Penguins 4, Avalanche 3

A quick look at the Penguins’ 4-3 victory over Colorado at Consol Energy Center Thursday night:

*** The Penguins turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead with three goals in a span of two minutes, eight seconds in the second period en route to their second victory in a row. “We did a good job of coming back out for the second period and putting the pedal to the metal,” defenseman Ian Cole said. “That was awesome to see. It was fantastic.”

*** David Perron (5:35), Evgeni Malkin (7:04) and Chris Kunitz (7:43) scored the goals against Avalanche goalie Reto Berra during that rampage.

*** Perron’s goal was his third of the season, but not one of the most skilled he’s scored. He got the goal when a Cole slap shot caromed off backside and past Berra. “Definitely a good bounce,” he said.

*** Penguins center Sidney Crosby didn’t wear a helmet during warm-ups, and the change in routine appeared to change his offensive luck. He scored the Penguins’ fourth goal – his third of the season and first in seven games – at 11:56 of the third period, when he threw a backhander between Berra’s legs. “It felt good,” Crosby said. “You get those opportunities, you’ve got to make the most of them. At the time, I didn’t think we were going to need it, but they definitely came hard.”

*** Crosby’s goal became the game-winner when Colorado’s Matt Duchene scored his second of the game with 83 seconds left in regulation. Fleury held the Avalanche off the rest of the way, and denied former teammate Jarome Iginla from the slot as time was expiring.

*** The Penguins have won five of their past six home games against Colorado.

*** Members of the Perron-Malkin-Phil Kessel line had a strong game, accounting for two goals and eight of the Penguins’ 30 shots. “We’re generating some chances, generating some big goals,” Perron said.

*** Cole had two assists, tying his career high.

*** The Avalanche scored first for the 15th time in its past 20 games in Pittsburgh.

*** Crosby, on the impact of the Penguins’ victory: “We still have to get better, but tonight was a good test. We had a pretty emotional game last game (a 4-3 victory against Minnesota Tuesday). It would’ve been easy to have a little bit of a letdown tonight. … Just being able to follow that (Wild game) up was important. We just want to continue this momentum we’re building and really try to build our identity as a team.”

*** The Penguins are 7-1 when scoring a power-play goal.