Check out Senators coverage over at Silver Seven

Hooks is out of the Pensburgh lineup for the next three to five days, so I'll be standing in for recap action tonight and Saturday.  Following the Atlanta game, it is believe he'll be listed as day to day.

• The awesomeness that is Lindon Slewidge rocked the anthems before the puck even dropped.  The guy's got a set of pipes, that's for sure.  Always great to see him during Ottawa games.
  
  Pittsburgh's first goal was fast and pretty thanks to the long reach from Jordan Staal and a great set up on behalf of Pascal Dupuis from Sergei Gonchar.  Definitely the sort of thing you wanna see your returning defenseman get involved in right off the bat.  And hey, for all the times we've knocked Dupuis, that was one hell of a pass.
• Unfortunately the highly anticipated return of Max Talbot was stalled by two minutes when he went to the box for tripping.  No worries though, as the PK killed that one off with ease. 
• With roughly eight minutes to go in the first, Ottawa showed some serious puck control in the Pittsburgh zone.  What felt like too long wound up being just that, as Matt Carkner got an angle on Marc-Andre Fleury and sent one home to tie it at one a piece.  In 2006-07 Carkner played with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Pens, so his ability to score against Pittsburgh should stand as no surprise to anyone.  These things always happen.

The second period and depressing third after the jump

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More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

3 days ago: Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, right, makes a second period save on a shot by Anaheim Ducks' Petteri Nokelainen (17) of Finland during an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh Monday, Nov. 16, 2009.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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Down seven regular players to injury, it has to be a team effort to get by.  The Penguins found it tonight as they got contributions from everyone.  Even the power-play kicked in with a goal, snapping a streak of weeks without one.  Sure the Penguins gave up a short-handed goal, but hey, one step at a time.

Just a minute and a half into the game, Matt Cooke collected a turnover from the Ducks and deposited it past Jean-Sebastien Giguere for the first goal.  Then a few minutes later, the power-play finally broke through when Sidney Crosby rifled the puck to Bill Guerin and the old man whipped it from the high slot for a 2-0 lead.

Anaheim would halve the lead when after some lackadaisical Pittsburgh power-play work resulted in Todd Marchant getting a step on the defense and he beat Marc-Andre Fleury to take the score at 2-1 into intermission.

Jordan Staal made a play short-handed that ended up being the game winner.  Credit Deryk Engelland who got the puck, kept his head up and made a great pass up to Staal.  As has become his habit, Staal beat the defensemen and used his reach to deke the goalie out.  3-1 Pens.

Early in the 3rd period, Martin Skoula scored his first career goal as a Penguin, shooting a puck from the point past the screen of Mike Rupp into the net.  Teemu Selanne got a goal late in the game to bring the Ducks within two goals but Cooke put the icing on the cake with an empty netter for a 5-2

• Down their top four defensemen (in terms of minutes played) the Penguins needed and got contributions from everyone.  Engelland, as mentioned, made a great pass to make the game-winner possible and also played phyiscal with five hits.  Nate Guenin looked confident and comfortable in his NHL season debut, also credited with five hits.  Mark Eaton carried the load, playing a lot of the power-play in route to a game-high 27:09 of ice-time.  Skoula, as mentioned above, got his first goal.  Ben Lovejoy got an assist and generally played well.
• Jay McKee, the final member of tonight's defensive corps, was his usual shot-blocking self; getting 5 on the night.  The last one appeared to sting him, but he still took shifts deep into the 3rd period.  Hopefully it wasn't enough to cause an injury,
• Guenin and Engelland I think deserve a little more recognition for their efforts.  Neither one of them tried to be a guy like Sergei Gonchar or Alex Goligoski -- they played within themselves.  But they played very well.  Several little plays showed they made good decisions and executed them well all night long.
• Keeping on the theme of team contributions: every Penguin who took more than one faceoff was better than 50% in the circle; led by rookie Mark Letestu who won 75% of his eight draws.
• Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin absolutely unleashed some rockets on the power-play with slapshots.  Judging from those, I'd say about all systems are go for those two.  Again though, Crosby got the PP assist but Geno was point-less.  This win wasn't about them.
• It was about guys like Staal and Cooke.  2/3 of the third line went a combined 3 goals, 1 assist and +5, 5 shots on goal, 6 hits.
• Several more "ohh man" moments by Chris Bourque, who didn't win anyone to his bandwagon tonight; including missing another wide-open net.
• For Anaheim, they just don't look like they have it all together.  Given the talent on their roster, and the fact they won the Cup just over 2 years ago, it's hard to believe they're in last place in the entire Western Conference.  Then you see some of the turnovers they make in the game, the careless penalties they take and it sets in a little.  They have some pieces, but it's not coming together correctly.

