-The rink:

-IceTime has a festive theme:

-Some sights from around the arena. A festive Tyler Kennedy No. 11 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton jersey:

-Plenty of Blackhawks fans here. Patrick Sharp:

-If you wear a Niklas Hjalmarsson jersey, you're legit:

-Prior to the game, a moment of silence is observed for John David Dryer, the police officer from East Washington who recently lost his life.

-No Jimerson = No photo.

FIRST PERIOD

19:40: Despres chases down a loose puck on the left wing and chucks it on net. Emery eats it up.

18:00: Jeremy Morin barges in out of the right wing corner and tries to jam in a backhand shot but Fleury's blocker denies him.

17:35: Hossa controls the puck in the right wing corner and is greeted with boos.

17:10: The boos seem to get louder every time Hossa touches the puck.

15:52: Jamal Mayers chops a loose puck in the slot on net. Fleury keeps it out. Viktor Stalberg and Folik are there for the rebound. Frolik backhands it over the net.

15:07: Niskanen takes a pass at the right point, turns to the net and drveis a slapper at the cage. It hits something in fron and deflects otu of play.

14:56: Engelland and Bickell races for a puck behind the Penguins net. Engelland takes a tumble and crashes into the boards awkwardly. Bickel basically hip checked him into the boards from behind. No call.

13:49: The Penguins improved power play gets an early chance as Leddy is called for interference against Cooke.  Neal, Malkin, Kunitz, Niskanen and Sullivan take the ice.

13:07: Toes pushes the puck up the left wing and centers a pass to Brent Seabrook. Seabrook whips a heavy wrister on net. Fleury boots it out.

12:18: Dupuis grips and rips a wrister from the left wing off the side of the cage.

11:47: Just as the Leddy  minor expires, Kunitz snaps off a wrister from the right circle. Emery covers and freezes play even as Kunitz crashes in.

11:04: Marcus Kruger tries to muscle his way by Dupuis on the left wing boards but Engelland steps up and levels him. Massive John Scott (6-foot-8, 270 pounds) skates right over to Engelland. Engelland (6-foot-2, 202 pounds) pretty much figures he needs to get inside on Scott and kind of bear hugs him. Scott wrestles him mostly and pins Engelland against the boards.He lands several rabbit punches on Engelland. Engelland pretty much defends himself the entire fight and ends up with a cut on his forehead. Engelland heads to the locker room for repairs. Scott is given a 10-minute misconduct and an instigating minor in addition to his fight major. Andrew Brunette will serve the minor. It'll be interesting to see if the NHL takes a look at hit since Engelland appeared to get him in the face with a forearm. Malkin, Neal, Kunitz, Sullivan and Niskanen take the ice.

11:00: Off a faceoff win Niskenn booms a one-timer from the left point. Emery eats it up.

9:58: Chris Kunitz. Scoring Winger. Malkin circle saround in the neutral zone and zips a pass up ice to Kunitz at the Chicago blue line. Kunitz races in, feinding off Leddy, goes backhand to forehand ands punches a quick wrister by the right leg of Emery. What a goal. Malkin and Niskanen get assists. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Penguins 1-0.

9:15: Patrick Kane is called for hooking Kennedy at the right point of the Penguins' zone. The Blackhawks are taking too many penalties. Kunitz, Niskanen, Neal, Malkin and Sullivan take the ice.

7:15: And two minutes later, the Penguins fail to make them pay.

5:23: What injury? Hjalmarrson snaps off a wrister from the left point. Adams leans down to block it.

5:04: Stalberg pumps a slapper on net form the left point. Fleury boots it out.

4:28: Cooke steals a pass from Kruger at the left point of Chicago's zone and cranks a slapper. Emery kicks it out.

3:45: Kane hustles the puck up the right wing out of his own zone and whips a wrister on net from the right circle of the Penguins' zone. Fleury eats it up.

2:59: From the right point, Kennedy chips a feed to the right circle for Vitale. Vitale swats it on net. Emery kicks the rebound behind the cage. Vitale follows it up and tries to bank it off Emery's left leg. Emery covers to freeze play.

1:53: Asham coasts up the right wing, doges a hit by Hjalmarsson in front of the penalty boxes, gains the offenisve zone and taps a feed to Williams on the left side of the crease. Their timing is off a bit and Williams can't make contact with the puck. He had Emery beat.

1:22: Picard touches the puck on a delayed penalty. The whistle blows and Frolik gives Picard a late hit. Lovejoy gets right in his face. Officials break it up. Williams is called for tripping Mayers at the right point of the Penguins' zone. Staal, Cooke, Orpik and Engelland take the ice.

1:02: Staal push the puck up the left wing shorthanded and whips a wrister on net. Keith flops down to block it. Staal follows up on the rebound in the left wing corner but takes a tumble. It looked like he kind of tripped over Keith. Staal is slow to recover to his skates. He eventually makes his way to the bench hunched over.

