TAMPA (AFP) — Sidney Crosby made his return to Pittsburgh’s lineup a memorable one assisting on the game winner as the Penguins beat Tampa Bay 2-0 on Tuesday.

Crosby set up Maxime Talbot’s goal late in the third period and Marc-Andre Fleury made 35 saves.

“I felt pretty good,” Pittsburgh’s captain said. “As the game went on, I got a little more tired.

“It’s been a while since I played a game, and obviously I haven’t really gotten a chance to do tons of skating, so it’s good to get it over with and get that feel and get that timing back.

“But it’s still not there. I had some great chances that I would have loved to put in. It didn’t happen. Sometimes that’s the way it goes. I’m a little rusty.”

Evgeni Malkin added an empty-netter for Pittsburgh (38-23-7), which maintained its one-point lead over New Jersey (38-23-6) atop the Eastern Conference.

Returning from an ankle sprain that sidelined him for 21 games, Crosby had several scoring chances before setting up the winning goal.

But after receiving a drop pass from Talbot at the right point, the Canadian superstar carried the puck into the faceoff circle and passed it to the front of the net, where it hit a skate before caroming to Talbot, who deposited it past goaltender Mike Smith with 2:47 remaining to snap a scoreless tie.

Ironically, Crosby suffered the ankle injury in a 3-0 loss to Tampa Bay on January 18.

Despite being outshot, the Penguins had the best scoring chance in the first period. With 3:48 remaining, Crosby came down on a breakaway but was denied by Smith.

Smith made another strong save on Crosby seven minutes into the third, but Fleury was just as superb with 8:16 remaining, as he stopped All-Star Vincent Lecavalier’s backhander on a breakaway.

Smith made 21 saves for the Lightning, who fell to 1-6-1 in their last eight.

Penguins rising star Jordan Staal suffered bruised ribs in the first period and did not return.