Sidney Crosby scored on his first shift and Pittsburgh never looked back.   Tyler Kennedy scored on a Staal assist, to make it 2-0 PIttsburgh.

Given the troubles the Penguins have had defending 2-0 leads, it was nice to put this one away, after Ribeiro opened the scoring the second period  to bring the Stars within a goal, Crosby answered, roofing a Daryl Sydor rebound, the assist was Sydor’s second point this year.  Evgeni Malkin put the game out of reach when he scored on a sweet one-timer from Petr Sykora, who is Czechoslovakian.

It looks like the 6 day layoff didn’t hamper the Pens intensity, who have recorded points in 5 of their last 6 games.  After an extended break Pittsburgh plays 3 games in 4 days, the Penguins travel to Toronto tonight, before playing Phoenix at home on Monday.

Sidney Crosby will have a hat trick in one of those games.  He loves playing in Canada, and the last time he played the Cyotes, he seemed to be on a mission to make Mayne Gretzky look like moron for passing him over for Canada’s Olympic team in 2004.

Monday night is Mark Recchi 500 goal bobble head night. It’s a shame how the Recchi situation has soured what should have been a wistful, storybook farewell tour for a sure fire hall of famer, and one of the hardest working Penguins I’ve ever seen play.  My fondness for Recchi transcended my hatred of the Flyers, as I rooted for him to suceed even when he played for the hated orange and black.  Read Rich’s blog on Recchi.

A few quick things before I get ready for work.

Stall looks more confident in the offensive end, if he can get hot it will be a big part of teh Pens ascension in the standings.

Who do you think is going to sit when Talbot gets healthy? It sure aon’t be Colby Armstrong, who has made the most of his stint on the Rotating Wing of Sid.

MA Fleury has allowed one goal over his last 120 minutes in net. I hope he starts vs. Toronto.