At least Atlanta's season is officially half over.

The Thrashers reached the halfway mark of the 82-game schedule with another loss, their 23rd of the season.

At this point, Atlanta is inadvertently doing the league little favors. The loss to Pittsburgh helped the Penguins—and NHL poster boy Sidney Crosby—snap a five-game losing streak. Before welcoming the Thrashers to the Igloo, the Penguins had gone seven games (0-for-33) without a goal on the power play. Crosby snapped the drought with his first power-play goal in 26 games.

Clearly, a visit from Atlanta cures all ills.

While the game remained scoreless through the opening period, the lopsided shot total (14-5 in favor of the Penguins) made it clear that it was only a matter of time before...

Evgeni Malkin set up all the goals, Petr Sykora and Sidney Crosby scored them. Marc-Andre Fleury made a series of important saves in the third period. Ruslan Fedotenko didn't score, but unexpectedly set the tone with a one-punch fight. For one night, the Pittsburgh Penguins looked like the talented team that went to the Stanley Cup finals last season.