Penguins Sing The Blues In St. Louis

There's not much to say about this one folks.

On the 2nd game of their 3-game road trip tonight, the Pittsburgh Penguins battled hard for more than 60 minutes against St. Louis and last year's playoff nemesis, goaltender Jaroslav Halak -- now of the Blues -- and ended up in their second straight overtime game.

But this time the Penguins didn't have the extra-time magic they did 2 nights earlier in Nashville, falling 1-zip to the Blues when defenseman Eric Johnson beat Pens' netminder Brent Johnson from the slot for the game's only tally 50 seconds into overtime.

Johnson played a strong game for Pittsburgh, too, rejecting St. Louis' other 23 shots in his first loss of the year.  Halak -- not surprisingly, perhaps -- did the same, stopping all 31 Penguins' shots (and looking good doing it) for his second straight win after beating the Chicago Blackhawks the evening before.

There really isn't much to take from this loss.  It was a tough one -- no doubt.  The Penguins had their chances against Halak, but couldn't break-through, whether on 4 power-plays or at any time 5-on-5 in regulation. 

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin -- both so hot of late -- were (obviously) completely kept off the board.  Crosby finished with 5 shots in the contest, and that doesn't count the 1o-bell clanger he put off the post with less than 10 minutes left in the third.

The Penguins were just an inch or two away from victory there.

Then, minutes later, your fortunes turn. 

And it's particularly tought to swallow when you play 60 minutes of solid hockey, as Pittsburgh did tonight.  Their frustration was embodied by Brent Johnson doing everything in his power to avoid shattering his goalstick on the post after letting up the game-winner following a real strong effort from all of his teammates.

Unfortunately, Johnson and the Pens will have several days to chew on this defeat, as they're not scheduled to play again until next Wednesday in Tampa against the Lightning.  The Pens' chartered there after the game and will practice a few times in Florida while getting some R&R in my favorite road city leading up to that one.

Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to get the call in net that evening.

More this week.


NOTES:  Pens' defenseman Brooks Orpik returned to the lineup tonight, and looked pretty good out there on the ice.  He was as smooth and physical as ever.  We'll see if Aaron Asham looks the same way on Wednesday, when he is expected to make his Penguins' regular season debut against the Lightning after suffering a shoulder injury that's kept him out of the lineup since the next-to-last Pens' preseason game against the Blackhawks.