Last night’s game against the New York Islanders was something the Penguins needed. At least going in and on paper and through the first half of the game anyway. The Islanders were 8th in the Eastern Conference heading into the game but only because they have been surging as of late with a 7-2-1 record in their last ten games. The Islanders are still not a major threat to the top teams in the East. Yeah, they may finish with a respectable or even good record at the end of the season. They might even finish above some of what are considered the elite teams in the Atlantic. But it will be through a sheer force of will and over achievement.

Coming off an up and down road trip where they lost two but won three, the Penguins were no doubt looking forward to coming home to the Igloo for a game against the Islanders before taking on the much more elite Washington Capitals on Thursday night.

And everything started off well enough. For a period and a half the Penguins dominated staking out a 3-0 lead and even scored twice on the power play which featured some wrinkles that were not there two weeks ago. Sidney Crosby (31) opened the scoring late in the first period picking up a rebound and burying it into a yawning cage. Early in the second Evgeni Malkin (15) lit the lamp on a 5 on 3 power play to bring the crowd to its feet. Bill Guerin (16) scored on another power play three and a half minutes later and no doubt stunned the Islanders who were wondering what was going on considering the Penguins never seem able to accomplish such feats and my running joke is that the Penguins should decline all penalties because they have been that bad with the man advantage.

Andy Sutton (4), who was later ejected from the game for launching Pasqual Dupuis into the boards from behind and injuring him, scored midway through the second to cut the score to 3-1. Less than a minute and a half later though Sidney Crosby (32) scored again to reestablish a three goal lead.

Then the wheels started coming off. Brent Johnson, who had played spectacularly in relief of the injured Marc-Andre Fleury, couldn’t stop a puck to save his life. Half a minute after Sid scored, Freddy Meyer (1) answered for the Islanders.

The bleeding continued in the third period. 0:48 in Trent Hunter (9) scored to make the score 4-3. Then at 7:11 of the third Richard Park (4) knotted the whole game up at 4-4.

It took a power play goal by Malkin (16) at 11:09 to put the Penguins up 5-4 and the completion of the hat trick by Malkin (17) at 19:30 to seal the deal. The Islanders presenting the Penguins with an net empty and on the Penguins on the power play again thanks to a major penalty on Sutton’s boarding penalty and Malkin walked in and buried it for the 6-4 win.

Brent Johnson finished with 31 saves on 35 shots and recovered towards the end to salvage what could have been an ugly loss had he not. The win moves the Penguins more securely into 4th place in the East at 31-19-1 with 63 points.

Malkin’s hat trick will no doubt spark talk about the Penguins super star finally getting out of his long funk but one game does not a slump end. Time will tell and the Penguins have a much bigger test on their hands tomorrow night than the Islanders.

Hopefully last night’s overtime victory against the Florida Panthers, in which the power play FINALLY scored a goal, means that the Penguins are back on the winning track. After an overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in which the Penguins clearly outplayed them and a loss in regulation to the Carolina Hurricanes, who have not been the same team this season since getting swept by the Penguins in the East finals last year, the Penguins needed another win to back up their 3-2 win in Montreal previously just to keep things rolling.

With Brent Johnson in goal, the backup netminder played more than well enough to win at times flashing leather like Marc-Andre Fleury to rob the Panthers of goals. After Steven Reinprecht (11) scored on the power play half way through the first, it was Pascal Dupuis (9) that answered with a wrist shot to tie up the game. The goal keeps Dupuis on pace to break the 20 goal mark for the first time since he played for the Minnesota Wild in 2002-2003. And that year he made the mark by playing on the power play and netting 6 goals with the man advantage. This year he is doing it in more of a utility role playing anywhere and everywhere the Penguins need him with a lot of 4th line time.

Ruslan Fedotenko (5) tipped in a cross crease pass from Malkin and Rupp mid way through the second to put the Penguins up. Then it was Steven Weiss (4) who wristed in a goal for the Panthers early in third and into an empty net as Johnson scrambled out for a missed poke check after a stop on a break away and tied the game.

The Penguins power play nearly cost them another game going 0-5 in regulation. But thankfully on their sixth chance it didn’t take long for Evgeni Malkin to find the net. With Jordan Leopold sent to the box just 0:30 into overtime for a hold on Jordan Staal as he crashed towards the net and Thomas Vokoun, the Penguins controlled the draw. Sidney Crosby pushed the puck back to Sergei Gonchar who fed Evgeni Malkin up high and Malkin (9) ripped the puck into the net on the 4-3 to win.

Brent Johnson finished with 29 saves on 31 shots faced, 15 of which came in the third period. He has a .907 save percentage and a 2.86 GAA, both very respectable for a backup goal tender who does not get regular chances in net.

The win helps the Penguins keep pace in the East with 45 points (22-10-1) which is good enough for 4th place and keeps them just a few games in hand behind New Jersey also with 45 points in the Atlantic. The Penguins now prepare for a home and home series against division rivals the Philadelphia Flyers (14-15-1, 29 pts).

Notes:
Winger Chris Kunitz returned to the lineup last night after missing 14 games with a lower-body injury marking the return to health of a Penguins team that spent most of November wondering who would get injured next.