hockey: Penguins explode in the third

The Comeback Kids are back, folks. That's right, the make you suffer for two periods of underwhelming hockey, you might as well just turn off the TV but wait, maybe we can actually win this kids.

At the hottest ticket in Edmonton, fans who paid top dollar to witness Sidney Crosby's Western Canada debut spent the first two periods wondering what all of the hype was about. The Pittsburgh Penguins came out strong against the Oilers early in the first period, but were unable to tally a goal. The Pens seems to lose most of their muster after that, and the Oilers scored a goal of their own in each of the first two periods. Sid the Kid was virtually nonexistent. I seriously wondered if he might be feeling under the weather.

Honestly, by the end of the second period, I convinced myself we'd be seeing a shutout. The Pens weren't playing that poorly and the Oilers weren't playing that well, but Oilers goalie Roloson didn't look like he could be beat. He stopped everything thrown at him.

In the third period, however, Max Talbot scored the Penguins first goal for a second game in a row. Thanks to Therein's game of musical lines (with just 11 forwards dressed last night, he moved things around every shift), Talbot found himself in front of the net and able to dive to put away a rebound from Evgeni Malkin's shot. (Let me say it now: I think Talbot should be on the No. 2 line instead of Erik Christensen. I said it before he came back to the lineup, and he proved me right last night. Malkin's points have been down since Christensen joined his line.)

As we know with the Pens scoring this season, when it rains, it pours. Three more goals, all assisted by The Next One himself, came in the next 7:25, from Kris Letang, Colby Armstrong and Ryan Whitney. Mark Eaton also got an well-deserved two assists--as one of the Pens most valuable players defensively, he doesn't often get a chance to show up on the scoresheet.

Marc-Andre Fleury tried to make it 5-2 by shooting the puck the length of the ice for an empty netter at the end of the game. He would have had his first NHL goal if an Oiler hadn't managed to get a hand on it.

And so, the Penguins showed they still have the magic they had last year, when a come from behind victory was the norm rather than the exception. Last year, they didn't find that magic until the second half of the season. I hope this boasts well for their efforts in upcoming games.

Box score