PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Lee Stempniak have been playing together for less than two weeks. Funny, they looked like longtime friends during Pittsburghs 5-1 demolition of Dallas on Tuesday night. Quick to the puck and even quicker to the net, the Penguins top line overwhelmed the suddenly struggling Stars as Pittsburgh bounced back from a dismal weekend sweep at the hands of Philadelphia by jumping on Dallas early. Crosby scored his 32nd goal less than 5 minutes in, added his 33rd early in the third period and dished out an assist on Stempniaks first goal with the Penguins to push his point total to an NHL-leading 91. More importantly, Pittsburgh hardly looked like the team humbled by the Flyers during a forgettable home-and-home sweep. "We werent happy with those losses, we have to do better," Crosby said. "We wanted to make sure we went out there and played hard. Its a desperate team were playing and hopefully we can build that same emotion, same intensity we had tonight and carry it over to the rest of the season." Kunitz chipped in his 32nd goal after skipping two games with a leg injury and added an assist. Brandon Sutter pushed in a late short-handed goal and Jeff Zatkoff stopped 32 shots to win for the 11th time in his past 14 games. Tyler Seguin scored his 31st goal for the Stars. Kari Lehtonen made 27 saves, but Dallas slumped again on the road. The Stars have been outscored 12-3 over their past two games to slip out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. "I think you cant blame one guy for any of the goals," Seguin said. "This is a team matter were going to deal with. Its just about execution. Weve been showing glimpses of it lately, but too many breakdowns." A no-no when playing Crosby. The Pittsburgh captain seemed energized by the return of Kunitz. Reunited against a scuffling team trying to make a late run at the post-season, Crosby and Kunitz helped the Metropolitan Division-leading Penguins rebound by playing with the chemistry that makes them one of the most potent one-two combinations in the league. The game was less than 5 minutes old when Crosby put Pittsburgh in front. Fourth-line forward Craig Adams -- finishing out his shift -- dug out a loose puck in the corner and fed it to Crosby darting through the slot. Crosby deked past Dallas defenceman Sergei Gonchar then held the puck long enough for Lehtonen to commit before slipping the puck into an open net to give the Penguins some welcome momentum. Seguin tied it at 12:30 into the first with a pretty deflection off a Trevor Daley shot from the point, but the game was tied less than three minutes before Kunitz pounced on a rebound off a Stempniak shot to put the Penguins in front to stay. The Penguins acquired Stempniak from Calgary on March 5 hoping the veteran forward could patch the hole on the first line that hasnt really been filled since Pascal Dupuis was lost for the season with a knee injury in December. After a series of near misses in his first six games with Pittsburgh, Stempniak finally broke through 13:21 into the second period. He skated into the zone and dropped the puck to Crosby and sprinted to the net. The puck was on Stempniaks stick again a split second later as Kunitz hit him streaking through the slot. Stempniak knocked it in for his ninth of the season while getting tripped by Dallas Brenden Dillon in the process. "Its been a little while, its nice to get a goal," Stempniak said. "Great passing play from Sid to Chris. I went to the net and it was on my tape ... Sids so dynamic, he opens up a lot. Chris has a great shot. I just try to fit in and skate and keep up." That was more than enough for Zatkoff, who made two glove saves in the second period during Dallas best sustained pressure. Crosby banged in a rebound 1:56 into the third to push Pittsburghs lead to three and the pressure that had built after dispiriting performances against the Flyers -- games in which the Penguins said they were more concerned with the way they played than the actual score -- lifted. NOTES: Pittsburgh is 42-5-4 this season when Crosby collects at least one point. ... Dallas has lost three straight for the first time since a six-game skid from Jan. 2-12. ... The Penguins play at Detroit on Thursday. ... Dallas visits Philadelphia on Thursday. Authentic Yeezy Outlet . Lupul injured the hand in a fall at practice on Thursday. He will wear a cast for a minimum of 10 days before he can put a glove back on it and get some mobility back, said Carlyle, who added the winger wont go on the teams upcoming road trip. Cheap Yeezy Boost 350 . At quarterback, all agree that Andy Dalton has been a wonderful surprise, but to truly progress he has to play his best in the playoffs. The two losses in the wildcard rounds keep the evaluation on Dalton open -- just like it did for Peyton Manning many years ago and Matt Ryan until last year. http://www.wholesaleyeezy.com/ .C. -- When Michael Jordan speaks, people still listen. Discount Yeezys . 