Flight-less Birds?

Even as a rookie Alex Goligoski knows of the intense rivalry between the Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers. He also chipped in with the winner when the two teams went to a shoot-out; he was the Penguins' sixth shooter.

Matt Cooke who plays along with Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy on the third line scored his first goal in a Penguin uniform at 706. Kennedy along with Kris Letang assisted on the Pens' first goal of the game.

Early in the second the Pens increased their lead with Evgeni Malkin`s first point of the night, bringing his point streak to 12 games, a goal at 1:11. Ruslan Fedotenko and Petr Sykora assisted.

Not much later Sidney Crosby scored his fifth of the year on the power play with help from Petr Sykora and Miroslav Satan at 3:51.

But the Pens couldn`t hold their lead as the Flyers scored four goals of their own, all were scored in the second period. Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne short-handed twice, and Joffery Lupul on the power play light the lamp for the Flyers. The final goal came with four second remaining in the second frame.

To start the third period Dany Sabourin was put in net and stopped every shot he faced.

The Pens weren`t going to let their cross-state rival win the game in regulation, Sidney Crosby scored his second of the night with help from Max Talbot and Evgeni Malkin at 17:27.

Both teams were held scoreless in the five minute overtime period and the game was headed to a shoot-out. All six Flyers' players, Simon Gagne, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Kimmo Timonen, Joffery Lupul, and Scott Hartnell, were stopped by Sabourin. The first five shooters for the Penguins, Petr Sykora, Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Miroslav Satan, were all stopped by goaltender Marty Biron. In the end the game was resting on the sticks of Alex Goligoski and Dany Sabourin. The rookie defenseman put his shot across the goal line and Sabourin stopped Hartnell to lead to the Pens to their fifth straight win.

The three stars were 3.Alex Goligoski, 2. Simon Gagne, 1. Sidney Crosby.

Ryan Whitney (foot) and Sergei Gonchar (shoulder) missed the game along with healthy scratches Paul Bissonnette and Darryl Sydor.

The Pens next take on the Sabers in their blue throw back jerseys Saturday night at 7:38.