Goalie Ty Conklin has started two games since the Penguins summoned him from their minor-league team in Wilkes-Barre nearly three weeks ago, and won them both.

Not a bad start, but it does not qualify as a trend, as Conklin is quick to point out.

"It's two games," he said. "I'm not going to break my arm patting myself on the back. It's nice to have a couple of outings you feel pretty good about, but I don't think I have the luxury of relaxing or getting overly comfortable."

His teammates, though, appear to be getting comfortable with Conklin.

"Everyone seems to be confident in him," forward Erik Christensen said.

Conklin, signed as a free agent in the offseason, was brought up on emergency recall after Marc-Andre Fleury got a high ankle sprain Dec. 6 in Calgary and will return to the Baby Penguins when Fleury is able to resume playing.

First impressions count, though, and Conklin has made a fairly good one, going 2-0, with a 3.72 goals-against average and .895 save percentage in three appearances.

"To win, you need goaltending," right winger Georges Laraque said. "It doesn't matter how great your offense is. You need somebody to stop the puck."

The Penguins have had a few unusual injuries this season -- the severe high ankle sprain Fleury got when he fell for no apparent reason in Calgary, for example -- but right winger Colby Armstrong nearly reset the bar for those a week or so ago, when he lost a one-on-one with his Christmas tree.

"I was setting it up, and it was a little crooked, so I reached in to just give the thing a little shake in the stand," he said. "I gave it a shake, and one of the branches flickered and hit my [right] eye."

The eye began to water, and would not stop. Neither would the pain.

"All night long, while I was laying in bed, my eye was just killing me," he said. "I tried contact solution, everything."

Eventually, Armstrong found some drops that eased the pain, and he was left with a good story instead of a debilitating injury.

"It's good to go now," he said. "Close call."

Center Maxime Talbot, who has missed the past seven games because of a high ankle sprain, suggested earlier this week that he might try skating when the Penguins resume practicing today.

He did not seem overly optimistic, however.

"I'd like to try on the 26th," he said. "But I don't know."

Talbot clearly is frustrated about being out of the lineup for so long and was uncharacteristically dour when discussing his injury.

"There's nothing to say about it," he said. "It stinks."

The Penguins have the NHL's worst intra-division record, going 4-10-1 against Atlantic Division opponents. Edmonton, 5-10-1 inside the Northwest Division, and Los Angeles, 6-11-1 against other Pacific clubs, are the only teams with an intra-division mark rivaling theirs.

Qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs will be an enormous challenge for the Penguins unless they find a way to upgrade their performance against Atlantic teams.

"If we want to make the playoffs, that's the No. 1 thing," coach Michel Therrien said.

Winning a little more often at Mellon Arena would not hurt, either. The Penguins are a decidedly lackluster 8-8-2 on home ice, despite being a commendable 10-8 on the road.

"We haven't played very well at home," left winger Gary Roberts said. "We have great fans here who support us and are really good to us and we haven't put on a very good show for them this season to far."