Penguins 4 - Lightning 5: Struck Down in the Shootout

Sidney Crosby had his best post-Olympic game, but the Penguins' rally wasn't quite enough as Tampa Bay took the game in a shootout.

Once again, the Penguins battled back from a 4-1 deficit, but fell to Tampa Bay in a shootout, 5-4, Tuesday night at Mellon Arena.

Jani Rita and Sidney Crosby failed to score in the shootout for the Penguins, while Brad Richards and Vaclav Prospal tallied to give Tampa Bay the 2-0 shootout victory.

“We had another comeback. It’s not the habit we want to get into and it seems like we’ve had to do it a lot this year, but I think it’s always been a test of character and we’ve always passed that,” Crosby said. “That shows a lot. It’s pretty amazing, too, with the way the fans have reacted when we’re behind like that. They get behind us and it’s pretty amazing, especially with the way things have been going. We have to give thanks to them. We just keep trying to play with energy and not give up.”

It also shows how bad the Tampa Bay defense and goaltending are...*ahem*.

Sidney finished with 1 goal and 1 assist and +1 in 22:40 of ice time. He also had 5 shots on goal, finished 12 for 23 in faceoffs, but did fail to score in the shootout.

Full game recap here.