Evgeni Malkin (28) and Matt Cooke (9) scored a goal each and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 of 29 shots to secure a 2-1 victory over the second seeded Bruins this after noon.  Orpik added punctuation to a physical game by sending Bruin Daniel Paille flying some 20 feet across center ice with a crushing check late in the second period.  The Penguins simply out physicalled a strugling Boston squad which coming into the game was just 5-4-1 in their last 10 matches.

Pittsburgh did not register the kinds of shot totals they have been, putting just 28 shots on net for the game and Fleury was strong down the stretch with several key saves on scoring chances with the Briuns looking to tie the game late.  James Neal led the way for the Penguins with six shots.  Newcommer Cal O’Reilly had just one shot and a prime scoring chance that he failed to convert on.  Pittsburgh has to do a quick turnaround and face off against New Jersey at 1:00 PM tomorrow.

Without Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Mark Letestu, the Penguins limped into New York way underpowered and depleted at center.  By all rights the Rangers, 29-20-4, should have had at least an fairly easy time against the gimpy Penguins.  And after jumping out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Prust (8) and Anisimov (11) things were looking that way early in the second period.

Then came a spurt.  Pittsburgh scored on goals by Dustin Jeffrey (3) at 5:30 of the second, Mike Rupp (5) at 10:36 of the second and Chris Kunitz (17) at 14:12 of the second.  They were up 3-2 when they lost another center, Jordan Staal, to a match penalty and when he was ejected for throwing a gloved punch.  The Penguins almost escaped the second period without that hurting them.  But at 19:47 of the frame Callahan (11) scored to tie up the game on the power play that the Staal penalty afforded the Rangers.

The Penguins dug in in the third period and held off the Rangers through overtime.  Then came the shootout.  Marc-Andre Fuery, who made 26 saves in regulation and OT, stopped shots by Wolski, Zuccarello, Callahan, Anisimov, Stepan and Dubinsky.  Lundqvist stopped Letang, Dupuis, Kunitz, Goligoski, Kennedy and Conner.

Then came Dustin Jeffrey, the man who scored the first goal of the game for Pittsburgh and who by all rights would be playing daily for the big club on a lesser team not chocked full of talent.  He scored in round seven of the shootout.  Fluery then proceeded to stop Marian Gaborik to end the game.

The Penguins were undoubtedly happy to come out of it all with two points considering their situation.  But surprisingly the Penguins have been playing well without their superstars lately.  They are proving that they can stay competitive, adapt and even win when temporarily missing pieces to the puzzle.

Following a tough loss last week to Philadelphia followed by a complete collapse in the third period the next night against the New York Rangers, some Penguins fans were worried that not only was the streak over but that things were going to get bad fast. After rattling off wins like a hoarder collects junk, two losses in a row looked like a bad sign especially when that second one was the result of four goals not just in the last period but in the last ten minutes!

Pish posh! Some time to clear their heads and the Penguins have bounced right back rattling off back to back wins. First it was the Phoenix Coyotes who were … well … let’s just say the Penguins had their way with them darting out to a 5-0 lead by the end of the second period. The ‘Yotes didn’t even show up on the scoresheet until the last period when they finally found the next but that game was 6-1 when it ended.

After weathering a 16 shot storm in the first, Marc-Andre Fleury backstopped the Penguins effort and got goals from Kris Letang (6), Evgeni Malkin (12, 13), Sidney Crosby (27), Matt Cooke (6) and Chris Conner (3). That is a pretty good bit of spreading the puck around and Geno had three assists to goal with his two goals. Heck, with production like he has been having I say give him a week break to start every month!

Ok, sure Phoenix is in last place in the Pacific Division but they are a respectably above .500 team at 15-10-7.

Then there was last night against Florida. Florida is, unlike Phoenix, a lower tier team at 15-17-0 and the Penguins made sure to play like they are capable of rather than down to Florida’s level. Despite Florida scoring on their first shot to tie the game at 1-1, it never was close after that. The game ended 5-2 with the Penguins coasting thanks to goals by Letestu (7), Crosby (28), Cooke (7), Lovejoy (1) and the empty netter by Dupuis (8).

The game was so out of hand by the start of the third period that the Penguins decided to give Fleury, who had the night off up until that point, a period in net to get warmed up for today’s match against the Capitals. And that game is a real test. Washington is 20-12-4 and once again leading the pathetically weak Southeast Division. And nothing sets up the Winter Classic better than today’s game and the outcome of it.

Can the Penguins keep their new winning streak rolling? Sure they can. But they have to go through Ovechkin to do it which is never a small task.

Admit it. You Fleury bashers out there were all shaking your heads when just 2:41 into the game last night against Atlanta Brent Sopel (1) tipped in a shot to put Atlanta up 1-0. It is ok, you can admit that your heart sank because you believe so little in the man that lead the Penguins to two Stanley Cup Finals and one Stanley Cup in the past three years. The rest of us know that you have no faith in Marc-Andre Fleury so it is not like it is a big secret or anything.

