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Crosby's two goals lifts Penguins past Stars

Dec 1, 2007 - 6:03 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins are starting to turn around their season.

Sidney Crosby scored two goals and Marc-Andre Fleury made 22 saves as the Penguins posted their third consecutive win, a 4-1 triumph over the Dallas Stars on Friday night.

Colby Armstrong recorded a pair of assists for Pittsburgh, which has recorded points in five of its last six games (4-1-1).

"Offensively, we really capitalized on our chances," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "What I am impressed with, too, is our defensive game. There weren't a lot of scoring chances. You've got to stick to the plan."

Despite its recent success, Pittsburgh (11-11-2) still sits at the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings after finishing second last season.

After having the last five days off, Crosby wasted little time getting on the scoresheet. The 20-year-old captain controlled the puck below the end line before curling toward the net and stuffing the puck between the pads of goaltender Mike Smith to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead just 24 seconds into the game.

"You've got to make those saves, especially coming out from behind the net like that," Smith said. "He's a good player and all, but the goalie has got to make those saves in this league or they're not going to win a lot of games."

The reigning Hart Trophy winner, Crosby tallied again in the second period, when he fired a rebound past Smith at 8:34 to open a 3-1 advantage.

"He's a one-of-a-kind kid out there," Smith said of Crosby.

"He sure controls the game himself," Stars coach - and former Penguin - Dave Tippett agreed. "Their best player was pretty good tonight."

It was Crosby's 14th tally and fourth multi-goal performance of the season.

Crosby contributed some of his offensive success to the five-day break.

"I felt pretty good. I thought we got some good practices in, and I tried to take advantage of it," he said. "You don't get a chance to work on things throughout the year with morning skates and short practices all the time, so you try to make the most of it, and I felt pretty sharp."

After getting pulled midway through the first period of the Penguins' 6-5 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators on November 22, Fleury has yielded just one goal over his last two games, making 50 saves in the process.

"It's been going a little better the last couple games, and hopefully, it will keep going that way," Fleury said.

Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead at 3:38 of the opening period as rookie Tyler Kennedy unleashed a wrist shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle that beat Smith to the short side.

Dallas halved the deficit at 5:31 of the middle session. Mike Ribeiro skated into the zone with the puck, then stopped suddenly and wound up for a shot.

When Ribeiro stopped, Pittsburgh defenseman Darryl Sydor continued to back off, allowing a clear lane for the Stars center to blast a slap shot past Fleury's glove.

A former Star, Sydor redeemed himself just over three minutes later, when his shot created the rebound Crosby buried for his second goal of the night and a 3-1 advantage.

Evgeni Malkin added an insurance goal with 5:32 remaining to provide the final margin. It was the 10th goal of the campaign for the Russian, who captured the Calder Trophy last season.

Smith, who was 4-0-0 with a 1.01 goals-against average in his previous four starts, turned aside 24 shots for Dallas , which has lost two in a row following a six-game winning streak.

Despite the loss, Stars veteran Mike Modano already was focused on Saturday's game in Philadelphia.

"We've got to do what we've got to do," he said. "Come back tomorrow, refocus and get some rest tonight."