The biggest thing to take away from this game was the team effort.  Marc-Andre Fleury got 23 of 25 shots, only eluded by a breakaway and late game goal.  The patchwork, mainly minor-league level defense held up very well and they all played well to a man.  Grinders showed up on the score sheet and skated hard all around. 

More than that, they played a style Dan Bylsma had to like; a lot of puck possesion and controlling the pace of the game.  Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has a saying that goes something like "the standard of expectation hasn't changed" when it comes to replacements pressed into duty due to injuries.  That was the case tonight.  Obviously it's impossible to replace the skill of guys like Gonchar, Goligoski and Kris Letang on the blueline, but everyone that got a jersey did his job, and did it well.  That's all you can ask.

The Penguins now have a two day break before they embark on seven games in 11 days to close out the month of November, starting off with a three game roadie.  The games are about to come but hopefully reinforcements will be trickling in.  But the standards of expectation will not, and cannot change.  Whoever plays has to produce, and they have to perform exactly like they did tonight.

[See how Bruins fans are reacting over at Stanley Cup of Chowder]

Say good-bye to the losing streak.  On a night where Pens fans were hyped up for Evgeni Malkin's return, the Penguins pulled off a tough one in super-dramatic fashion thanks to former Bruin Bill Guerin and third-line grinder Pascal Dupuis.

• Jay McKee kicked off the scoring early with a move more suited for a forward than a defenseman.  McKee made it look easy and put the Pens ahead early on with still a lot of hockey to play.
• Ben Lovejoy put on a great goaltending effort in the first period, keeping a Mark Recchi shot out of the goal when Brent Johnson was caught out of position. 
• Dupuis picked up a clutch goal.  Didn't rush the shot, held it and fired into the open net.  Lovejoy recorded his first NHL assist, a fitting reward for his aforementioned shot-blocking duties.
• Crosby tipped in a big shot from GoGo who received the feed from Malkin for Geno's first point in his first game back.
• During a second period rush, Mark Eaton pinged one off the post that could've put Pittsburgh up 4-2.  Ten minutes into the third with the score tied at 3, Eaton made good on his own post hit by rocketing one home on a Crosby feed to put Pittsburgh up 4-3.
• Coming into the game Pittsburgh was ranked 26th in the league on the PP with a 13.8% success rate.  Boston sat right behind them in the 27th spot with 12.9%.  By the end neither would improve much, although Boston did go 1-for-4.  Pittsburgh, to the surprise of no one, went 0-for-3.
• Late in the game Pittsburgh found themselves in penalty trouble.  Matt Cooke went off for a double minor after getting a high stick up on Bitz.  Not even a minute later Crosby goes off for a tripping call, putting Boston up 5-on-3 with seven minutes remaining.  With 21 seconds left to kill on the 5-on-3, David Krejci roofed one past Johnson to tie the game at four.
• With 4 1/2 minutes remaining Crosby took a breakaway pass in on Thomas.  It looked like Sid would deke him out of his pads but Thomas just got enough of glove on Sid's backhander to keep it off target.
• All night Bob Errey and Paul Steigerwald were talking about Zdeno Chara's "heavy shot."  Unfortunately the Pens caught that one first hand when The Big Z slapped one home with 2:30 remaining.  Marco Sturm wound up getting on a piece on it and was credited with the G.
• Pens pull Johnson with a little over a minute left.  Do or die.  Time ticks down past 50, 40, 30.  The game is good as over as Boston gains possession and looks to freeze it against the boards in the Pittsburgh zone.  Wait.  The puck squirts loose.  Malkin has it.  He's skating his pads off.  Six seconds.  Crosses the blue line.  Five, four...pass to Bill Guerin.  3.  Shot. 2.  Pink off goal post.  1  GOAL  .04 on the clock.
• In overtime Pittsburgh puts the pressure on early.  Tim Thomas went behind his next to play the puck, changed his mind and left it there.  Thankfully Jordan Staal has his head up, found the puck and dished it to the front of the net for Pascal Dupuis to slam it home.  6-5 Final. Dupuis gets the Mickey D Player of the Game.
• Great game from Mike Rupp.  On paper it stands as a pointless effort but he was all around the crease, digging in corners and making things happen out there.  The man we've come to know as a noted goal scorer almost put one in past Thomas, but a ridiculous stick save would keep it out.

