After the dismal performance Monday night in New York, it was starting to look pretty gloomy. Pens fans were starting to stir and the All Star Game couldn't come soon enough. Alas, reason to rejoice! The Pens top Atlanta 3 - 1 at Mellon Arena and the slump is (at least temporarily) over. So what if they are the worst defense in the league, we won. If this would have gone the other way, who knows what type of rioting would have arisen in the strip post game.



Time to look at the pluses. Fleury looked like he was returning to his All-Star-hopeful-self. Making a handful of game changing saves to keep the Pens in the game. It was even looking like he could go for the shut out for a while there. Malkin put up three more points to increase his league points lead back to 10. Crosby scored in dramatic fashion with a waist-high redirect. The defense looked good all around, not allowing many breaks and making wiser passes. Ruslan Fedetanko got a nice shot on that damned Colby Armstrong, even though he had to leave the game after. And of course...Petr Gunn was so close to a hat trick he could taste it. He was practically drooling when the Thrashers pulled Lehtonen with a little over a minute remaining. But couldn't quite close the deal due to a Kozlov cross-checking penalty. Maybe next time Sykora! Keep shootin buddy.

Even though it was a small victory and only two points, it's a start. The first power play goal of the game appeared to rejuvinate the boys and the rest was history. All hope is that it sticks and we continue to build confidence and gain momentum enough to keep racking up the wins. Come on...how depressing was it to see the graphic with Pittsburgh out of the playoff picture? We can't have that now!