PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins started slowly and then finished with a bang.

Crosby scored twice in the third period and the Penguins surged to a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.

"Sid's the type of player who can control a game whenever he wants to," teammate Erik Christensen said. "It's sick. The way he just turned it on.

"He would come off (the ice) sometimes cursing at himself. But he turned on the switch and had a great third period."

Christensen added two goals and an assist, and Michel Ouellet had one of each for Pittsburgh, which passed the Islanders and moved into 10th place in the Eastern Conference with their second straight win.

Richard Park and Arron Asham scored for New York.

"You just watch (Crosby), and once again he gets two more points," said Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney, who had an assist. "It seems like that's kind of what you expect. It's truly unbelievable to see what he does. I'm sure he made a couple plays he'd like to take back, but then at the end of the night, he has two goals."

Crosby had no shots and a minus-1 rating and failed to control a couple loose pucks through two periods, but his goals came on rebounds. His power-play tally with 16:32 left off Ouellet's shot gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead.

Crosby's second on a rebound of Mark Recchi's shot with 6:15 left put the game away.

"He found a way to get the big goals for them," New York coach Ted Nolan said.

Crosby was at the center of controversy late when, with 33 seconds to play, he was speared in the abdomen by Jason Blake. No penalty was called but Crosby was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct minor.

Crosby was seen jawing with Blake after the final horn sounded, but downplayed the incident to reporters after the game.

"I wasn't too happy there, but it's good to get the win," Crosby said. "That stuff happens, but it's better to forget about it and move on."

Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien wasn't ready to let it go.

"The spearing at the end of the game is unacceptable to us," he said. "We're really upset to see a cheap shot; on top of it, we're the ones that got penalized on it. I hope the NHL makes the right call (fine or suspension)."