Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Sidney Crosby skates out to start a shift in his Mellon Arena debut as teammate John LeClair returns to the bench. Click photo for larger image. More hockey Penguins Notebook: Gonchar says Malkin ready for NHL More game pictures: Penguins photo journal

It was, by almost any measure, a fairly ordinary performance for such an extraordinary talent.

Sidney Crosby got just one point -- a second assist, at that -- in the Penguins' 7-2 exhibition victory against Columbus at Mellon Arena, then underscored a forgettable evening by failing to convert a penalty shot in the postgame shootout.

Not a bad night's work for a lot of players, to be sure, but certainly not the spectacular showing the crowd had been hoping to witness in Crosby's first home game against NHL-caliber opposition.

Some of his co-workers had been hoping for more, too, although they understand story lines don't always unfolded as planned in the NHL.

"It was just that type of game where he didn't have that many odd-man rushes," teammate Mario Lemieux said. "[It's] just the way the game went. We've seen him play a few games so far, and we look forward to a great season from him."

Lemieux's performance suggested that the Penguins might be able to expect one of those from him, too. He scored one goal and set up three others to run his point total for three exhibition games to seven.

He was conspicuous virtually every time he went over the boards, and Crosby, his protege, was among those who liked what they saw.

"He's an unbelievable player," Crosby said. "It was fun just to watch him out there."

Lemieux turns 40 in a week but hasn't looked his age for most of camp. He is the Penguins' leading scorer in the preseason.

"He's in the right spot at the right time," Crosby said. "He's just so experienced, knows where to be on the ice and he finishes his chances.

"Anytime he's got a chance to make a play, he makes it. He finds the guy's stick, or he puts it in the net. Just to watch him tonight was really fun."

Team officials reported that 12,669 tickets were in circulation for last night's game, although most estimates were that only about 8,000 or so fans showed up.

That was something of a surprise, considering the tickets had been paid for and Crosby was playing his first home game, but team president Ken Sawyer insisted he was not disappointed by the turnout.

"It's preseason," he said. "You never sell anywhere near as many in preseason, and a lot of people who have tickets don't show up in preseason. It's opening night. Opening night is what it's about."

That, and the 40 home games that will follow, apparently. Sawyer said there is an "outstanding" chance the Penguins will sell out all 41 regular-season home games, although he did not offer specific numbers.

A lot of those seats will be filled by fans lured by Crosby, who coach Eddie Olczyk acknowledged did not have his best showing of the preseason "if you're splitting hairs and really kind of dissecting things."

Crosby logged 16 minutes of ice time on 18 shifts and was credited with one shot, although Olczyk suggested the stats tell an incomplete story.

"I thought he did a couple of really good things," Olczyk said. "If you were really watching, he made two or three really good plays that just didn't get finished."

	Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Ziggy Palffy, left, and Mario Lemieux celebrate the owner/player's first goal of the preseason. Lemieux also collected three assists in a performance that overshadowed the Mellon Arena debut of heralded rookie Sidney Crosby. Click photo for larger image.

Lemieux had no such problems. His cross-ice feed to Ric Jackman set up the power-play goal that put the Penguins in front to stay at 9:07 of the opening period, and he converted a Zigmund Palffy pass at 15:50 for his first goal of the preseason. He picked up two more points in the second period with assists on goals by Maxime Talbot and Ryan Malone.

"I felt better tonight," Lemieux said. "The first couple of games, I didn't feel good at all, especially handling the puck and making plays. Tonight, I felt good on my skates, making good plays and seeing the ice.

"When I'm able to see the ice ahead of time when I get the puck, I'm able to make some pretty good plays."

Lemieux spent the evening on a line with Ryan Malone, who had two goals, and Palffy, who got two assists, and Olczyk was understandably pleased with that unit's performance.

Of course, he also had to like the way Rico Fata forced an Adam Foote turnover that led to a short-handed goal by Malone. The way Lasse Pirjeta, who has struggled throughout camp, lunged to knock a loose puck past Columbus goalie Martin Prusek. The way goalie Jocelyn Thibault turned aside 17 of 19 Columbus shots.

But mostly, he had to like the way the Penguins finally won a game on their sixth try.

"We weren't happy with the way we've played the last little while," Thibault said. "We wanted to turn it around tonight, and we did a good job. It's good to see us play a solid game like that."