Pittsburgh Penguins Pound New York Islanders 5-2

The Pittsburgh Penguins did battle with the New York Islanders on Saturday night with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in net for the first time in eight games.

With Marc-Andre Fleury returning to the lineup, the Pittsburgh Penguins finally have all of their stars back on the ice. Facing a four game stretch against the Islanders, Blackhawks (twice), and Canadiens over the next week, the Pens need to start piling on the points.

They got started on the right foot early in the first period when Matt Cullen found Phil Kessel in front of Thomas Greiss.

Kessel put it home. 1-0 Pens.

After flubbing a wide open shot on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first power play, Sidney Crosby struck on the Pens’ second man advantage.

Sid got on the end of a rebound off of an Evgeni Malkin shot and roofed it for the 2-0 lead.

That wasn’t all for the captain.

Crosby got his second power play goal at 10:25 in the second period after the Pens did some cycling in the zone. The captain stepped up and fired a shot that caught Greiss off guard and went into the net. 3-0 Pens.

Matt Cullen scored a shorthanded goal just thirty two seconds later to give the Penguins a four goal lead. Kris Letang got the primary assist and it was his third of the night.

At 14:40 in the second the Penguins scored yet again. Patric Hornqvist redirected a Brian Dumoulin shot into the net for a 5-0 lead.

Player Performance

Kris Letang makes such a huge difference on this team. It’s insane. I’m not entirely sure how the knocks on this guy can outweigh the positives he brings to the table. If the Pens would just bring in a skilled big guy to provide a little deterrence and make Letang just a bit more comfortable, this team could do some damage going forward. He has to stay on the ice first, though.

Patric Hornqvist now has goals in two straight games. Like I said before, if the offense ever got going Hornqvist would as well. He’s a cleanup guy – a closer, if you will – and without multiple opportunities to get those loose pucks and redirects each night, he’s worthless to your team. Now that he’s getting those opportunities, he’s suddenly useful.

So, who is starting the GoFundMe for Matt Cullen‘s rejuvenation machine? We can let Pascal Dupuis use it as well. Cullen has been a bright spot in the bottom six all season, and now he gets a shot on the second line and gets production out of Phil Kessel. Oh, and that shorthanded goal. Sick nasty.

More from Pens Labyrinth

There was a Phil Kessel sighting. He’d been coming on and it was good to see him get rewarded.

Olli Maatta with no power play time.

Brian Dumoulin had more power play time than Trevor Daley. Not sure how I feel about those two statements.

Welcome back Marc-Andre Fleury! We missed you. That Matt Murray guy was pretty good, but you are the real MVP. Fleury stopped 38 out of 40 shots after missing 8 games with a concussion. Rust? No rust.

Pittsburgh Penguins Player of the Game

The captain, Sidney Crosby, had seven shots on net and two goals tonight. He’s feelin’ it. He now has four goals in his last three games, and 10 points in his past seven games. Has there been an awakening in the force? Has Mike Sullivan rekindled the magic of the best player in the world?

The Big Picture

These are the Pens we’ve been looking for.

That first period was relentless and played at a breakneck pace. I’m not sure Greiss or the Islanders knew what hit them or how to cope and the score reflects that.

The team looked excited to play in front of Marc-Andre Fleury and they gave an A+ effort from puck drop for a pretty complete victory.

It was unfortunate that Fleury’s shutout was ruined, but you’ll have that when you take a five goal lead in the second period. It’s pretty hard to justify continuing to press at that point.

And how about another good night on the power play? It makes the team much more of a threat when they can actually apply pressure and convert on the man advantage instead of showcasing a tape-to-tape passing convention. Particularly when every big-bodied team tries to take liberties with their stars.

Next: Clendening Sent To WBS; What's The Next Step?

The hope now is that Mike Sullivan has found the formula just in time for a home-and-home showdown against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. At this point a split would be a positive outcome from my point of view, however.

The Pittsburgh Penguins play those Blackhawks on Tuesday night at CONSOL Energy Center.