PITTSBURGH _ There are still a few defensive kinks left to iron out, but the Penguins have certainly found an offensive groove.
The Penguins set a season-high for goals scored in an 8-5 win over the Ottawa Senators on Monday at PPG Paints Arena.
Again the Penguins had to come from behind _ they trailed, 4-2, at 7 minutes, 8 seconds of the second period _ but their offense proved to be too much for the Senators to handle. The Penguins have scored 19 goals in their past three games.
The Penguins have won three in a row, their longest stretch since picking up four consecutive victories Oct. 25-Nov. 2. They've also won four in a row against Ottawa and are 7-0-2 in their last nine against them.
Bryan Rust had a career night with the first hat trick of his career and a four-point night, but the downside of Monday's win was the fact that the Penguins allowed three power play goals, and Marc-Andre Fleury, making a third start in a row, was yanked after allowing four goals on 16 shots.
The Penguins' eight goals came from six different players, as they raised their record to 16-7-3.
Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel contributed three points apiece, each scoring a goal, and Justin Schultz and Ian Cole adding two-point efforts. Schultz scored for the third game in a row.
Malkin put the finishing touches on his performance with his 10th goal of the season at 1 minute, 5 seconds of the third period, charging through a pair of Senators defenders and backhanding a puck past Craig Anderson. After that, former Penguin Mike Condon took over for Ottawa, the fourth goaltender of the evening.
Dion Phaneuf cut the Penguins' lead to 6-5 at 6:17 of the third with Ottawa's third man-advantage goal of the night after a scrum in front at 6:17. Rust picked up the final two, on a penalty shot and an empty-netter.
Matt Murray picked up the win in relief after stopping 16 of 17 shots, a performance that's sure to continue the debate over how the Penguins are rotating their goaltenders.
Ottawa jumped out to a 4-2 lead with a pair of power play goals in the second period. Mark Stone knocked a puck out of the air, and Mike Hoffman buried a one-time feed from Erik Karlsson. It appeared as though Stone's stick may have been above the crossbar, but officials took another look and it was determined to be at legal height when he made contact with the puck.
After allowing four goals on 16 shots in 27:08, coach Mike Sullivan replaced Fleury with Murray, and the Penguins went to work. Matt Cullen made it 4-3 with a short-handed, breakaway goal. Kessel threw a shot at the goal from 39 feet that moved like a slider in baseball, and Schultz put the Penguins ahead, 5-4, with his third in as many games.
The three goal came in a span of 6 minutes, 9 seconds after the Senators had taken a 4-2 lead.
Malkin set up Rust for an early Penguins goal before Kyle Turris answered for the Senators for a breakaway goal of his own. The Penguins challenged, but the ruling was upheld.
Sidney Crosby picked up his 17th of the season later in the first period to push the Penguins ahead, 2-1. Karlsson, though, beat Fleury from the right circle to pull the teams even at 2 after one period.
Malkin's two assists stretched his home point streak to 11, during which he has four goals and 17 points, and his overall streak to six.
The Penguins also survived a few injury scares early on. On Rust's goal, Zack Smith hit and tripped Malkin, apparently on purpose, with no call. And in the second, Tom Pyatt drove Kris Letang hard into the boards. Letang was slow getting to his feet but stayed in the game.