What a way to snap the losing streak, huh? 

Devils vs Penguins coverage - Devils vs Penguins boxscore - In Lou We Trust

The Pens were buzzing early and would finally snap their goal-less streak in the first period. Sidney Crosby (riding a personal high five game score-less streak) threw it to the net and Ruslan Fedotenko crashed in. The puck wasn't frozen and Fedotenko found it before Martin Brodeur did or the Jersey defense found his stick to slam it home. 1-0 Pens.

Sometimes even when you do the right thing, it's the wrong thing. A couple instances where Penguins did well, but still New Jersey got the goals to give them a 2-1 edge after the second period.
--Chris Conner drove the the net, stirred up the puck from Brodeur who wanted to freeze it. Usually a good thing, right? Except when NJ gets it right back, establishes zone time and traps Conner on a long shift, which lead to Niklas Bergfors goal. Bergfors is starting to be one of those notorious Penguin killers, now with two goals in two games against Pittsburgh.
-Then killing a penalty, Ben Lovejoy (making his season debut in the NHL) was in perfect position, but somehow the point shot from Andy Greene struck his skate at such an angle to re-direct in past a helpless Fleury.

Then, sloppy play gave the Devils another goal. Conner got back out on the ice, but after getting hemmed in their own end for a while, the line was ready for a change. Conner got the puck in the neutral zone, but hestitated -- seemingly not sure if he should skate the red line and dump, find someone else to pass the puck to, go to the bench himself. Whatever he did, he froze. Bergfors picked his pocket, and Travis Zajac found Zach Parise on a nice pass (and better finish).

It would be Conner's final mistake, as it was his final shift in the game.

With a second left, David "Kelly" Clarkson tacked on an empty netter. Nice one.

• Crosby had games where he didn't look like a force. Tonight was not one of those nights, he was all over the offensive zone, getting 5 shots on goal (with a total of 12 attempts) and several great passes.  He played well.
• Ruslan Fedotenko was good too, with six shots on goal, the only goal and what would have been a second goal if the nob of Brodeur's stick didn't somehow catch a piece of it.
• That Nicklas Bergfors is playing like Forsberg against Pittsburgh -- in two games he's got 2 goals and 3 assists.  He's got seven points in 15 games against the rest of the league.
• Marc-Andre Fleury was only average to maybe a little above average on a night he needed to be great.  
• Congrats to New Jersey, who extended their road mark to 9-0-0 and are now the #1 team in the Eastern Conference when you look at the standings tomorrow morning.  One more road win and they tie the 2006-07 Buffalo team for best road start.
• It's been tough sledding lately for Conner and Chris Bourque, neither of whom are playing very well at the NHL level at the moment.  Will Pittsburgh stick it out with them or will they think of swapping them out for farmhands who seem to be playing well in the AHL (Ryan Bayda, Dustin Jeffrey, Luca Caputi)?  Hard to say, but you have to believe the possibility will at least be considered.