0:27: Steve Montador and Orpik races after a losoe puck in the right win corner. Orpik smears him into the boards and knocks the puck loose.

0:00: End of period. Penguins 1, Blackhawks 0.

FIRST INTERMISSION

-That was a solid period for the Penguins, but they probably should have at least a 2-0 lead given the advantage they had in power-play time. You need to bury your chances on a dangerous team like Chicago.

-Should Engelland face supplemental discipline for his hit on Kruger? If this was September and NHL discipline czar Brendan Shanahan was just starting out fresh in his new role, we'd say it would be an automatic suspension. But since it's December, and it appears a few general managers have gotten in Shanahan's ear, it's hardly a sure thing. The standard for suspensions in this league has remained wildly inconsistent Shanahan.

-Regarding his fight, Engelland was smart to get inside immediately on Scott. You don't want him holding you off with that long reach. Just ask Los Angeles' Kevin Westgarth:

-Lovejoy looked okay for his first game back but was hardly noticeable. He's a No. 6 defenseman. If you notice him, it's a bad thing.

-The Penguins have a 13-10 lead in shots.

-Niskanen, Kunitz, Despres, Kennedy, Malkin, Seabrook and Stalberg each lead the game with two shots.

-Keith leads the game with 9:55 of ice time.

-Niskanen leads the Penguisn with 8:37.

-The Penguins have a 17-9 command in faceoffs (65 percent).

-Malkin is 8 for 10 (80 percent).

-Frolik is 3 for 7 (43 percent).

-No one has more than one blocked shot.

SECOND PERIOD

20:00: The Blackhawks will have 38 seconds of power-play time on fresh ice. Staal, Dupuis, Orpik and Engelland take the ice.

19:41: Toews whips a heavy wrister from the slot. Fleury fends it off. Engelland plays the rebound down ice.

19:21: Williams' minor is killed. The Penguins were strong that two minutes.

19:05: Williams races up the left wing and deals a pass to Malkin in the right circle. Malkin leans down and guns aone-timer. Emery slides to his left and kicks it out.

17:34: Malkin fends off Keith and whips a heavy backuyander from the left circle. Emery kicks it out.

17:15: James Neal. Pure. Goal. Scorer. Neal coasts up the right win on a two-on-one with Kunitz against Seabrook. Seabrook slides down to takes away the pass. Neal takes the shot and snaps off a sizzler of a wrister to the far side which toasts Emery's blocker and clinks off the far post into the cage. What a sick shot. Malkin and Niskanen get assists. Niskanen records his 100th career point. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Penguins 2-0.

15:29: The Penguins get another chance on the powe rplay as Kane is called for hooking against xx. Malkin, Neal, Niskanen, Sullivan and Kunitz take the ice.

13:59: Shorthanded, Hossa pushes the puck up the right wing one-on-one with Williams. He cuts to the slot and whips  heavy wrister on net form the slot. Fleury fights it off.

13:29: As Kane's minor expires, Kennedy chops a one-timer from the top of the slot which hits a stick and trickles in on net. Emery covers to freeze play.

11:07: Lovejoy chops a slapper from the right point. . He fans on the shot and the puck skids in on net. Emery holds itout. Malkin digs the rebound free. Kunitz swats it on net as the officials blow the play dead. Neal punches the puck into the open cage after the whistle. An official immediately waves off the goal as the crowd goes nuts. Seabrooks takes exception to Neal's late shot and gives him a cross check. Kunitz jumps Seabrook. A small scrum breaks out but nothing comes of it.

9:34: BIG save.  Morin falls down and chops a loose puck from the slot on net. Fleury kicks out his left skate and makes the save. Wow.

9:24: "FLERRRR-EEEE! FLEERRR-EEEE!"

9:08: Seabrook booms a one-timer from the right point. Fleury fights it off despite traffic.

8:25: As Dave Bolland bumps Orpik into Fleury and disloges the net, attendance is announced as 18,607. It is the team's 225th consecutive sellout.

8:15: Another power play for the Penguins. Bolland is called for hooking Malkin in the eright circle of the Chicago zone. Malkin, Niskanen, Sullivan, Neal and Kunitz take the ice.

7:23: Malkin winds up and cranks a slapper from the right hafl wall wide to the far side.

7:06: Time for the even-up call. Neal runs over Keith behind the Chicago net shoulder to shoulder. Officials sent Neal off for roughing. A simply brutal call. Four on four for 51 seconds.

6:15: Bolland's minor expires. The Blackhawks will have 1:09 of power-play time.

6:10: Sharp guns a slapper from the left point. Fleury eats it up despite having a Blackhawks player behind him.

5:25: Kane snaps off  wrister from the right cirlce. Fleury fends it off.

