John Bazemore, Associated Press The Atlanta Thrashers' Scott Mellanby and the Penguins' Evgeni Malkin work for the puck in the first period last night in Atlanta. Click photo for larger image. Related articles Penguins Notebook: Hedberg still savors Pittsburgh experience Dave Molinari on the Penguins: A weekly look inside the team, the issues, the questions

ATLANTA -- Penguins coach Michel Therrien didn't call out Evgeni Malkin Friday. Didn't come close, really.

He didn't chastise Malkin, or blister any particular aspect of his game during their one-on-one meeting.

Therrien just told Malkin that he was capable of doing more than he had been recently, that he has the ability to be an impact player every time he steps onto the ice.

Whether Malkin truly understood a single syllable that came out of Therrien's mouth might never be known, but his play in the Penguins' 4-3 overtime victory against Atlanta at Philips Arena last night suggested that the message got through. Somehow.

"He responded well," Therrien said. "He played terrific."

Malkin scored one goal and assisted on two others, including Colby Armstrong's winner, as the Penguins pulled out of an 0-3-1 skid and raised their record to 12-11-5.

"[Malkin] really brought it," Armstrong said.

This hardly was a one-man performance, as the Penguins outshot Atlanta, 43-23, and controlled play most of the evening.

Nonetheless, they had lost in overtime or a shootout three times in the previous eight games and failed to hold three leads against the Thrashers. So the storyline -- one with an unhappy ending for the Penguins -- was looking awfully familiar as the third period expired.

"You can't think that way," said defenseman Ryan Whitney, who scored the Penguins' third goal. "Obviously, it might creep in. But the biggest thing young teams have to learn is consistency and holding onto leads."

Or, failing that, how to get a lead in overtime, when there are no comebacks.

"We definitely have to get better at keeping the lead," Sidney Crosby said. "But we got that big play we were looking for."

They got lots of them, actually, but Malkin made the biggest as overtime moved toward its final minute.

He took the puck from Thrashers defenseman Greg de Vries along the right-wing boards, then went hard to the net and tried to stuff it past Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen near the right post.

Lehtonen rejected Malkin's shot, but the puck skidded to Armstrong, and he buried a shot over Lehtonen's glove at 3:51 to end the game.

"He did a great power move, taking it to the net, and it bounced right out to me," Armstrong said.

Malkin's work, especially on the deciding goal, stole a bit of attention away from another stellar showing by Crosby, who scored the Penguins' first goal, set up their second and, as usual, strained his sweat glands on every shift.

"Crosby and Malkin are the best young tandem in the league," Thrashers winger Marian Hossa said. "No questions asked."

Crosby added a little luster to his reputation with a power-play at 14:21 of the first, beating Lehtonen with a low wrist shot from just above the right dot.

After Atlanta tied the score on a short-handed goal by defenseman Shane Hnidy at 18:36, Malkin put the Penguins back in front at 8:50 of the second, taking a cross-ice feed from Crosby and lashing in a slap shot from above the right hash.

The Penguins had an apparent goal by Jordan Staal disallowed at 9:27, when Jarkko Ruutu was called for interfering with Lehtonen -- televised replays suggested that Ruutu made nominal contact with Lehtonen and that Thrashers defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski actually had pulled Ruutu down, and Atlanta pulled even 16 seconds into the third on a power-play goal by Hossa.

Malkin set up Whitney for a go-ahead goal at 7:22, but the Thrashers manufactured the goal needed to force overtime at 15:02, when Niko Kapanen stuck a high shot past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Penguins finished regulation with a 37-21 edge in shots and a clear advantage in territorial play, if not a lead.

"We deserved to win," Therrien said. "We dictated the game."

True on both counts, but none of that would have mattered if the Thrashers had scored a fourth goal.

Instead, the Penguins got that, and the morale lift that comes from taking two points from an elite opponent. Even one that didn't put forth its best effort for most of the game.

"It definitely is a confidence boost, just to get a win," Armstrong said. "Especially the way we did it. That's something we have to get used to doing."

Yeah. And Therrien might want to make those meetings with Malkin part of the routine, too.