Perhaps it was simply a matter of time. I would say rather it was a complete effort, finally.

The Penguins played one of their best games of the season to date, erasing two one-goal deficits in defeating the Blues tonight, 6-3.

It was certainly a wacky game in terms of the times of the goals. On three separate occasions, two goals were scored by either team under 37 seconds apart.

From the New York Times' Lynn Zinser:

The Obstrucionist

By LYNN ZINSER

Published: November 1, 2008

They flopped. They wobbled. They looked different, and not just because they blocked pucks with their faces. For years, hockey goalies were an oddball assortment of body shapes and playing styles. Today, goalies are among the sport's most fit and skilled players. Witness the Pittsburgh Penguin's Marc-AndrA(c) Fleury. Drafted No. 1 overall in 2003, Fleury, 23, became a star last season, leading his team to the Stanley Cup Final (his 1.97 goals-against average was second-best in the playoffs). Here's what makes the man behind the mask.

Penguins at Blues, 8:30PM EST, Scotttrade Center.

Season records:

Penguins, 5-4-2, 12 pts., 7th in Eastern Conference

Blues, 5-4-0, 10 pts., 9th in Western Conference

The Penguins, hamstrung with both pesky injuries and a stagnant offense, recalled perhaps their best offensive prospect, Janne Pesonen from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tonight.

NOTE: The recall is not official, the Penguins have not announced it. However, according to a thread on Let's Go Pens, Scott Stuccio on the Baby Penguins' radio broadcast reported the recall. In addition, according to tonight's WBS game summary so far, Pesonen is not in the lineup.

Aaaah yes, more fuel to the Capitals-Penguins rivalry fire.

Big tip of the hat to colleague Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy. Greg posted a very interesting article concerning an interview with the Capitals' Alexander Semin.

It's a good interview with Semin, with several subjects discussed. However, the section that Penguins fans will no doubt find intriguing (some others will use more harsh adjectives) concerns Sidney Crosby.

The current four game road trip for the Penguins is quickly turning into a disaster.

With all due respect to the Phoenix Coyotes, this is a game the Penguins should win. They're a young team that's still a couple of years away from contention. But as it is quickly appearing, it doesn't seem to matter who the Pens are playing nowadays.

The Coyotes took full advantage of more shoddy play by the Penguins to get the win 4-1.

Apparently, the injury to Pascal Dupuis is significant enough to warrant some help from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton:

---------------------------

From the Penguins:

The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled forward Chris Minard from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League (AHL), it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Ray Shero

From the Penguins:

PENGUINS PLAYERS TO INTRODUCE

THIRD JERSEY NOVEMBER 5

Kennedy, Letang, Goligoski, Bissonnette and Godard to take part;

Event at Dick's Sporting Goods in The Mall at Robinson is open to the public

Pittsburgh Penguins players Tyler Kennedy, Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski, Paul Bissonnette and Eric Godard will be on hand to model the Penguins' third jersey Wednesday, November 5 at Dick's Sporting Goods in The Mall at Robinson. The event will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and is open to the public free of charge.

Props to Fanhouse's Eric McErlain, who provided a translated version of an interview between Sovetsky's Mikhail Bykov and the Pens' Evgeni Malkin.

Malkin is not happy with the Pens' play of late, and speaking strictly for myself, I'm glad to see it. Malkin, who was given the alternate captain's "A" this year, was expected to provide an increased level of leadership by HCMT.

One day after an absolutely putrid effort in San Jose, one in which his Pittsburgh Penguins only got 11 shots on goal, Head Coach Michel Therrien (known amongst Penguins' blogs as HCMT, get used to it) has done yet again what he does best: He completely shuffled his top three lines.

Different game, same result.

A few days after getting dominated in the third period by the Rangers, getting outshot 19-2 and blowing a two goal lead, the Penguins continued their lackluster play in an ugly 2-1 loss to the Sharks tonight in San Jose.

If NHL scouts are doing their job, they should be including one important aspect to their respective teams when they're facing the Penguins;

If we're down going into the third period, don't give up, the Penguins like to sit back.

Boy, do they ever.

Penguins at Rangers, 7PM EST, Madison Square Garden.

Season records:

Penguins, 5-2-1, 11 pts., 5th in Eastern Conference

Rangers 7-2-1, 15 pts., 1st in Eastern Conference

It looked for a while that it was going to be a very frustrating night for the Penguins.

The Pens, for a change, were getting plenty of shots on net on Canes' goalie Michael Leighton throughout the night, although I'd have to say that most of them weren't high percentage shots. Leighton was standing his ground (or is that ice), keeping the Pens off the scoreboard through two periods. But Leighton and the Canes couldn't withstand a four goal onslaught by the Pens that resulted in a 4-1 win at the Igloo.

And the hits just keep on comin'.

The Penguins' defensive corps has taken yet another hit, although it's unknown at this time for how long. According to the Pittsburgh PG, veteran defenseman Hal Gill missed practice today with an undisclosed injury and it's not known at this time whether Gill will be able to dress for Thursday night's tilt versus Carolina.