As frustrated as we all are, the Penguins are still the 3rd best team in the East.  Considering what they've had to weather lately, that's not bad.  With Evgeni Malkin's return on the horizon, there ought to be a shot in the arm coming soon.  It's just about surviving until the reinforcements get back.  Four straight losses have everyone on edge, but it's not for the lack of trying.  It'll come around, just gotta keep at it

More photos » by Winslow Townson - AP

9 days ago: Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jay McKee, left, looks at the puck after it came out of the goal on a score by Boston Bruins' Matt Hunwick (not shown) as Pittsburgh Penguins center Jordan Staal and Boston Bruins left wing Shawn Thornton look on during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Boston Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

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Penguins vs Bruins coverage - Penguins vs Bruins boxscore - Stanley Cup of Chowder

The injury list has piled up for Pittsburgh, but to lose their improvised alternate captain Brooks Orpik to injury early in the first period is just insult to injury. It's difficult enough to play without 3 of arguably your top 4 defensemen, but to be down to just five defensemen for the balance of the game -- one of which making his NHL debut, another who had the flu/minor injury last week is just cruel.

The first goal was in and out so quick the refs couldn't call it. Matt Hunwick lifted a shot top shelf that popped out real quick. Bruins were hugging and celebrating only one problem: no whistle. The Pens kept playing and no one was quite sure what was going on. The play was eventually reviewed and the correct call was made: it was in fact a goal. 1-0 Bruins.

Boston dominated Pittsburgh early, jumping out to a 10-2 shot advantage early in the game that the Pens whittled down to just a 16-15 Boston edge by the beginning of the 3rd period. The Pens had some great territorial time and cycled hard to create chances. Chances aren't goals, but the effort was appreciated.

The second goal of the game happened seconds after it appeared the Penguins might score. The revised top line was about to make a tic-tac-toe play of cross-ice passes for a slam dunk goal for Sidney Crosby. But Matt Cooke couldn't make the play and Patrice Bergeron nudged the puck up to Mark Recchi who found a streaking Daniel Paille for a breakaway. Paille buries it

-Lady luck just hasn't smiled on the Pens lately. On a PK, a Bruins defender trips and the Pens get a 2 on 1. No dice. Then with about 5:45 in the game remaining, the Pens shot a puck in, Thomas went back behind the net to wait for it but it took a weird bounce off the glass and somehow kicked out right to the open net. It crossed the creased and then hit squarely off the far-post and didn't go in. When you don't get the bounces, geez, you really don't get them.

At the end of the game Patrice Bergeron would tack on an empty netter, fittingly getting a fortunate bounce on a puck that was dipping and diving all over the ice. Bergeron earned his luck though, as he got an assist earlier, 2 hits, 2 takeaways and won 73% of his 24 faceoffs.

• Deryk Engelland played like, well, it was his first career NHL game. He was pressed into a tough situation: joining a battered team and then losing a defensive leader like Orpik, so he acquitted himself well. But he made a couple of sloppy plays and was a little out of position at times, but hey let's cut the guy a break. He didn't make any critical errors and generally did what was asked of him.
• Not sure what Jay McKee was thinking on the lead up to the Paille breakaway. He got caught moving slow in no-man's zone and let Paille get behind him. Then again he's having a great season and I just sit on a couch so it's easier to point things like that out than it is to do something about it.
• No word on what Orpik's injury could be. He got bodychecked cleanly behind the boards while digging out a puck, a routine play. He was instantly hobbled over though and wouldn't return, the team says he'll be re-evaluated tomorrow.
• Alex Goligoski would pull marathon duty in Orpik's absence. Good logged a game-high 28:25 and played well, even though he was a -2 (one was the empty netter). Martin Skoula was also pressed into a bigger role, getting a season high of 24:27 of ice-time. Skoula played very well in his increased duty.
• Hard to blame Marc-Andre Fleury for anything.  He made 26 saves on 28 shots including more than a few excellent ones.  He held his team in the game for as long as possible, but with no goal support, hard to imagine any goalie escaping with a win tonight.

