Post-Game Takeaways: Penguins win for first time this season when scoring 2 goals or less

POST-GAME TAKEAWAYS: The Pittsburgh Penguins got goals from their two stars and defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Monday night at the Consol Energy Center. The Penguins improved to 21-10-1, 43 pts and have won 9 of 12 games….

— Evgeni Malkin (8) and Sidney Crosby (16) scored in the win, and Marc Andre Fleury was solid in goal, making 32 saves on 33 shots for his 17th win of the season……

— Malkin extended his points streak to 10 games (5G-15A-20Pts), breaking a scoreless tie at 4:16 of the second period. The goal was vintage Malkin during his MVP type seasons where he used his size and strength as he came down the right side with speed, got a step on Fedor Tyutin and put his shoulder into Tyutin then went backhand to forehand and buried one past goaltender Curtis McElhinney……

— A bright spot for the Penguins tonight was Pascal Dupuis who looked like the Dupuis of last season for one of the few times this year. Dupuis had an assist and team-high 6 shots on goal.

— If cycling the puck behind the net counted as goals, the Blue Jackets would have won this game in a rout. While the Blue Jackets had 33 shots on goal, the Penguins did an excellent job of clogging the middle defensively and keeping the Jackets to the outside. The Blue Jackets sure lack skill upfront. Fleury wasn’t tested much.

— Some notables on the blueline tonight. Olli Maatta 1 assist, 4 blocked shots in 19:40 TOI, Simon Despres 3 blocked shots, 2 hits, Deryk Engelland team-high 5 blocked shots.

— Good to see the Penguins win a 2-1 game? The Penguins came into tonight’s game 0-8 when they scored two goals or less in a game.