Scoring six times is fun...Pens win

The Penguins should try it more often. 1-2-1 for a west coast swing, not great by any means, but for all intents and purposes it's nice to put that behind us and just move on.

• As you'd expect from six different players scoring goals, nearly everyone on the roster had at least a point. In fact it's easier to write who didn't have a point; Rob Scuderi, Mike Zigomanis, Chris Minard, Janne Pesonen and Eric Godard
• Pesonen's debut was relatively inconspicuous, though he got some looks on Evgeni Malkin's line, Pesonen only played 9:52 of ice-time and didn't really do anything notable. Clearly HCMT doesn't trust him to be out there too much in a close game, which is only natural. It did look weird seeing a #20 out there that wasn't Colby Armstrong.
• The Max Talbot/Sid Crosby/Miro Satan line combined for 2 goals, 4 assists and a +8 rating. They were great out there. We love the addition of Talbot as a spot winger for Crosby; Talbot hustles, he digs out pucks, he's fast and defensively responsible. Plus he can finish every once in a while.
• Also, hopefully the Therrien routine of "let's put new skill wingers on the 3rd line to teach them how to play my system" that he pulled with Petr Sykora last season until December and was well on his way to using on Satan too is finished. Satan has six goals, only seven other Pens have 2+ goals. Leave him with Crosby, we implore you!
• Malkin runs his scoring streak up to eight consecutive games with his smash power-play goal and an assist. In fact, perhaps more impressively the only game all season Malkin hasn't recorded a point was the Oct 14th win over Philly. Malkin also, at least temporarily, takes over the lead in the league's point scoring race.
• Hidden stat of the night: every Penguin that took at least four draws won over 50% of them, led again by Zigomanis' 73% (8 for 11) evening.
• Big game from Tyler Kennedy too, who ended up getting the eventual game winner, an apple and his usual energy to the team. Nice to see him break off the snide of a long goal-less streak and get his first goal of the season in North America.
• With all the injuries everyone expected big things from Kris Letang, who's definitely been over-shadowed by fellow young defenseman Alex Goligoski. Goose is getting most the PP icetime with the top unit, but Letang is emerging as a solid all around defenseman. Paired on the top unit with Brooks Orpik tonight, check out Letang's stat-line: 25:28 played, 1 assist, +3, 1 shot, 6 hits, 4 blocked shots and a giveaway. Not flashy, but solid nonetheless.

The Pens are rewarded by the NHL schedule with a five day break. There's still some things to work on and a nice time for guys like Crosby, Sykora and Hal Gill to rest some bumps, bruises and fix teeth hanging by a thread. Also, perhaps guys like Ruslan Fedotenko and Pascal Dupuis will be able to return from their undisclosed injuries.