No goals for two-and-a-half games right now. It's been tough treading. It's definitely not time for the panic button or to proclaim the sky is falling. A record of 12-6-0 translates to a 109 point pace over an entire season, which would surely bring playoffs, it's more points than the Penguins have had in a while.

This is hardly the end of the world.  One gets the sense a lot of fans will be restless, but the truth is Pittsburgh didn't play too poorly tonight, regardless of current circumstances.  They weren't good enough to win, but they hardly got laughed out of the rink like in the past couple of games.  Hey, you gotta start somewhere.  Hopefully now things can stabilize now that the Pens return to Mellon at last.

More photos » by D. ROSS CAMERON - AP

12 days ago: Pittsburgh Penguins' Chris Kunitz, left, watches as San Jose Sharks teammates Jamie McGinn, center, and Jed Ortmeyer celebrate McGinn's goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. (Photo by D. Ross Cameron)

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Bad game for Pittsburgh, no two ways about it.  They didn't look good and a superior and opportunistic San Jose team jumped on them from the get-go.  Right now due to injuries this is a club that doesn't look like a Stanley Cup winner.  Help is on the horizon, Evgeni Malkin skated before the game and guys like Sergei Gonchar and Maxime Talbot are on the mend...But until that time Pittsburgh has to find a way.  They haven't been able to do that lately, obviously.  And on a night like tonight, San Jose totally outclassed them.  They out-skated, out-worked, out-chanced and easily out-scored the Pens.

• Things would go bad to worse with the defensemen.  Alex Goligoski, who's been nothing short of sensational, was questionable coming into the game with reportedly a case of the flu.  Goligoski would play, and play quite well.  He skated a team high 27:01, threw five shots on goal and amazingly wasn't on the ice for an even-strength goal. 
• But the real problems would come with another injury to Kris Letang.  Letang took a nasty spill when he drove to the net in the first period and got taken down.  Letang appeared to land on his arm and wouldn't return to the game.  If he's hurt enough to miss time obviously another costly injury for the struggling power-play.
• Dan Boyle was the star of this game, showing why he's a top defenseman in the league and will be a force with Team Canada at the Olympics.  Boyle was strong on the puck, making great passes and shot/passes to teammates.
• Death, taxes, and Dany Heatley scoring against the Penguins.  Since the lockout Heatley has now 16 goals in 17 games (with six more assists) against Pittsburgh after tonight.  Good thing he's in the Western Conference now, huh?
• We speculated earlier that maybe Sidney Crosby is hurt, but maybe it's just that no one else around him is doing much.  Crosby won 70% of his 23 faceoffs of the night, impressive considering all four regular San Jose centers are in the top 10 league-wide in faceoff percentage.  Crosby also got three shots on goal (with two more missed and two blocked).  While he wasn't particularly dangerous at any time, he wasn't totally bad.  Just spinning wheels, as the rest of the team seemed to be.
• Marc-Andre Fleury struggled giving up 3 goals on 14 shots before getting a mercy pull.  Fleury wasn't totally bad either, he made a few shots, but he gave up two bad goals.  The game opening score was one Jamie McGinn snuck by him from a bad angle, one MAF would surely like back.  The final goal Fleury allowed came off a Boyle shot from a point you'd expect Fleury to be in better position for.
• At the same time, the Pens were being outshot 14-4 by the Sharks while Fleury was in the game.  While he wasn't good, the skaters in front of him didn't provide any help either.  Tough to pin it on him, as no goalie around would have been able to lift Pittsburgh to a win tonight.
• The power-play still hasn't scored since Evgeni Malkin left the lineup.  It's getting bad.  Or whatever is past that.

With one win in three California games it wasn't a successful trip.  Injuries to possibly Letang as well as Tyler Kennedy not being able to be back means the Pens are more banged up coming back to the east coast than they were before they left.  Fleury's been touched up for eight goals in less than five periods of play and overall the Pens have been outscored 9-0 dating back to their last four periods.

