Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Penguins winger Colby Armstrong, top, jumps into the arms of teammate Sidney Crosby after scoring in the first period against the Islanders. Armstrong broke a season-long drought with two goals last night. Click photo for larger image. More Penguins Penguins Notebook: LeClair scratched again Isle of Capri disputes low revenue projection Game pictures in the Penguins photo journal NHL Roundup: Atlanta slips by Rangers

The Penguins knew yesterday morning that Sidney Crosby was ready to return to their lineup last night.

They didn't have nearly that much notice -- or any at all, for that matter -- that Colby Armstrong was preparing to break out of his season-long slump. Let alone that he would do it in such a big way.

But Armstrong scored two goals -- pushing his total for the season to, uh, two -- off assists from Crosby as the Penguins held off the New York Islanders, 3-2, at Mellon Arena.

Crosby and Armstrong were major contributors to the victory, which pulled the Penguins out of a 0-1-2 skid, but both were outdone by goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. He finished with 33 saves and allowed the Penguins to survive a third-period assault by New York, which controlled play for much of the final 20 minutes despite being without injured center Alexei Yashin.

"He played extremely well," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said. "We had a number of chances, especially late in the third period."

The victory raised the Penguins' record to 11-8-4, and keeps them in the cluster of teams battling for position in the Atlantic Division.

"We don't want to get too far behind the teams that are battling for the playoffs," coach Michel Therrien said.

That's part of the reason the Penguins didn't exactly ease Crosby back into action. He took 25 shifts and logged a total of 20 minutes, 52 seconds of ice time, the most of any Penguins forward.

He didn't waste it, either, putting up those two assists and having an impact virtually every time he went over the boards.

"He looked good," Armstrong said. "He was making things happen, like everyone knew he would."

Crosby reported no problems with the groin injury that had forced him to sit out three games -- "It felt pretty good," he said. "It didn't seem to affect me" -- but even he couldn't right the Penguins' power play. It failed to convert on three chances and is in a 2-for-27 slump.

	Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Sidney Crosby swats the puck past the Islanders' Chris Simon. Click photo for larger image.

Crosby had acknowledged that he might be a bit rusty after his weeklong layoff, which presumably explains why the game was all of 94 seconds old before he earned his first point.

He was taking his first shift of the game when he slid a cross-ice pass to Armstrong, who threw a high wrist shot past New York goalie Rick DiPietro from inside the left circle for his first of the season.

"It was a really good feeling," Armstrong said. "Hopefully, now they keep coming."

Viktor Kozlov got that goal back for New York at 18:42, when he lashed a Jason Blake feed past Fleury, and the Islanders went in front at 4:45 of the second.

Arron Asham made the score 2-1 by flipping in a shot from the left side of the net after Fleury failed to cover the rebound of a deflection by former teammate Andy Hilbert, whose assist was his first point in 22 games this season.

Armstrong, though, pulled the Penguins even at 11:31, when he chopped in a loose puck from below the hash marks to his fourth two-goal game in the NHL.

"I just swatted at it," Armstrong said. "Got it before their [defenseman's] stick did."

	Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Chris Thorburn, facing camera, celebrates his third period goal with Penguins teammates including Jordan Staal (11) and Dominic Moore (18). Click photo for larger image.

Although New York had a clear edge in play for most of the third period, Chris Thorburn of the Penguins got what proved to be the deciding goal just 36 seconds after it began.

He carried the puck down the right side, slipped past Islanders defenseman Alexei Zhitnik along the boards and carried the puck behind the goal line, then banked a shot off DiPietro's left skate and into the net for his second of the season.

"I got my foot back to the post, and it just caught me on the heel," DiPietro said.

Thorburn had been hoping to pass to linemate Jordan Staal, who had driven to the New York net, but had to settle for scoring his first NHL winner. Accidentally or otherwise.

"I can't say I did it [on purpose], because that would be ridiculous," Thorburn said.

The Islanders had numerous chances to tie the score in the third, with the best coming in the waning minutes, when Fleury and Nils Ekman combined to sweep a Hilbert shot off the goal line just as the puck was about to cross it.

The Penguins survived that sequence and hung on for a victory that was more important than it was impressive.

"I don't think it was our best game lately," Therrien said. "But we found a way to win."