But even you Fleury haters have to admit that it was the goal tending that prevented it from getting much worse until the Penguins got their game going. Sure it wasn’t until half way through the second period that Evgeni Malkin (5) scored to tie up the game after a legitimate goal for the Penguins had been waved off for goal tender interference, but after that it was all Penguins. Sidney Crosby (12) tipped in a Deryk Engelland shot from the point early in the third to put the Pens up 2-1. Then Evgeni Malkin (6) scored again on the power play to make it 3-1. Malkin took a rebound off the end board and tucked it behind Pavelek who was leaning the other way looking for the puck to come out to his left.

Niclas Bergfors (5) scored for the Thrashers to cut the game to 3 to 2 but the Penguins buckled down, Fleury made the saves and Malkin (7) got the hat trick on the empty netter to ice the game with 1:02 remaining.

It is not often you will ever see Marc-Andre Fleury play in back to back games especially with the usually capable Brent Johnson backing him up. But apparently Johnson’s third period collapse against Boston (partially due to poor defense in front of him but not completely) along with Fleury’s stunning play the previous night against Tampa Bay earned the Penguins number one goal tender a chance to prove that his performance was not a fluke.

And boy did he ever prove it. Fleury made a plethora of nifty saves with every part of his equipment and body stopping 31 of 33 shots. If you thought that the only reason Fleury looked good against Tampa Bay was the limited number of shot he saw, the Atlanta game puts that theory to rest. Two solid performances in a row is a good start on the road to recovery for the star net minder of the Penguins. But he still must do more and prove his consistency is back.

The win moves Pittsburgh to 9-8-1 on the season and they return home on Monday to host the New York Rangers (8-7-1). Whether or not Fleury will start his third game in a row remains to be seen. But so far it looks like he has earned that opportunity.

One game does not a trend make, but last night the Penguins looked like they finally understood what they needed to do to win a game and do so convincingly. While it took a while for any scoring to occur, once the Penguins found the net they kept finding it. The team also played solid defensively, for once, in front of Marc-Andre Fleury.

Fleury was only called on to make fifteen saves on sixteen shots but many of those saves were class Fleury where he flopped, threw out a glove or kicked out a leg with reflexes that few goalies in the league posses. In short, two nights after Brent Johnson and the Penguins collapsed in the third period against Boston, giving up five goals and loosing, the Penguins rebounded and got a solid performance in net that kept a feisty Tampa Bay squad at bay.

In the second period it was Pascal Dupuis (5) who opened up the scoring at 8:01 of the second period tipping in a shot from Kris Letang. Twenty-seven seconds later it was Alex Goligoski (4) who upped the score to 2-0 with a wrist shot into a wide open net.

In the third period the Penguins got into early penalty trouble and Steve Stamkos (15) buried a slap shot past Fleury on a 5-on-3 power play. The Penguins had to kill off another two man advantage before they were able to get rolling again. Mad Max Talbot (3), Sidney Crosby (11) and Deryk Engelland (1) all added scores to extend the lead to 5 to 1 where it remained when the final horn sounded.

Pittsburgh’s five goals came on just 20 shots while the game was marked with distinctly better and more sound defensive play than in previous games.

Engelland with his goal bounced back from some previous bad games. He finished a +3 on the evening. On a night where everyone seemed to be in on the act, Evgeni Malkin had no assists and no goals.

To find out if this will be a trend the 8-8-1 Penguins will take to the ice again tonight to take on the Atlanta Thrashers. Atlanta is 7-6-3 on the season.

Despite on ice officials making a terrible call on Kris Letang, ejecting him from the game for a phantom headshot that never happened, the Penguins beat the New York Islanders 3-2 in OT. The Letang penalty which was called on a clean shoulder to shoulder hit against the Islanders Blake Comeau came with Pittsburgh leading the game 2-0 in the second. The game turned and New York eventually tied the contest at 2-2. The Penguins have announced that they will appeal the penalty.

Pittsburgh played a lackluster game in the first period. In second period it was Mike Rupp (1) who gave the Penguins a lead 4:07 into the period. Tangradi (1) scored his first at 6:57 to extend the lead and the Penguins looked to have figured out that playing hard in front of the opponents net and actually shooting the puck would result in goals. But the Letang penalty derailed the Pens for a while.

Josh Bailey (2) scored during the five minute major which was cut to a three minute man advantage thanks to him jumping on Letang after the phantom penalty. He had to serve two minutes for that before jumping back on the ice to score. Radek Martinek (1) scored less than two minutes later to tie the game.

The game remained that way until overtime. Milan Jurcina of the Islanders took a hooking penalty 52 seconds in and it was Alex Goligoski (3) who ended it with a wrist shot.

Johnson, starting in goal in place of Fleury who struggled in Wednesday’s loss to the Maple Leafs, stopped 22 shots. He looked solid most of the game. He improved his record to 2-0 and is the only Penguins goalie to win a game yet this season. But before the Fleury bashers get on this train, realize that both those wins have come against teams beat up due to injuries. The Islanders were missing key players last night and New Jersey only skated with 15 (instead of 18) players due to salary cap issues.

The Penguins are now 2-3-0 on the season with 4 points. They play today at 6:00 PM against the Philadelphia Flyers who won the inaugural game at the Consol Energy Center 3-2.