Pittsburgh is a team as on the ropes as they've ever been in the Dan Bylsma era.  This is the first time under him they haven't gotten points in the standings in two straight regular season games.  The path ahead doesn't offer much promise, two days off before a road game at home and then three games in six nights back at home.  Combined record of the next four opponents: 31-25-6, all four teams were in the playoffs last spring and will be gunning for the champs.

It won't be easy, but no one is going to feel sorry for the boys in black and gold.  Time to rally around the flag and get back to simple and winning hockey. 

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

14 days ago: Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar (11), of Slovenia, and Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (32) keep Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Bill Guerin (13) from scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

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Penguins vs Kings coverage - Penguins vs Kings boxscore

Coming into the game, the Los Angeles Kings were a buzzsaw. 5-0-2 in their last seven; and after tonight they've scored 5+ goals in five of the last seven games. They showed why, with superior zone time, cycling, shots on goal.  Usually all the aspects the Penguins outmatch others, that's what LA did to them tonight, and they pulled away late in the third period to get a deserving result, a 5-2 victory.

Right off the bat in the first period, the Kings collected a puck in their zone and rushed it up the ice, Justin Williams crissed, Anze Kopitar crossed and Kris Letang was somewhere in the middle. That's not a good equation. Kopitar showed the skill that's why he's currently the league's leading scorer when he stepped up, smoothly went to the backhand and beat Marc-Andre Fleury cleanly for a goal.

The next shift the Penguins put Jordan Staal out with Chris Conner and Matt Cooke. On a breakout Jay McKee (of all people) ended up driving towards the net. Conner dropped the puck to Staal who slapped it to the net. It found paydirt 1-1.

The very fact a defensive defenseman like McKee finds himself in the position to be a little ahead of the play and ends up driving to the net just shows how much the entire team has bought into the system that Dan Bylsma wants them to play. When Jay McKee is your lead force center driving the net and a guy like Jordan Staal knows to pull up, everyone's clicking, everyone's on the same page. In a nutshell that's why Pittsburgh's had so much success since Bylsma took over.

In the second period Brooks Orpik took a shot that Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby waived their sticks at. Kunitz got a piece and it was enough to beat Jonathan Quick.  IT was 2-1 Pens after two, despite being out-shot and generally out-played they took a lead into the second intermission.  It wouldn't last though.

In the third Kopitar would tie it. He beat Crosby on a faceoff and found Williams for a shot. The shot found Kopitar behind the net (as the puck always seems to find the good ones) and he popped out for the easy stuff in to tie the game at 2.

Following a real sloppy power-play by the Pens (what else is new recently), Dustin Brown made a great pass to Jarret Stoll and he buried it. 3-2 Kings. The very next shift the Kings kept the pressure up, Craig Adams was no match for Alexander Frolov and he fired a pass out that bounced around and Michal Handzus got the goal, with Wayne Simmonds right there to get it too. 4-2 Kings just like that.

And in the "piling it on" folder, the Kings got zone time, they cycled well and drew a penalty. With the extra man they got some great passes, caught the Pens running around and Stoll made a great pass to Dustin Brown for an easy slam dunker. 5-2 Kings.

