can we score at even strength please?

The Pens beat the Blue Jackets 5-3 on Saturday on the strength of three powerplay goals and two shorthanded goals. Michel Ouellet's 4th on the PP opened the scoring, deflecting a shot by Sergei Gonchar. Gonchar got right back on the board, scoring his 2nd goal in as many games midway through the period.

The Jackets got a late powerplay, and converted to pull within 2-1 at the end of the 1st. The Jackets would tie it in the 2nd period right as a Penguins penalty was expiring, counting as an even strength goal against. Fredrik Modin got his first as a Jacket on the play.

The major development at 12:51 of the 2nd was Pens forward Ryan Malone coming to Crosby's defense after a perceived cheap hit. Malone got 2, 5 & 10, while Kesla only got 5. Malone in reality got 6 weeks for the effort, as he broke his forearm on the play. While the Pens were killing Malone's extra 2, 18-year old rookie Jordan Staal scored shorthanded off of a Mark Recchi rebound with 8 seconds to go in the kill. Robert Scuderi got the 2nd assist as the Pens took a 3-2 lead into the 2nd intermission.

The Pens would get some insurance in the 3rd period on a powerplay goal by Evgeni Malkin, assisted by Crosby and Ouellet, at 7:04 of the third. 24 seconds later, John LeClair took an interference penalty, leaving the Pens shorthanded once more. 21 more seconds later, Rookie Jordan Staal was awarded a penalty shot after being brought down when he was in the clear on a shorthanded breakaway.

Staal made his run, and clanged a shot off of the post, onto the back of the goaltender, with the puck crossing the goal line. At first, the referee signaled no goal, although the home horn had sounded. The play was reviewed upstairs by the video goal judge, where a goal was awarded at 7:49 of the third, giving Staal his second shorthanded goal of the game and third of his career.

The Jackets added a 5-on-3 powerplay goal of their own to close it to 5-3, but that would be the final score. Staal would later have a chance at a shorthanded hatrick when the Jackets pulled their goalie on a pair of late powerplay opportunities, but the Pens failed to get it in the net.

After going scoreless on the powerplay in the first couple games, the Pens are now at 25% (11 for 44) on the powerplay, tied for fourth best in the league. Their PK (allowing 8 of 49) is 16th at 83% effeciency. An improvement for a team who was dead last in the PK last year, but they have had their breakdowns. The biggest stat so far is zero shorthanded goals allowed versus Staal's 3 shorthanded goals for.

Crosby and Malkin had quiet nights, with only 1 point each, giving Crosby 2+8 in 7 games, and Malkin 3+1 in 3 games. Malkin became the first player since 1995-96 to score a goal in each of his first three games. Staal's two shorthanded goals in the same game are the youngest anyone has ever done that, and it is believed that his opening 3 shorties to start a career are a record as well.