Penguins star center Sidney Crosby was held without a point in his return, but the team beat the New York Islanders, 3-1, tonight at Mellon Arena.

It was Crosby's first home game since Jan. 18. He had missed 28 of the past 31 games with a high ankle sprain, playing three road games earlier this month before pulling himself back out of the lineup.

In a highly anticipated line combination, Crosby played with right winger Marian Hossa for the first time since Hossa was obtained at the trade deadline in February. They were joined by left winger Pascal Dupuis and produced several scoring chances.

Hossa, however, left the game at 3:37 of the third period with what was called an upper body injury when he was hit from behind in open ice by Islanders winger Sean Bergenheim.

Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring when he rifled a wrist shot from the right dot at 6:53 of the first period for a 1-0 Penguins lead.

The Islanders evened it at 16:31 of the first period when Josef Vasicek slipped the puck under Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, ending Fleury's shutout streak over three games at 127 minutes, 27 seconds.

Jarkko Ruutu broke the tie at 15:12 of the second period when his short-handed, wraparound goal made it 2-1 for the Penguins, and Ruutu set up Georges Laraque on a short breakaway that Laraque deposited for a 3-1 lead at 6:40 of the third period.

Ruutu had a career-high three points.