Penguins Blank Blackhawks, 5-0, in Return Engagement

The Penguins overcame a snoozer of a start (by both teams) to down the Blackhawks, 5-0, in the back-end of a home-and-home set last night at PPG Paints Arena.Sidney Crosby broke the scoring ice with 16 seconds left in the first period with a nifty power-play goal from the bumper position. Assists went to Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust.

Erik Karlsson widened the lead for the good guys at 4:45 of the second period, thanks to a crisp lateral feed from Ville Koivunen down low. Stationed at the base of the left circle, Karlsson wired a sharp-angle shot past Hawks goalie Spencer Knight for his 200th career goal.

The Pens proceeded to break the game open in the final period. Working the give-and-go…