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Penguins snap four-game skid on turnover in OT

Dec 10, 2006 - 3:25 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- A bad play by defenseman Greg de Vries resulted in a good win for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Colby Armstrong scored off a turnover with 69 seconds remaining in overtime as the Penguins ended a four-game losing streak with a 4-3 triumph over de Vries and the Atlanta Thrashers.

Entering with a 9-3-0 all-time record at Atlanta, Pittsburgh held a 3-2 lead until Niko Kapanen forged a tie with less five minutes to go. But with time winding down in overtime, the Penguins capitalized on a miscue to post another victory in the Peach State.

Attempting to clear the puck, de Vries instead turned it over along the right wing boards to Evgeni Malkin, who rushed to the net. Goaltender Kari Lehtonen denied the rookie sensation's stuff attempt, but Armstrong was there to bury the rebound for his fourth goal of the season.

"Pretty much what we wanted to do was put pressure on their defensemen on the ice and try to take it to them. Malkin read the play well," Armstrong said. "I was standing there when he took it to the net. Two guys took to him and the puck bounced to me."

"It came from the corner," Lehtonen said. "There was a lot of pushing over there. There was no room, but Armstrong went to the net and put me out of position."

Malkin finished with a goal and two assists and Sidney Crosby netted one tally and set up another for the Penguins, who improved to 10-3-0 all-time on the road against the Thrashers and 8-0-3 when leading after two periods this season.

"We deserved to win," Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said. "We were moving the puck well, skating well and attacking the net. We put ourselves in a good position to win."

Marian Hossa scored his league-leading 22nd goal and Vyacheslav Kozlov added two assists for Atlanta, which has dropped two straight following a five-game winning streak.

Crosby opened the scoring with a snap shot through a screen from the right faceoff circle with 5:39 left in the first period with a power-play goal, but defenseman Shane Hnidy answered with a shorthanded tally later in the session. After receiving a backhand pass that J.P. Vigier slid between his legs, Hnidy carried down the slot and slid the puck around sprawled goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury at 18:36.

"I think it was a great play by (Vigier)," Hnidy said. "It was a nice little pass. I backed up for a second and managed to put it in."

Malkin restored Pittsburgh's lead with a one-timer from the high slot during a man advantage in the middle period before Hossa beat Fleury with a wrist shot from the top of the slot just 16 seconds into the third, forging a 2-2 tie.

Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney and Kapanen traded tallies later in the period.

"They tied it up a couple of times, but I could sense a little different feeling from when we were in New York (on Thursday) and got a little down," Armstrong said. "Here, it was more like, 'Hey, let's get going.' It's great for everyone to stay with it, and it's about time we won a close game like this."

Atlanta went just 1-for-6 on the power play and is just 7-for-35 over the last five games.

"Our power play needs to be better," Thrashers coach Bob Hartley said. "In the beginning of the season, it was very good for us and we got clutch goals. Right now, we cannot find the open man on the power play, and it's causing misfires."