Penguins 7 - Isles 4: Malone Turns the Trick

The Penguins offense is some kind of hot right now, and everyone except poor Alain Nasreddine is getting in on the action.

Although the defense and goaltender remain shaky, it's hard to argue with the results when you can win by scores lik 7-4. It certainly makes for more exciting hockey, that's for sure.

Ryan Malone had a hat trick thanks to Sidney's magic and the Penguins have made a nice little turnaround after a long losing skid.

On the night, Sid finished with 1 goal (again, just 1 shot on goal!), 3 assists, +4 and 13-22 on faceoffs in 21:04 of ice time. Another nice effort to pad his scoring lead.

Here's a video clip of Sidney's goal. A lucky bounce? Well, you have to be good to be lucky :)


Game recap from NHL.com:

The Penguins' status in Pittsburgh might be clouded, but their future on the ice appears brighter every day.

Fueled by their young stars, the Penguins won their fourth in a row, 7-4 over the New York Islanders Friday night.

Ryan Malone had a hat trick and 19-year-old NHL scoring leader Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists for Pittsburgh. Crosby has 10 points in his last two games. He had a goal and five assists in an 8-4 victory over Philadelphia on Wednesday night.

"The offense is great, but the one good thing is we allowed hardly any chances up until the third period where we got a little lackadaisical," said Mark Recchi, who had one goal and three assists to give him 800 assists for his career. "The first two periods, we were sound defensively, and that's really important. We're working hard, competing hard, doing the right things, and we're being rewarded."

Hours before game time, it was announced that prospective owner Jim Balsillie had delivered a notice of termination regarding his intent to purchase the club. At least two banners were hung by fans supporting the Isle of Capri Casino Co., which has pledged to build a new arena for the team in Pittsburgh free of charge - if it is awarded the city's slot machine license. The state gaming control board is expected to announce its decision Wednesday.

Jason Blake, Tom Poti, Miroslav Satan and Mike York each had a goal and an assist for New York, which was playing for the first time in six days.

"We had been playing a lot of games in a short amount of time, so it's always good to have a couple days off," said Blake, who has a four-game point streak. "Five days off is a long time, but it's not an excuse we can use for tonight."