Malkin's Return Helps Penguins Snap Losing Skid, Power Past Bruins in Comeback OT Win

WHEW!

Less than one second away from a 5-game losing streak, the Pittsburgh Penguins finished off their most exciting game of the year last night at Mellon Arena against the Boston Bruins by tying the game on a goal by RW Bill Guerin with 4 tenths of a second on the clock and then won the contest in overtime on Pascal Dupuis' 2nd goal of the game to cap a remarkable comeback in a game they looked all but out of.

It sure didn't look good for the Penguins in the final 30 seconds last night. With their goalie pulled and down by one, Pittsburgh couldn't even get out of their own end. Finally, with about 6 seconds left, they got a break and made a final rush up ice, led by Evgeni Malkin in his first game back in the lineup after missing two weeks to rest a sore shoulder.

Malkin -- who finished with 3 assists on the night -- passed cross-ice to Guerin, who made no mistake with an absolute LASER off the far post and past stunned Bruins' netminder Tim Thomas just before the green light came on.

Then, in OT, Thomas failed to properly corral a dump in for his defenseman before Jordan Staal swooped in behind the net, took the biscuit and fed it right in front to Dupuis, who deposited the mail into an empty cage before Thomas could get back in the crease.

In all fairness, the Penguins probably would have been able to polish off Boston in regulation if not for the help the Bruins got from the zebras late in the third period.

The Penguins were up by a goal at 4-3 with about 7 minutes left when Matt Cooke got called for a double high-sticking minor becuase Bruins' forward Byron Bitz ran into his stick while trying to check Cooke. The problem was that Bitz missed Cooke completely along the near boards, but still got cut as a result of running into Cooke's twig. Cooke was actually trying to avoid Bitz in a crowd and had his stick up above his head like he was dodging and weaving a Walmart black friday crowd on his way to the $499 42 inch plasma.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, Sidney Crosby got caught for a lame tripping call about a minute later when a Boston player stumbled over his stick after Crosby lost his balance and was on the ice. Crosby wasn't reaching for or otherwise playing the puck, the man, or anything related to the action while on the ice, but was simply in the act of falling at the time. Horrible call -- especially when you're already down a man.

Sure enough, the Bruins tied the score when David Krejci found a rebound and beat Pens' starting backup goaltender Brent Johnson to the high short sidewith 5+ minutes to play.

Worse, a minute later, just after the Boston power play expired, defenseman Zdeno Chara took a shot from the point that was deflected by Marco Sturm past a lost Johnson for a 5-4 lead.

Things looked bleak for the Penguins, but that just set the stage for a little Malkin magic, Guerin's late game heroics, and Dupuis' 100th NHL goal for the winner.

The Pens' had battled back and forth with Boston all game. They opened the scoring in the first on a 'Mike Rupp-style' goal in tight from -- of all people -- defenseman Jay McKee. Just like Rupp did about a month ago, McKee found himself in on a 2-on-1 and, using his teammate as a decoy, deked to the backhand in tight and unexpectedly roofed a water-bottle shot that beat a beleaguered Thomas early.

The goals simply alternated at that point. Blake Wheeler got one for Boston. Dupuis scored his first to give the Pens' the lead again before the first frame ended. Then Michael Ryder scored next on a tough short side wrister to even things at 2 in the second period before Crosby nicely deflected an Alex Goligoski shot past Thomas to put Pittsburgh up by one again.

Derek Morris tied the score for Boston late in the second, but Eaton put Pittsburgh back up again in the third before the Bruins went on the late power play, took the lead, and then gave the Penguins the final baton for the win.

Obviously, neither Johnson or Thomas were on top of their game tonight. Both looked out of position at times, and both went down early on many shots. That's not to say there weren't times when both made a big save here or there but in the aggregate, I think both netminders would rather not watch the tape of their play from last night.

At least the Penguins can stop doubting their ability to win -- or to put the puck in the net. Malkin's return was obviously a big boost, and it couldn't have come at a better time, not just because of their 4-game losing streak going into the contest, but because they learned during the game-day skate that they'd be down another key player for a while.

HCDB announced that LW Chris Kunitz would be out for 2 weeks with a lower body injury which he has been dealing with for a while. No greater word on the nature of the injury, but it's hard to be surprised that it's a 2-week malady. That seems to be what everyone in the organization has.

Again, Pens' fans should be thankful it isn't for longer, but really ... can they get a break?

I suppose losing Kunitz when he wasn't playing made up for the fact that the Penguins escaped Thursday's loss at New Jersey without losing anyone.

In any case, the Pens' will try to move forward and built off this big, late-game comeback win in their next game against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday at The Igloo.

The Penguins, of course, beat Anaheim, 4-3, at the beginning of their road trip just 2 weeks ago. Since then, the Ducks have continued to struggle, but they remain a dangerous opponent any time you match up against them because of their top-end talent.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about the Penguins' miserable (and that's being charitable) power play, which is O-for in the last 7 or 8 games now.

That's something the Penguins need to get turned around, and quickly. For tonight, though, they can -- and should -- enjoy a fantastic win they deserved.

Hopefully, that was the start of the MoJo coming back .....