5:15: Engelland digs a puck out of the right wing corner of the defensive zone, skates to the left wing corner and whips it down ice for a big clear.

5:06: Neal's "penalty" is killed.

4:38: Malkin and Bickell battle for a puck in the left circle of the Penguins zone. Malkin gets a stick in the face and falls to the ice immediately. He's cut and heads to the dressing room. that's a "four-minuter" for Bickell. Niskanen, Staal, Neal, Kunitz and Sullivan take the ice.

4:12: Staal whips a wrister from the left circle wide to the far side.

3:45: Neal is sent off for cross checking Seabrook. Seabrook sold that a bit but it's a legit call. Four on four for two mintues.

3:38: Malkin returns to the ice to take a faceoff of.

3:26: And Tyler Kennedy breaks out of a slump. Lovejoy races up the right wing, goes behind the cage and whips a wrister from the left of the cage to the crease. Kennedy is there on the back door, takes the puck and whips it into the wide open cage by the glove of a helpless Emery. Kennedy does a fierce fist pump the right corner to celebrate. That's his first goal in 11 games games. Lovejoy and Malkin get assists. the "Woo-Hoo!" song and the WWE "KENNEDY!" clip are played. Penguins 3-0.

1:45: The Neal minor is killed.  The Penguins still have 1:07 of power play time.

0:38: Bickell's second minor is killed. The Penguins didn't do much with the one-man advantage over the course of those four minutes.

0:00: End of period. Penguins 3, Blackhawks 0.

SECOND INTERMISSION

-The Penguins are just taking advantage of their opportunities better then the Blackhawks. Plain and simple. The Penguins aren't taking full advantage of their power-plays, but they're doing just enough to cash in a few goals and getting and outstanding effort from Fleury.

-Remember how everyone wanted to dump Niskanen in the offseason and preseason and save his $1.5 million salary cap hit because he supposedly wasn't any good?... Anyone? We don't either.

-You have to imagine the Blackhawks are going to get some gift power plays given all the power plays the Penguins have had up until this point.

-Toews has had a pretty quiet game.

-The Penguins ahve a 24-19 lead in shots.

-Malkin leads the game with six shots.

-Stalberg leads the Blackhawks with five.

-Keith leads the game with 20:25 of ice time.

-Niskanen leads the Penguins with 16:36 of ice time.

-The Penguins have a 31-16 lead in faceoffs (66 percent).

-Malkin is 15 for 19 (79 percent).

-Staal is 11 for 14 (79 percent).

-Bolland is 5 for 13 (38 percent).

-Seabrook leads the game with four blocked shots.

-Niskanen leads the Penguins with two blocked shots.

THIRD PERIOD

19:34: On a three-on-one, Sharp pumps a wrister from above the crease wide of the cage.

19:11: The Blackhawks aren't going anywhere. Toews chugs up the right wing and taps a backhander to the crease. It hits off off the stick of Niskanen and deflects off the right skate of Fleury and into the cage. That was some bad luck for Niskanen. He actually made a good play covering Stalberg on the back door. The puck just took a bad hop. Stalberg gets the only assist. Penguins 3-1.

18:17: Marcus Kruger will not return to the game for undisclosed reasons. For what it's worth, he had five shifts after the Engelland hit but did not play past the first period.

16:49: From the left side of the cage, Toews deals a pass to Sharp in the slot. Sharp whips a wrister on net. Fleury fends it off.

14:27: Toews hustles by Niskanen in the left circle, goes behind the cage and attempts a wraparound but loses the puck. Toews has picked up his effort this period.

13:48: Wow. Just wow. What skill. Kane takes a pass in the slot from Hossa. He gets Niskanen to freeze up and kneel down for a potential block and deals a pass across the front of the slot to Stalberg on the back door to the right of the cage. Stalberg punches it into the empty cage for an easy goal. What a play by Kane. Wow. Kane and Hossa get assists. Fire Ray Shero. This game just got really tight. Penguins 3-2.

11:32: Hossa is still getting booed every time he touches the puck.

11:04: Stalberg gains the offensive zone on the right wing and chucks a wrister from the left point which clinks off the far post and deflects away.

10:07: Tough save. Sharp dals a pass from above the left circle to the right of the cage. Bickell kind of re-directs it on net with this skate. Fleury holds it out and covers the rebound as the world crashes down around him.

9:43: Off a faceoff win in the left circle, Asham chops a wrister on net. Emery fends it off.

9:12: Bolland chucks a wrister from the left circle. Fleury fends it off despite traffic.

8:47: Staal has a wrister from the right circle blocked by Hjalmarsson.

8:41: Niskanen booms a slapper from the right point. Emery fends it off

8:14: Fleury is earning hs keep righ now. Off a give and go pass play with Hossa, Kane whips a wrister from the right circle. Fleury knocks it dead and covers.

