Penguins, 7-Game Win Streak Bedeviled By New Jersey, 4-1

You didn't think the Penguins would roll 81-1 this year, did you?

I certainly didn't, and last night, the New Jersey Devils made sure of that by beating the Penguins rather handily, 4-1, at Mellon Arena.

The game snapped Pittsburgh's 7-game winning streak, and was vintage New Jersey from start to end.

The Devils played their trademark defenseive system to a "T" -- as in trap -- and relied on legend netminder Martin Brodeur to make the saves when needed.

Defenseman Mark Fraser scored his first NHL goal for New Jersey in the first period to open the scoring on a shot that Pens' goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury first stopped rather easily. Unfortunately, when Fleury tried to snatch the puck out of the air after it popped up off his pads, he accidentally knocked it into his own goal.

Niclas Bergfors tapped in a loose puck that had squirted behind Fleury in the 2nd period and, just when the Penguins and their fans were hoping for a reprise of last night's comeback from a 2-0 third period deficit at home against the Florida Panthers, Travis Zajac scored in the first minute of the final frame to make it 3-0, depositing a shot past an outstretched Fleury after being left alone just briefly in front of the Pens' netminder.

While defenseman Alex Goligoski broke Brodeur's bid to tie Terry Sawchuck for the NHL's all-time shutout record with 103 by scoring about half-way through the final frame, the Penguins never really threatened thereafter, and a late goal from Devils' star Zach Parise finished Pittsburgh off for good.

While the Penguins had more shots than New Jersey -- they reached the 30's as they typically do under head coach Dan Bylsma, while Fleury only faced 26 in net for Pittsburgh -- the Penguins couldn't break through Brodeur to get anything going.

They also failed on 4 power play chances, which leaves Pittsburgh's man-advantage 1-for-10 in the first two games without quarterback Sergei Gonchar. That's something they definitely need to work on going forward.

With the loss, the Penguins no longer have sole possession of first place in the overall NHL standings, and now share that distinction with the Colorado Avalanche, who are 8-1-2 on the year.

The Penguins still have more wins than any other club league-wide, with 9.

Pittsburgh finishes up their 5-game homestand next Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens, who did the Penguins a little bit of a favor by beating the New York Rangers in overtime last night to keep them from gaining an extra point in the standings.

More this week.