Brent opened the scoring 4:38 into the contest, taking an odd angle shot that deflected off goaltender Marc Denis' glove for his sixth of the season.

Goligoski, who picked up a helper on the first goal, set up the second, carrying the puck deep down the left boards then hitting Minard with a cross-ice feed. Minard's one-timer beat Denis short side for his 12th of the season.

The Penguins opened the second period much like the first, as Smith deflected a Goligoski point shot 4:21 into the middle frame to make the score 3-0.

Connor James was snuffed on a penalty shot attempt nine minutes into the second, and Norfolk then cracked the scoresheet with a Norm Miley tally midway through the game.

But James made up for the miss by taking a Mark Ardelan clearing pass and beating Denis with a breakaway at 16:34.

The Admirals mounted a comeback as Rob Klinkhammer and Dan Jancevski scored 1:05 apart to start the third, but Minard tipped home a McLean one-timer on the power play and Jonathan Filewich netted his second goal in as many games to put the game to bed.

Dave Brown stopped 18 of 21 shots he saw to record his fourth victory in goal for the Penguins, who return to action on Wednesday, January 2 against the Syracuse Crunch at home.

NOTES: Goligoski is the second Penguin to record four assists in a game this season. Brent performed the same feat on November 24 in Binghamton...The Penguins are now 13-1-0-0 when they score first in a game, are 10-0-0-0 when leading after the first and 11-0-0-0 when leading after two periods...The team now has a 10-6-0-0 record at home and a 10-6-0-1 mark away from the Wachovia Arena...The Penguins posted a 9-2-0-1 record in December.