6:53: Hjalmarsson chops a slapper from the left point. Lovejoy blocks it.

6:20: Picard sticks Frold into the boards the the left point of the Penguins' blue line with a stiff check.

5:14: Cooke steals a puck off Seabrook at the left point of the Penguins zone and sets Staal off on a pseudo-breakaway. Staal races in with Stalberg on his backside all the way. Stalberg lifts Staal's stick juuuuust a tade and forces the shot wide to the left of the cage.

6:05: Cooke whips a spinning wrister from the right circle on net. Emery says no.

4:13: Malkin cranks a slapper from the top of the slot wide of the net to the right. Someone in white blocked that a bit.

3:57: Stalberg races up the right wing and puts a wrister on net. Fleury boots it out. Stalberg collects the rebound and puts a backhander off the right post.

3:34: On a three-on-two, Cooke curls and drags off the left wing and snaps off a wrister wide to the left of the cage.

2:46: Montador cranks a slapper fromt he left point.  Fleury make sthe inital save and kicks the reobund to the slot. There's a scramble for it and Despres is able to whip it down ice.

2:06: Cooke snaps off a wrister from the slot. Seabrook kneels down to block it. He's smarting after that block. Ouch.

1:29: Just as Emery is pulled for an extra attacker, Neal is called for his third penalty. This time for tripping Kane outside the Penguins' blue line. Legit call. He had his stick under Kane's left skate. Dan Bylsma calls a timeout to get his team organized. Engelland, Staal, Orpik and Dupuis take the ice. Big finish to this game. The Blackhawks keep six skaters on the ice.

1:04: Keith has a wrister from the left circle blocked by Orpik.

0:38: Keith taps a pass from the left point to Hossa at the top of the slot. Hossa uncorks a one-timer. Fleury eats it up despite traffic. Penguins fans chant "FLERR-EEE! FLERRR-EEE!"

0:28: Engelland is able to crank a clearing attempt around the boards and down ice killing a ton of time.

0:14: Sharp pumps a slapper form the left point wide to the far side.

0:00: End of game. Mike Lange informs us of Elvis' whearabouts. That lame "PITTTSSSSBURGH" song is played. Penguins 3, Blackhawks 2.

POSTGAME

-That was fun. Just plain fun. Two of the best teams in the NHL. Tons of skill on the ice. Some hitting. Some tough saves. A few offensive bursts. The national television audience got a good show tonight.

-Regarding Deryk Engelland's hit. In a perfect world, he's suspended. He struck an opponent in the head and it seems to appear Marcus Kruger suffered some sort of head injury as a result. But this is the NHL's world which is far from perfect. It's a total crapshoot with this league.

-Marc-Andre Fleury was the story of this game if you ask us. After the Blackhawks came out with an inital surge to start the third period and pulled within a goal, Fleury decided to win this game on his own. He made several difficult saves on some of the best players on earth. His play in the third period was some of the best goaltending we've seen all season.

-Evgeni Malkin didn't score the goal, but the way he controlled this game at times was dazzling. He's teamed with two ideal linemates in Chris Kunitz and James Neal and he's just tuned in right now.

-We liked what Ben Lovejoy offered in his first game back. First, his effort to set up Tyler Kennedy for the game-winning goal was marvelous. But his biggest cotribution might have been in his own end. he played some stiff defense and didn't make too many mistakes. He didn't appear rusty after long layoff.

-The Penguins' biggest issue tonight was the power play. It could only score once on seven chances. If it had captialized on a few more chances, this isn't a close game.

-Jonathan Toews really sparked the Blackhawks in the third period. He is a scary player when he kicks it in gear.

-The Blackhawks led in shots, 38-28.

-Chicago had a 19-4 lead in shots in the third period alone.

-Victor Stalberg led the game with nine.

-Malkin led the Penguins with six.

-Duncan Keith led the game with 30:05 of ice time.

-Brook Orpik led the Penguins with 23:50.

-The Penguins had a 37-30 advantage in faceoffs (55 percent).

-Jordan Staal was 16 for 23 (70 percent).

-Malkin was 16 for 24 (67 percent).

-Toews was 15 for 29 (52 percent).

-Seabrook led the game with six blocked shots.

-Matt Niskanen, Lovejoy and Orpik each led the game with two blocked shots.

-Niskanen recorded his 100th career point.

-Malkin moved into third place in the NHL scoring races. Malkin, Toronto's Phil Kessel, Philadelphia's Claude Giroux and Vancouver's Henrik Sedin each have 39 points, but Kessel (19) has more goals than Giroux (16), Malkin (15) and Sedin (nine).

-Kennedy moved past Pascal Dupuis for 57th place on the team's all-time scoring list. Both players have 138 points but Kennedy (63) has more goals than Dupuis (58).

-Game summary.

-Event summary.

-Highlights: