Pittsburgh Roars Back To Beat Dallas, 6-3

Pittsburgh Roars Back To Beat Dallas, 6-3

For more about this game, be sure to read about the Penguins at PensBurgh and the Stars at Defending Big D.

Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Sidney Crosby lit the lamp twice and collected an assist, as the Pittsburgh Penguins scored five unanswered goals to post a 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars at Mellon Arena.

Jordan Staal and Chris Kunitz each had a goal and a helper for the Penguins, who have won three straight and recorded at least a point in their last seven games overall (4-0-3).

Alexei Ponikarovsky, who came over in a trade with Toronto on Tuesday, found the back of the net in his Pittsburgh debut.

Pulled in Thursday's road win against the Rangers, Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves to pick up his 30th win of the season.

"We always know (Fleury) bounces back," Crosby said. "It's going to happen, we all have tough nights. He responds the best way possible every time."

Loui Eriksson, Mike Ribeiro and Brandon Segal each had a goal for Dallas, which has lost three in a row.

Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen, making his first start since being acquired from Atlanta in February and first start overall since last April 11, stopped 28 shots in defeat. Lehtonen missed most of the 2009-10 campaign while recovering from offseason back surgery.

Pittsburgh overcame a 3-1 deficit in the second period.

Kunitz fired a wrister over the glove hand of Lehtonen four minutes into the middle stanza, then Pascal Dupuisdrove the net and redirected a Kris Letang pass to tie the game at 9:10.

The Penguins seized the lead when Crosby moved behind the enemy cage and banked the puck in off the leg of Dallas defenseman Trevor Daley with 3:13 remaining.

Crosby pumped in a short-handed goal at the 1:35 mark of the third period for a two-goal cushion. The latest tally gave the Pittsburgh captain 44 for the season, two more than Washington superstar Alex Ovechkin for the league lead.

"Our power play was atrocious. It was really deflating at times," said Dallas forward Mike Modano.

Ponikarovsky sealed the win with an power-play marker in the late stages of regulation.

Matt Cooke hit Staal streaking down the middle of the ice and he whipped a shot past Lehtonen 2:11 after the game's opening faceoff. Ribeiro followed up his own shot to tie the game with 7:55 remaining in the first period.

Segal and Eriksson scored 59 seconds apart early in the second period to give Dallas a 3-1 lead.

Letang and fellow Pittsburgh defenseman Sergei Gonchar each had two assists...The Penguins have won five straight against Dallas...The Stars finished 0-for-6 on the power play.