Not what they were looking for.

A loss was most probably what the Pens wanted to start of the month of December with, but that`s what happened. The New York Rangers took a two more point from the Pens and for the second time this season the win came in a shoot-out.

Early in the first period Eric Godard dropped the gloves with Colton Orr. But that didn`t stop Orr from later messing with Sidney Crosby and causing Brooks Orpik to take two penalties at 12:23 of the first. Less than a minute later however the Rangers were called for two many men even up the "playing field."

On the 4-on-4 Crosby was alone in the Rangers end and took the puck around the net to set up the play. The "trailer" Mark Eaton was in front of the net when Crosby dished the puck out and scored his first goal in a Penguin uniform. Eaton was playing in his 400th NHL game and scored his first goal in 91 games with the help of Sidney Crosby at 13:56.

Mid-way through the second period Jordan Staal got lucky as a Rob Scuderi point shot grazed his stick before going in past Henrik Lundqvist at 9:35. Matt Cooke also assisted on Staal`s eighth of the year.

But just as the first meeting between the two teams the Rangers came back from a two goal deficit Nikolai Zherdev notched his ninth of the year at 10:56 and Petr Prucha who had been scratched for the previous ten games scored at 14:30.

At the end of regulation the game was tied at two and remained the same at the end of the extra five minutes.

Dany Sabourin who was been good in shoot-outs this season seemed to be a completely different person Wednesday night. He let Naslund, Zherdev, and Sjostrom's shot go past him as the Rangers took the win. Kris Letang who had been scoreless in shoot-outs this season blasted a beauty past Lundqvist though it did not matter because Miroslav Satan failed to capitalize on his shot.

The three stars were 3. Petr Prucha, 2. Henrik Lundqvist, 1. Nikolai Zherdev.

Ryan Whitney (foot), Sergei Gonchar (shoulder), