Lightning 3, Penguins 0

The Pens lost the game and also lost Sidney Crosby with a high ankle sprain. As bad as the injury looked, the Pens looked worse without Crosby.

The fourth line of the Bolts did all of the damage in this one. Andre Roy managed to beat on the Pens for three points and was the #1 star in the game.

Conklin played pretty well. He kept the Pens in the game early with some nice saves on breakaway attempts. Only one of those goals he allowed might be considered soft (the Gratton goal).

There were a few things that were pretty troubling:

• The Pens were out shot 14-7 in the third period. They were only trailing 2-0 at the beginning of the third.
• The Lightning, early on especially, were exploiting the slow foot speed of some of the Pens defense to earn breakaway attempts (St Louis had two, and I think Richards had one).
• No one could score without Sid in the lineup. The quality chances just weren't there. There was some nice puck possession, but unless you can turn that into goals, it doesn't mean much.

So now the Pens have to bear down as a team. They still have lots of offensive talent. It's time for everyone to start to contribute.

Next up: The Pens are thrown right into the fire with a game tonight against the Habs, in Montreal.