Could it be? A regulation win?

Prior to this evening's tilt at the Consol Energy Center, the Penguins had not won a game in regulation since February 4th, and that game happened to be against the Sabres also. We won 3-2 after spotting Buffalo a 2-0 lead. In tonight's game, the Penguins played a pretty lethargic first period, falling behind 1-0 early. The Penguins found their game in periods two and three, and ultimately won 3-1 in regulation. It was an interesting night for many reasons. First off, it was an important two points for the Penguins, giving them 86 points, the second most in the conference behind Philadelphia who has 88. It also puts the Penguins ahead of both Washington and Boston who each have 84. It was also Alex Kovalev's first game on home ice as a Penguin since February 3, 2003. Tonight also marked the return of Chris Kunitz after missing 14 games, and he looked just like, well Chris Kunitz with a tough forecheck, some nice body shots, and havoc in front of the net. Ryan Miller, one of the league's best goaltenders fell to 4-9-3 against the Penguins. That is tough to imagine. Marc Andre Fleury played another outstanding game tonight and has been the team's MVP in the absence of Crosby. In additon, James Neal scored his first goal as a Penguin on a dirty goal in front of the net, just like you would imagine Neal would score. He liked it so much, a couple minutes later he assisted(his first as a Penguin), on a laser beam of a goal by Zbynek Michalek, also his first as a Pittsburgh Penguin. Michalek became the 450th Pittsburgh Penguin to score a regulation goal. Mark Letestu scored his 12th of the season, assisted by Michalek to close out the scoring. And by the way, Neal may not have earned an assist on the third goal, but it started when he picked off a clearing attempt at the Buffalo blueline, and sent it around the horn to Michalek. All in all a good night at the barn. One are of concern was the Penguins power play. There are no words for the level of suck displayed by the Penguins power play tonight. Even on the extended 5 on 3, you never really felt like they were going to score. Jordan Staal struggled mightily tonight at even strength and on the power play. How bad is the power play? Try 1 for its last 28! They seem to want to run the power play through the points, and they are just not creating good chances that way. The Penguins need to work more from behind the net, and use Kovalev on the half wall to generate offense. Alex Kovalev flashes his skill at times, but they NEED MUCH MORE production from him. Yes, they gave up little for him, BUT the Pens made no other deadline moves as they had faith that Kovy could deliver the mail. Kovy, time to deliver man. I will say that on both the Neal and Michalek goals Kovy was on the doorstep, and probably caused the screen on the Michalek goal. Finally, a surprising statistic about the Penguins. Teh Pens started slowly, but from November 12th on, the Pens have amassed the second most points in the NHL, with 69. Only Vancouver has had more in that stretch at 73. Given their recent struggles and injuries, that is a truly amazing stat. Anyway, it was good to see the Penguins pick up the two points, and now they get a few days to prepare for red hot Montreal who comes in here Saturday for a matinee. Maybe they can practice that power play a bit!