Peter Diana, Post-Gazette photos Evgeni Malkin celebrates his winning goal against the Flyers last night at Mellon Arena. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Malkin: Russian team takes case to court Penguins Notebook: Attendance continues to be high at optional practices

Michel Therrien wanted the Penguins to get more shots. They ended up with 39.

He wanted them to generate more scoring chances. They had plenty.

And more than anything, he wanted a victory. If only for the sheer novelty of it.

After all, he hadn't witnessed one in nearly two weeks.

Which explains why Therrien was more than a little thrilled -- and relieved -- when Evgeni Malkin scored with 125 seconds left in regulation to give the Penguins a 3-2 victory against Philadelphia at Mellon Arena last night.

The victory raised their record to 8-6-2 and, more important, pulled them out of a 0-3-2 skid. That should restore a bit of confidence to a team that desperately needed an infusion of it.

"It was very important for us to win this game," Malkin said through an interpreter. "We lost five games [in a row]. It was a must-win game."

It was for Philadelphia, too, since the Flyers are 0-5-1 in their past six games and 3-12-2 overall. Those 12 defeats include three by the Penguins, who have outscored them, 15-4, and are positioned to win a season series from the Flyers for just the second time in the past 12 seasons.

The Flyers didn't give up meekly on this night, however. They were swarming around Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury as time expired, and the Penguins' final defensive stand included Sidney Crosby taking a shot in the chest -- "Sid made a great block," defenseman Sergei Gonchar said -- for the sake of his team.

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury tries to catch up to a sliding puck that slid into the net for a second period goal by the Flyers' Randy Robitaille. Click photo for larger image.

"It seemed like the whole game, I wasn't very busy," said Fleury, who faced 25 shots. "All of a sudden, at the end, they kept coming at the net."

The Flyers developed an extra measure of urgency after Malkin took a feed from Mark Recchi and stuck a shot under the crossbar from above the left dot at 17:57 of the third to break a 2-2 tie.

"He gave me the pass, and I just made the slap shot," Malkin said. "I tried to shoot it top corner, because all the goals were going top-corner."

Penguins left winger Nils Ekman missed the game because of illness. John LeClair filled in for him on the No. 2 line with Malkin and Michel Ouellet.

Ekman's absence opened a spot in the lineup for Andre Roy, who had been a healthy scratch for the previous eight games, and 12 of the previous 13. Roy was limited to four shifts and 73 seconds of ice time, but was out long enough to get into a fight with Triston Grant of the Flyers in the second period.

Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead at 2:14 of the second period, when Gonchar inadvertently deflected in a Randy Robitaille pass intended for Simon Gagne to put Philadelphia in front, 1-0.

Flyers goalie Antero Niittymaki made a nice save on a Malkin shot from the left side of the slot at 4:45 of the second, but Crosby pulled the Penguins even little more than two minutes later.

Crosby had a two-on-one break with Chris Thorburn, who was bumped up to the first line when Colby Armstrong went off for equipment repairs, and, using Thorburn as a decoy, snapped a shot over Niittymaki's glove from inside the right circle at 6:59.

The goal was Crosby's seventh of the season, but his first in seven games. It also was his 12th in 11 career games against Philadelphia.

He nearly struck again during a power play with about 5¹/₂ minute to go before the second intermission, but put the rebound of a Malkin shot off the left post.

Rookie center Jordan Staal, scoreless in the previous five games, ended his dry spell at 15:38, and put the Penguins in front in the process.

LeClair got the puck in the neutral zone and fed it to Ouellet, who had a two-on-one with Staal. Ouellet gave the puck to Staal, who was above the right hash and lashed a shot past Niittymaki for his sixth of the season, but first in six games.

The Penguins' most celebrated goal-scoring drought, the season-long one that belongs to Armstrong, nearly ended with 70 seconds left in the second, but Niittymaki got a piece of his short-handed shot and the puck dribbled wide of the right post.

The Flyers made the score 2-2 at 6:26 of the third, when Geoff Sanderson chipped in a shot from the right side of the crease, but Malkin negated that with his goal as time was winding down, to the delight of the crowd of 13,781. And his teammates.

"It had been a while, and the Flyers are a big rivalry for us," Fleury said. "It was a good game. At home. Against the Flyers. Get a win. Who can ask for more than that?"