Sometimes, the Penguins make it look so easy.

They just haven't done it very often this season.

But there are times, like early in overtime of their 3-2 victory against Florida last night at Mellon Arena, when they make scoring on a power play seem as simple as converting a free throw.

After going 0 for 5 on the power play in regulation -- and looking worse than those numbers suggest -- the Penguins required only seven seconds with the extra man to get the winner from Evgeni Malkin.

Thirty seconds into overtime, Penguins center Jordan Staal drew a holding minor against Panthers defenseman Jordan Leopold. At 0:37, the Penguins were celebrating a victory.

Malkin's goal was made possible when Sidney Crosby controlled a faceoff and tapped the puck to Malkin, who fed it across the ice to Sergei Gonchar, who was working the left point.

Gonchar threw it back across to Malkin, who was near the top of the right circle and, exploiting a screen set by Bill Guerin, pounded a shot past Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun.

"I was open and [Gonchar] gave me a good pass," Malkin said. "I stay [uncovered] and I shot and it was a good shot."

Good, in more than a few ways. Not only because it provided the Penguins' margin of victory, but because if this team starts to get some confidence in its power play, the 22-10-1 record it has put together to date dramatically could be upgraded.

"I hope that's what we needed," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "Tonight, you saw us squeezing our sticks a little bit out there on the power play. Sometimes, you need a goal to release that."

Malkin's winner -- the Penguins' first man-advantage score in four games and Malkin's first of any kind in six -- wasn't their only noteworthy goal.

Ruslan Fedotenko, who had gone 13 games without one, converted a Malkin feed at 9:41 of the second period, going hard to the net and deflecting a pass behind Vokoun.

"I wasn't sure if [Malkin] was going to pass or shoot," Fedotenko said. "He saw me in the end and made a nice pass. I'm glad it went in and didn't jump on me or bounce or whatever.

"It feels great [to end that slump]. I felt like I needed to help out the team, help win the games."

The Penguins have found a way to do that all three times they have faced Florida this season, but it's never been easy. Each game has ended, 3-2, with two being settled in overtime and one in a shootout.

"They play well," left winger Pascal Dupuis said. "They play hard. They play in-your-face hockey."

Left winger Chris Kunitz returned to the Penguins' lineup after missing 13 games with an unspecified injury, and stepped back into his usual spot on a line with Crosby and Guerin.

Defenseman Martin Skoula and winger Eric Godard were healthy scratches, making this the first game this season in which the Penguins were not missing at least one player because of injury or illness.

Steven Reinprecht gave Florida a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 10:25 of the opening period, but Dupuis got that one back for the Penguins at 13:03. He took a feed from Craig Adams and moved down the left side before throwing a shot over Vokoun's glove for his third goal in seven games.

"I'm putting the puck on the net and it's going in," Dupuis said. "I'm pretty happy."

After Fedotenko had put the Penguins in front, the Penguins had a chance to add to their lead when they were awarded their third power play of the game 2 1/2 minutes into the third.

To the surprise of absolutely no one in the crowd of 16,977, they didn't score. Even worse, they gave up the tying goal just seconds after the Panthers got back to full strength.

Bryan McCabe, who had been sent off for high-sticking, was put in alone on Johnson when he left the penalty box. Johnson was able to deny McCabe, but Stephen Weiss collected the rebound and, after Johnson made a desperate attempt to poke it away from him, tossed the puck into an open net at 4:39.

"After you miss and you see the guy, he's got the whole empty net, you feel like this big," Johnson said, holding his index finger and thumb an inch apart.

Johnson came up large a bit later, though, stopping ex-Penguins player Jeff Taffe on a breakaway with just under 4 1/2 minutes left in regulation and the score still tied, 2-2.

That probably was the most significant, and impressive, of his 29 saves.

"I thought he played a very good game," Bylsma said. "He deserved to get a win, the way he played."

Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.