• The goalies really settled down after two goalies in the first 1:10 of gameplay, for a while at least. Fleury stopped the next 24 shots, and the only way the Pens beat Quick was a deflection out front.  MAF got victimized in a flurry in the 3rd, but let's absolve him because the Kings applied a lot of pressure and outworked a lot of Pittsburgh players to get their goals.
• It's not even that Kopitar scored his two goals: the way he did it was almost effortless and very skillful. If he played in the eastern time zone he'd be one of the most hyped players in the game. He's definitely one of those guys like a Rick Nash or Ilya Kovalchuk that is worth watching any chance you get. A supremely talented player and Kopitar put on one of the best performances tonight that I've seen all season.
• It should be noted that Kris Letang played 24:49, and though Kopitar made him look foolish twice, he escaped with an even plus/minus rating.  Fellow youngster Alex Goligoski logged 21:32 of ice-time and was a +1.
• Not to say the usually solid four more defensive defenseman (Jay McKee, Brooks Orpik, Martin Skoula and Mark Eaton) deserve all the blame; but that foursome combined to have a plus/minus rating of -7 (all were negatives except McKee).  Pittsburgh's not going to win many games under those circumstances, especially with the power-play not clicking.
• Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin combined for 10 of the Pens total of 23 shots on goal.  Guerin got a couple wonderful feeds but couldn't convert (including one that hit Quick's pad and then the post).  Can't knock those two for a lack of effort, but the results generally just haven't paid dividends.
• Matt Cooke, Pascal Dupuis and Ruslan Fedotenko -- three veteran wingers all relied on for contributions didn't fare as well.  That trio combined for almost 47 minutes of ice-time but only got one shot on goal (Fedotenko's) and weren't dangerous.  They were flat out overmatched by their counter-parts in guys like Stoll, Brown and Frolov.
• Tough night for Craig Adams too.  While he registered a game high 8 hits (including one on Matt Greene that dislodged the glass), Adams was a -3 and lost 9 of 12 faceoffs.
• As far as diminutive forwards with the first name of Chris go: Conner > Bourque. Maybe it's because Conner's two years older, maybe it's because he's got 54 more NHL games, but whatever the reason, Conner seems more poised, a better skater and makes better decisions with the puck.

Overall, no excuses, the Kings worked very hard, played a superior game, got some solid goaltending and deserved the win.  They displayed all the usual tenets of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey, but did so with better skill and execution from top to bottom.  One can't help but wonder what the outcome would have been if Pittsburgh was fortunate enough to have their four key injured players (Malkin, Gonchar, Kennedy, Talbot) but let that take nothing away from the display LA put on.  Sure would be nice to see a seven game series between these two teams, but that is a long ways away.

Pittsburgh's franchise best of seven straight road wins to open a season is now history, but they still have a big chance to have a winning west coast road trip if they get the result in San Jose on Saturday.  The Sharks are no easy task, so time to put this one behind us and move north in California to see what can happen.

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

16 days ago: Anaheim Ducks right wing Corey Perry, center, is stripped of the puck by Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jay McKee, right, right wing Bill Guerin (13) during the second period of a NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

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Penguins vs Ducks coverage - SB Nation blog Anaheim Calling 

It was a matchup of two of the past three Stanley Cup champions, and it didn't disappoint.  Highlighted by a total of three total goals in 1:13 of game-play towards the middle of the third period, two of them scored by Pittsburgh, which proved to be enough to take a win away from Anaheim.

Kris Letang with a rough series leading up to the game's opening goal....First a bad clearing attempt from behind his net around the wall (where he had no friendly jerseys in sight) led to a turnover. Then as the puck got to the front of the net; Letang froze hand-cuffed, unable to make a split second decision on whether to help a teammate try to neutralize Corey Perry.

Look at these absurd totals for the Penguins top power-play unit for total ice-time in the first period: 9:22 Crosby, 7:55 Guerin, 7:54 Kunitz, 9:13 Goligoski, 9:17 Letang. But when you spend 40% of the period on the PP that happens....On the other hand, 2:39 Selanne, 3:58 Getzlaf -- those guys don't kill penalties so they barely got to get in the rythym of the game with those first period minutes.

Mike Rupp got the Pens even when he ripped a nice shot by Jonas Hiller. Credit Tyler Kennedy for rushing the puck up and the nice dish for the goal.

Letang would make up for his gaffe in the second period. He took a stick to the choppers but stayed in the game. Later, on a delayed penalty against Anaheim, Letang cut to the middle of the rink and put a hard shot on goal that "had eyes" to avoid the bodies in front and hit the back of the net.

It was nice to see Letang show some authority. Perhaps he too was tired of seeing Goligoski and Crosby pass the puck to one another?

Corey Perry would strike again pounding home a rebound to make it 2-2 by the end of the 2nd period.

