Finally an easy one

The Penguins, for the first time all year, won an easy one 5-0; making the Thrashers look like the bottom dwellers they haven't looked like since they fired their coach.

Game notes:

• Sergei Gonchar had 3 assists in the first half of the game before held out of the rest with what was described as a "sore groin". The Penguins don't have another game for 5 more days until Friday, so hopefully he'll be good to go for that.
• Fleury, Fleury, Fleury. He saw the puck well and did enough for the shutout. Good for him. And good for Coach Therrien to go back to Fleury after he gave up 2 goals in 4 shots last night. That's the stuff that will build confidence.
• Ho-hum, another "routine" 1 goal 1 assist night for Sidney Crosby. In the faceoff circle he went 81%, (13-3). Awesome.
• Jordan Staal scored a goal tonight and Colby Armstrong did too. ABout time.
• End of a streak: Evgeni Malkin's point streak ended tonight at 15 games. Still, an excellent streak and it reflects well on the Pens that they could win 5-0 without needing their #2 guy to create anything, for a change.
• Ryan Malone again played excellent, playing with passion, tallied his 7th goal of the year, throwing 5 more shots at the net and generally busting his tail around the rink. Few forwards have been as consistent top to bottom this year as Malone.
• Speaking of players playing with passion, Tyler Kennedy had a 2 assist night. Good to see him providing a spark for the team, you can tell the Penguins thrive off his energy.
• The unsung trio (Brooks Orpik, Mark Eaton, Robert Scuderi) combined for: 62 minutes of icetime (all even-strength or shorthanded), 8 hits, 8 blocked shots, +3, 1 takeaway (Orpik with 6 hits, 3 BS by himself). They won't make any highlight reels but makes exactly the plays you'd expect them to.
• Gary Roberts had 2 assists, was a +2 and was the force that you'd hope he'd be all along.

You could go on and on and on. Every player in a Penguin jersey had a solid night and played as you'd hope they would all year long. It looks like the momentum from the Ottawa game did carry over. Now, as mentioned, is a quite lengthy 5 day break before a game against Dallas. By then, all momentum will be gone. Time to see how they can build upon 4 points in the past 2 games.

Trivia of the Night:
``This was Marc-Andre Fleury's 9th career shutout. 8 of which have come at home (the other was in Chicago, which was his first career victory).