4 at 6:30 Wednesday night. Crosby has been ruled out of that game for concussion protocol, and we can only hope he’s back for Game 5 on Saturday back in Washington.

Then there’s Matt Cullen. Born in Virginia, Minnesota, he grew up in Moorhead and was a star center for his dad with the Moorhead Spuds. They lost in a spectacular state tournament championship game to the Duluth East team led by Dave Spehar. When it came to the recruiting process, UMD, St. Cloud State and Minnesota were the three finalists. Then it was down to two, UMD and St. Cloud State.

Cullen decided on St. Cloud State. I told his dad I was surprised and he asked me why. I told him that Matt was a great player, but skating was not his strongest suit, and that by coming to UMD he would play on the DECC ice surface, which was smaller than the regulation 200-by-85 feet, and nobody would consider his speed a liability, while at St. Cloud he would be skating on an Olympic surface, 200-by-100, which might exaggerate any skating shortcoming.

His dad told me that two things helped Matt decide. First, he wanted to go play on the big rink for overload work to enhance his skating. Wow! That was impressive, and also a surprise in this era of instant gratification. Second, Matt was one of those guys who liked to show up early for practice every day, and work on making sure his equipment was all in order, sticks taped just so, and to hang around in the dressing room almost as though it was his living room, or den. He could do that at St. Cloud State, but he couldn’t do it at UMD, because the DECC was not on campus.

So Cullen starred at St. Cloud State, then turned pro. He played a year with the Wild, and was considered expendable as they tried to upgrade their talent. My point was that ever since the Wild let Cullen go, they have needed a player with his character, faceoff skill, and overall honesty.

Time passes again, and there is Matt Cullen, centering the second line for the Stanley Cup winning Penguins, behind Sidney Crosby. This season, he is doing it again, winning faceoffs, scoring important goals, making big plays as a defensive center and faceoff specialist, and proving every shift how valuable he is. And, he is doing it having already turned 40. 

That’s right, Matt Cullen is 40 years old, and when he made a spectacular play to score a huge goal, the commentators said that it just goes to show what can be done when a player is as great a skater as Matt Cullen. All I could think of was that decision he made as a senior at Moorhead High School, to go where he would have to work extra hard to become the skater he wanted to be.

If the Penguins win the series, I would love to see Matt Cullen score the deciding goal.