WASHINGTON, D.C. -- It's starting to make sense why last year was so devastating to Evgeny Kuznetsov. He loves when the stakes are at their highest. He loves games like Game 5, when the Washington Capitals' entire season and Stanley Cup hopes are on the line.
These are the moments in which he's most eager to play, and last year's underwhelming postseason robbed him of them.
"I live for those types of games," Kuznetsov said. "That's why we practice all summer. That's why we play 82 games. For these moments."
If he could, he'd bundle a season's worth of regular-season games just for one like what we saw in Saturday's Game 5. Or the Game 6 in Pittsburgh on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET), when the Capitals will try to do it again, down 3-2 in the series to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
These games mean everything to Kuznetsov.
Lately, he's been putting on a show for his parents -- who are here from Russia -- and the Capitals fans who have grown to love him for his dazzling puck-handling abilities, along with a little showmanship that occasionally reveals itself while flapping his arms like wings after big goals.
His winning goal in Game 5 was the third consecutive playoff game in which he scored. He has four goals in five games against the Penguins and is climbing the playoff-goals leaderboard; after Sunday's games, only four players had more goals than Kuznetsov's five.
And he's done it while being regularly covered by Penguins star and fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin. According to ShiftChart.com, 65 percent of Kuznetsov's shifts in Game 5 came when matched up against Malkin, as hard a matchup as you'll find in these playoffs.
It's a departure from last season against the Penguins, when Kuznetsov said he mostly saw the line of Matt Cullen and Nick Bonino. Like the big moments, he's embracing the challenge it presents. And he's using it as an opportunity to improve.
"You can learn a lot from players like Geno, Sid and Ovi," said Kuznetsov, 24. "You still can learn something from him if you want to be better. You can't just think you're so good. You have to learn from other guys."
That's partly what makes Kuznetsov such a compelling player: He's still learning. He's still getting comfortable on this stage.
While we have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, every game seems to reveal something new about Kuznetsov.
"He's [a] really good player. He has good experience this year from last year," Malkin said of his fellow Russian. "Every year he's played better and better. Now, he's [a] leader. ... He controls pucks so well. We need to be careful with him. He loves [to] play with [the] puck."
This isn't an easy time of year to play with the puck. Space is limited. But in a series in which the Capitals are learning that a little patience is necessary before shooting, rather than just firing into the layers of Penguins shot blockers, his ability to play with the puck becomes a real weapon.
According to Corsica.hockey, the Capitals have controlled 53.7 percent of the even-strength shot attempts when Kuznetsov has been on the ice in this postseason. They have a 27-24 advantage in scoring chances, as well.
Coming against high-end competition such as Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Malkin makes it even more impressive, and it seems like it's trending in the right direction.
"He's come up big for us in a couple games here," said teammate Lars Eller. "He's the kind of player that the puck seems to follow him. He's got great awareness, great playmaking ability, great ability to carry the puck -- some of the best I've seen. The game comes so naturally to him."
The skill Eller is referring to has always been there. Former Capitals general manager George McPhee -- who now oversees the Vegas Golden Knights -- was at Verizon Center earlier to catch a portion of Game 2. The Kuznetsov he saw that night was exactly the player he envisioned when grabbing him with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2010 draft and then later successfully getting him to play in the NHL after five seasons in the KHL.
McPhee remembered talking specifically about Kuznetsov on the eve of that draft with his scouts, hoping they might have a crack at him.
"We really liked him," McPhee said. "Our scouts kept saying, 'He's going to be there when we're picking,' which was surprising to me. I thought somebody of his talent would go earlier. They were right."
The biggest payoff for that pick might still be yet to come. It hasn't been a linear path for Kuznetsov. His struggles last season in the postseason, when he scored just one goal in 12 games, led to a summer of soul-searching and struggle.
He worked on his mental toughness, realizing that games -- good or bad -- have to be immediately forgotten at this time of year. If he didn't have a good game, it did absolutely no good to look around the dressing room and feel like he let everybody down, something he said he'd done in previous years.
He needed to be stronger. It's an often-repeated lore of playoff hockey through the years and it's playing out once again in Kuznetsov. To get to the success in the big moments, sometimes there's failure to overcome. He's clearly fought through it, and in doing so he might be helping his team do the same thing.