1 Pete Sampras. Speaking ahead of an exhibition match against Andre Agassi in London on March 3, Sampras said on a conference call Wednesday that he is impressed by Federers longevity. Discount Yeezy Shop . In a pregame tribute commemorating his final contest at Coors Field on Wednesday night, Helton caught the ceremonial first pitch from his daughter with his wife, younger daughter and good friend Peyton Manning watching from the field.WINNIPEG -- Captain Andrew Ladd was the first to criticize himself after a 6-3 loss to Columbus on Saturday that had fans booing the Winnipeg Jets off the ice. "Ill take full responsibility for my play. I was awful tonight," Ladd said. "For a team struggling, probably looking for leaders, I wasnt very good so I need to be a lot better and I will be going forward." The loss put the Jets (19-23-5) on a season-high five-game losing streak after the Blue Jackets capitalized on Winnipeg mistakes and breakdowns -- some head coach Claude Noel said hed never seen this season. "Its not easy right now. I mean, its tough to stay positive," said Jets centre Bryan Little, who had a goal and assist. "Its kind of hurting everyones confidence right now. You know, the fans get on you. I mean, its not easy. Its a difficult time that were trying to get through." Boone Jenner and Mark Letestu each scored twice as the Blue Jackets had four straight goals in the first nine minutes of the second period. Cam Atkinson and Nick Foligno also scored, while Curtis McElhinney made 28 saves as Columbus (21-20-4) won its third straight game. "We believe in ourselves in here and we know when we play the way that we can, things will go our way and weve just got to keep focused on that," Jenner said. James Wisniewski and Derek MacKenzie each had a pair of assists for Columbus. Ondrej Pavelec faced 26 shots for Winnipeg, which also got goals from Eric ODell, his first NHL goal, and Toby Enstrom. "Right now, adversity is really the enemy and were not dealing with it very well, and were trying to deal with it," Noel said. "Theres going to be no easy way to get out of it." The second period was especially puzzling. "The game certainly unravelled in the second period on mistakes that were stuff that Ive never seen before," Noel said. Columbus head coach Todd Richards said he talked to his players after the disappointing opening 20 minutes. "Once we talked about things after the first period, obviously our focus and our attitude changed and we came out and started skating, pursuing pucks," Richards said. "We were willing to do the work, we werent waiting for our teammate to do the work. I think each guy took it upon themselves, that this is what I nneed to do.dddddddddddd. I need to skate and work." The Blue Jackets second-period barrage began with Letestus short-handed goal. Just nine seconds after Blue Jackets centre Brandon Dubinsky was called for holding 27 seconds into the period, MacKenzie and Letestu went on a 2-on-1 and Letestu deked and put a backhand shot past Pavelec. On that play, Noel noted there was an offensive-zone faceoff, his players decided to forecheck, didnt lock the centre and gave up a 2-on-1. "Weve never done that before. Weve never talked about that before. What is that? I dont know," Noel said. "Its not because they dont care. Lets make sure that thats clear. Theyre frustrated, too." When told of Ladds self-criticism, Noel said the captain places a lot of burden on himself, like leaders do, and hes got to try to help him. ODell scored at 4:32 of the first period during a goal-mouth scramble when he banged in the puck with a backhand while McElhinney was out near the edge of the crease. Recalled from the AHLs St. Johns IceCaps on Dec. 17, ODell was replacing Evander Kane (hand injury) on the Jets second line with centre Mark Scheifele and right-winger Michael Frolik. It was one of a number of roster changes for Winnipeg. Noel had big defenceman Dustin Byfuglien playing right-wing for the first time this season on the top line with Little and Ladd. That moved Blake Wheeler to the third line with centre Olli Jokinen and left-winger Devin Setoguchi. Noel said Byfuglien, who had an assist, played OK, and he liked that the fans cheered Byfuglien when he touched the puck early. Little said it was tough for the new line combinations to click because penalties shuffled players around, too. While hes faced adversity in his career, it was different in Atlanta than in Winnipeg. "Its definitely magnified when youre in Winnipeg," Little said. "Ive had some tough times in Atlanta where no one seems to care. No ones asking you questions, its not in the papers and people arent in the room after games. "So its definitely more pressure right now to get out of this." Notes -- The last time the Jets lost at least four in a row was late last season from March 28 to April 4, when they went 0-5-0 over that stretch a Letestus short-handed goal was the sixth one allowed by the Jets this season. ' ' '