Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Jordan Staal, rear, tied the score, 1-1, with a goal in the second period of Game 4 Tuesday night at Mellon Arena. It was Staal's third goal of the series. Click photo for larger image.

Michel Therrien announced yesterday that for Game 5 tonight he planned to keep together the Game 4 first line of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Mark Recchi -- for as long as this chess-player of a Penguins coach keeps lines together, anyway.

Part of this announcement, though, was a jab at the officiating.

"I thought Crosby's line played really well, with Malkin and Recchi," Therrien said. "There were times we put [Gary] Roberts there, too. They created a lot. They were skating well. Their speed is tough to contain.

"There were two times they got hooked with no calls [for penalties]. We have to keep focusing and believe the calls will be there.

"I thought they could have created more if the referees had called hooking and holding. But I really appreciate the way those three guys played together."

Recchi, who opened the game on the second line, finished with four hits and three shots, while Malkin and Crosby -- united most of the game -- combined for eight shots.

Nils no longer nil

Nils Ekman hasn't heard officially from Therrien and staff whether tonight he will play a second consecutive Penguins game for the first time since late December. But would anything else keep him off the Scotiabank Place ice?

"Absolutely nothing," said the seldom-used winger, who added that he feels no ill affects after a slight hip injury late in the third period Tuesday.

Ekman got 10 minutes of ice time -- this from a summertime pick-up who played only March 29 and March 6 since dislocating an elbow around New Year's -- and managed two shots, one hit and two blocked shots in Game 4.

"Yeah, it was all right," Therrien said of the performance by Ekman, who replaced healthy scratch Erik Christensen.

"It was all right for a guy who played his first game in a long time."

Ekman described his own play the same way: "I did all right. I tried to keep it simple and battle hard.... I was happy to be out there playing; I've had three games since December."

Finding the words

"It's funny," Therrien said on the subject of the attitudes going into tonight trailing the series, 3-1, "because when you're in a position like this, everyone will say the right things. We'll say the right things. Ottawa will say the right things. But, basically, on the ice is where it's going to happen.

"It's not too complicated for us."

After roughly an hour-long workout -- where Crosby, Malkin, Recchi, Roberts and Sergei Gonchar did not join the rest of the team for most of it, if not all -- Therrien added that the Game 4 effort should help the Penguins because it was their postseason best to date. "We have to play the same type of game on the road. We stole one game in there. We know we're capable of winning in that building."

No Staal tactics

More than a dozen Penguins made their Stanley Cup debuts this spring, and the inexperience showed for more than a few.

But not the youngest of them.

Jordan Staal, their 18-year-old center, has taken the playoffs pretty much in stride. He has performed with remarkable poise since the early days of training camp, and that did not change when the postseason began.

He has three goals in four games entering Game 5 tonight although, characteristically, he shrugs off the offensive contribution he has made.

"I'm just focused on winning," he said. "That's all I'm really worried about."

Although Staal did not score a goal in the final seven regular-season games, he still finished with 29 and enjoyed a wildly successful rookie year.

"I just wanted to roll [the regular season] into the playoffs," he said. "It seems like whenever I get into the playoffs, I just want to win. I think that improves my game a bit."

It certainly hasn't hurt, and the Senators have noticed.

"He's a great hockey player, no doubt about it," Ottawa center Jason Spezza said. "He's strong on the boards. He's a big guy, and there's not too many big guys in the league with soft hands like him."

Staal used those to score the Penguins' only goal during their 2-1 loss in Game 4 at Mellon Arena Tuesday, when he tossed a Roberts rebound past Senators goalie Ray Emery.

"He's going to be a star for a long time," Roberts said. "He's a real fun guy to play with."