Devil Does In The Penguins, 4-1

Last night's 4-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils at Continental Airlines Arena can be summed up easily for the Penguins.

They were cursed.

The Penguins hit 4 posts in the course of the game -- 3 of them relatively early on -- but couldn't get one into the 4 X 6. Eventually, the Devils found a way to do what the Penguins couldn't. They slowly built their lead to 3-0 -- even if the first Devils goal was the result of a clear offside play by New Jersey -- before Matt Cooke scored with approximately 4 minutes to go. The Penguins put on good pressure after that, but got no closer, and the Devils sealed things with an empty netter.

It's hard to complain too much about the Penguins' play last night. They played with more intensity, and their defensive zone coverage was better. Penguins goaltender Dany Sabourin struggled on a few of the Devils goals, however, and that didn't help.

On the first one, a shot from the left side wide of the net came off the back boards behind him and through the crease, and before he could get turned around, Devils forward Travis Zajac tapped it into an empty net.

On the third one, the puck came across to the right circle to New Jersey winger Danius Zubrus on a rush. I think Sabourin was screened on the play by defenseman Alex Goligoski but as Zubrus' shot went by Sabourin low on the stick side, it was apparent that he was significantly out of position. He just lost track of the net behind him as he moved across the crease.

Sabourin also left a few other pucks sitting around the crease which were just cleared by Penguin defenseman before the Devils could pounce.

He clearly needs to be better with his quickness and awareness around the net. These aren't new problems for him, but they are starting to hurt him and the team more.

Evgeni Malkin assisted on Cooke's goal to keep his scoring streak alive, but Sidney Crosby's 7-game streak was snapped.

The Penguins' also came up empty on the power play again.

Last night's loss was the Penguins 3rd straight defeat in regulation -- something that hasn't happened in about 1 year. It left the Penguins at 15-9-4, with 34 points, now 6 behind the New York Rangers, who won in overtime against the Atlanta Thrashers last night. More importantly, the Devils, who have won 8 of 10, I believe, are now tied with the Penguins with 34 points in the Atlantic Division. The Flyers also are right behind both the Devils and Penguins.

The good news (maybe?) for the Boys of Winter is that they get to try and erase some of the bad taste in their mouth quickly. They play again tonight at home against the division cellar-dwellars, the New York Islanders.

Expect John Curry to get the start in goal. During this back-to-back stretch, Sabourin needs a breather, and Curry played well against the Islanders when he replaced Sabourin about 2 and 1/2 weeks ago and the Penguins came back to win.

Recap tomorrow ...