Then the flurry of three goals in 1:13 of gameplay:

• First a total team effort by Pittsburgh; Dan Bylsma re-united "the third line" of Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Kennedy and they cycled well on this shift.  Credit Jay McKee with a nice hold in before Staal found a diving TK who poked the puck back to Goligoski.  With Cooke right in Hiller's field of vision Goose made no mistakes driving the puck to the back of the net.
• Anaheim bounced back on the next shift with some zone time of their own.  In my recollection, this was truly the first "soft" goal of the season allowed by Marc-Andre Fleury, he wasn't tight enough to the post and Saku Koivu popped out from behind the net and squeezed a shot by him.  Tie game 3-3.
• Undeterred, Pittsburgh left the same exact five man unit on the ice (Pascal Dupuis - Craig Adams - Mike Rupp with Letang and Brooks Orpik) while Anaheim elected to change.  The Pens got in the zone and moved the puck all around the blueline.  Eventually the defense found Dupuis who ripped a hard slapper for the game winner.

That would be the last goal, but certainly not the last of the action.  Both teams continued to press but nothing went in.  Sidney Crosby, who didn't factor into the offense, made a terrific defensive play by DIVING into an abandoned net (Fleury was out of the crease, lunging for the puck).  The shot came but Crosby went all Rob Scuderi on the Ducks, saving the goal.

• Hate to say it but overall it was a tough night for the runaway winner for Pensburgh player of the month Alex Goligoski. Goose, who's been sensational this season, had his first "off" night. In addition to not converting much on the PP early, he had a wide open net in the 2nd (just prior to Rupp's goal) and misfired.  Goligoski also couldn't tie up or stop Perry from scoring Anaheim's second goal. Everyone's entitled to a bad day now and then, hopefully Gogo brushes it off and moves forward. 
• Still, Goligoski did score an important goal and no defenseman in the league has more, so perhaps that's a little rough on his performance.  More experience for him to draw on and be a better player in the long-run, that's for sure.
• On a night where neither Jordan Staal nor Sidney Crosby were forces offensively, both saved sure goals at point blank range.  When your best offensive players are your best defensive players that's a good sign.  Those two also won 54.8 of their combined faceoffs.
• Thumbs down to the official Anaheim scorer who only awarded Brooks Orpik one hit (in the last minute of the game).  No way #44 didn't record a hit when he plastered Koivu and Joffrey Lupul in plays that stand out in my mind.  Overall hits were officially 26-21 in favor of Anaheim, which may have been about right, but come on man.
• Power-play was power-less tonight going a dreadful 0 for 7.  The last PP was only 1 second at the end of the game, so it was really a true 0 for 6.  But still it was bad.  Guys like Guerin and Kunitz racked up PP minutes and didn't do much to justify it.  Will there be a change in philosophy to get guys like Kennedy and Staal more time?  The question deserves to be asked.
• Guerin, in particular, didn't have a game to remember in number 1200 of his NHL career.  He was -2, nicked with 4 giveaways and didn't have any real scoring chances, despite piling up the time on the man advantage early.
• Tyler Kennedy, on the other hand, was my player of the game.  In his first game back from injury he only got 13:18 of playing time but still had a tied for team high three shots (and a team high seven attempted shots), he got 2 assists, was a game high +3 and had 3 blocked shots.  He's a whirling blur of activity and was excellent tonight, providing a badly needed spark for his team.
• In case you were wondering, our old friend Ryan Whitney played a game high 28:37, though it wasn't very eventful.  Whitney's among the league leaders in ice-time this season, so it's nice to see he has seemingly recovered from his feet problems enough to play a lot.

At day's end, a tremendous team effort lead Kennedy and Letang.  As they've done for quite some while, the Pens found a way to get offense with unlikely players in Rupp and Dupuis coming through with goals.  Fleury didn't have his best night, but he flashed his glove late to make a game saving effort.  When you're on the road, it's about finding a way to win.  Pittsburgh did tonight, and now are among the best in the history of the league (also with the New Jersey Devils) by extending their mark to 7-0-0 on the road.