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If you're a hockey fan (and, if you're reading this, you must be), you had a lot to watch on Thursday night. Here are some random thoughts on a busy night. In Pittsburgh, the previously winless Pens overcame a four-goal, first-period deficit en route to a stunning 7-5 win over the Thrashers at the Igloo. The Pens allowed four goals -- three on the power play -- in the first 10 minutes of the game. At that point, Pens coach Ed Olczyk called a much-needed timeout. During the timeout, according to postgame reports, veteran left wing John LeClair got vocal, exhorting his teammates to take their game up a notch. In the next 10 minutes, the Pens cut the lead in half courtesy of two power-play goals off the stick of Mario Lemieux. In the second period, the Pens exploded for four more goals (three on the power play) in a span of 4:10. On the night, the Pens converted six of 11 power-play chances. As bad as they looked on the power play against the Panthers on Tuesday, they looked pretty darn good on Thursday. After the game, Lemieux told the Associated Press that the club had been standing around too much on the power play. He said the Pens were aiming to change that against Atlanta. Apparently, they did. Lemieux finished with five points. It was the 51st five-point game for No. 66. If he can post 45 more five-point games, he'll tie Wayne Gretzky for the league mark. That's right, Gretzky had 96 five-point games during his career. That is simply mind-boggling. Heck, Lemieux's total is pretty mind-boggling, too. Now, before everyone is ready to say all is well and good in Pittsburgh, remember, it was just one game. And it was just one game against the struggling Thrashers, who used their fifth goalie in just 10 games. Veteran Steve Shields, who signed with Atlanta after two games in the AHL, got a rude welcome back to the NHL. The Thrashers had better hope that Shields can find his game. Rookie stopper Kari Lehtonen, who was supposed to be the starter, remains sidelined with a groin problem. And there's no telling when he'll be ready to return. The same can be said for backup Mike Dunham. In New York, the surprising Rangers got back on track with a 3-1 win over the Islanders at Madison Square Garden. Jaromir Jagr picked up another two points to increase his league-leading total to 17. In goal, rookie Henrik Lundqvist stopped 31 shots to get the win. However, the Rangers won this game because of their penalty killers, who helped turned back 11 Islanders power-play chances. Hardworking forward Jed Ortmeyer did an excellent job on the penalty kill. The Isles like to work the puck to sharpshooting defenseman Alexei Zhitnik at the middle point. Ortmeyer's quickness -- and his willingness to sacrifice his body (to block shots) -- made life difficult for Zhitnik, who finished the night with only one shot on goal despite 13:51 of power-play time. When asked about the Rangers' improved penalty killing, head coach Tom Renney talked about his role players taking a lot of pride in doing their jobs. And, in his most telling comment about the difference in this year's group, Renney said, "We have some people that care and are willing to sacrifice." The Rangers' third and fourth liners -- guys like Ortmeyer, Blair Betts, Dominic Moore, Jason Ward and Ville Nieminen -- have already won over the club's best player. During a recent player meeting, Jagr spoke up, saying that the club's role players were the best of any of the clubs he has played on. That kind of comment is pure gold when you're trying to rebuild a team. So far, Renney and his coaching staff have done a brilliant job. In Detroit, the Red Wings kept on winning, stopping the bumbling Blackhawks 5-2 at the Joe. Goalie Manny Legace became the first goalie in league history to record 10 wins in the month of October. Just think -- Jacques Plante, Terry Sawchuk, Ken Dryden, Bernie Parent, Grant Fuhr, Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur ... none of them managed to win 10 games in the first month of the season. Manny Legace, this Bud's for you! At the other end of the rink, big-money free agent Nikolai Khabibulin continued to struggle. Clearly, he's playing behind an injury-plagued and inexperienced defense. However, he has to be better for the Hawks, who need him to steal a game from time to time. So far, he hasn't done that. This was the first of three straight meetings between the Original Six rivals. The clubs meet in Chicago on Saturday, then again in Detroit on Tuesday. Right now, the Hawks would love to see the Thrashers come to town. In Denver, Todd Bertuzzi made his first appearance at the Pepsi Center since his ugly attack on former Avs forward Steve Moore in March 2004. And, not surprisingly, the Avs crowd booed the living daylights out of Bertuzzi. Fortunately, no one in the crowd got too out of hand. On the ice, the Avs hammered the Canucks 6-2. In a statistical oddity, the Canucks outshot the Avs 23-0 in the final period. Starting goalie David Aebischer was strong in goal, stopping 40 of 42 shots. Bertuzzi and Co. will remain in Denver for a game on Saturday. The club decided to stay in town, rather than retreat to Colorado Springs for the day. They'll practice in the Denver area on Friday. According to a team spokesman, they were treating this like any other road trip during the season. In Phoenix (actually, Glendale, Ariz.), Coyotes goalie Curtis Joseph became just the ninth goalie in league history to hit the 400-win mark with a 3-2 win over the travel-weary Flames at the Glendale Arena. It was an unusually light night for Joseph, who faced just 15 shots. After the game, during an interview with Fox Sports Arizona, Joseph talked about hitting the milestone. "It's a round number," joked Cujo, who forced Flames top sniper Jarome Iginla to fire high and wide on a semi-breakaway in the final three minutes of the third period. "It's a great honor and I'm in great company. A lot of those guys were my heroes growing up. It's a nice accomplishment." Mike Comrie netted the game-winner for the Coyotes with just 88 seconds remaining in regulation time. It was the second of the game for Comrie, who'd been struggling in the early part of the season -- so much that head coach Wayne Gretzky had limited his playing time. After the game, Gretzky credited Comrie with working his way through the slump. Everywhere else... I can't get to everything, but I should single out the Senators' Jason Spezza for a ridiculous pull-and-drag move around Habs defender Sheldon Souray and a picture-perfect game-winning backhand past Jose Theodore in Ottawa's 4-3 OT win over Montreal. If you can find the streaming video, check it out. It was a heck of a play by young Spezza. For the record, ESPN The Magazine did a feature on him about six years ago. Where does the time go? Also, kudos to Bruins rookie stopper Hannu Toivonen, who was razor sharp in a 2-1 win over the Leafs. Toivonen turned back 36 of 37 shots. And, finally, a Philly cheer to Peter Forsberg, who scored his first goal as a Flyer. And it came at a good time. Forsberg slid a loose puck past Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo with just 50 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game, 4-4. The Flyers won the game in overtime when Joni Pitkanen flipped a shot past Luongo.
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