Crosby and Christensen score twice for Penguins



The Islanders scored a rare 3-on-5 goal, but lost, 5-2.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins started slowly and then finished with a bang.
Crosby scored twice in the third period and the Penguins surged to a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.
"Sid's the type of player who can control a game whenever he wants to," teammate Erik Christensen said. "It's sick. The way he just turned it on.
"He would come off [the ice] sometimes cursing at himself. But he turned on the switch and had a great third period."
Ahead of Islanders
Christensen added two goals and an assist, and Michel Ouellet had one of each for Pittsburgh, who passed the Islanders and moved into 10th place in the Eastern Conference with their second straight win.
Richard Park and Arron Asham scored for New York.
"You just watch (Crosby), and once again he gets two more points," said Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney, who had an assist. "It seems like that's kind of what you expect. It's truly unbelievable to see what he does. I'm sure he made a couple plays he'd like to take back, but then at the end of the night, he has two goals."
Crosby had no shots and a minus-1 rating and failed to control a couple loose pucks through two periods, but his goals came on rebounds. His power-play tally with 16:32 left off Ouellet's shot gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead.
Puts game away
Crosby's second on a rebound of Mark Recchi's shot with 6:15 left put the game away. Crosby was at the center of controversy late when, with 33 seconds to play, he was speared in the abdomen by Jason Blake. No penalty was called but Crosby was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct minor.
Christensen scored the game's first goal 2:32 in with a nifty backhand move from the slot on a pass from Maxime Talbot.
The second period was all New York. Not only did the Islanders kill two 5-on-3 Pittsburgh power plays -- totaling 2:24 in the second period -- they outscored the Penguins during the disadvantage.
Park scored a rare 3-on-5 goal less than two minutes into the period. With Alexei Yashin and Brendan Witt in the penalty box, Park blocked a shot and skated up ice. He beat Pittsburgh Marc-Andre Fleury to the high stick side to tie it 1-1.
Rare
It was the first goal the Islanders had scored while down two men since March 9, 1993, when Benoit Hogue did it against Philadelphia. The Elias Sports Bureau couldn't find another allowed by the Penguins in the last 20 years.
The Penguins took a 2-1 lead on Ouellet's power-play goal 11:35 into the period, but Asham beat Fleury to tie it at 2 with 2:16 to play in the second.
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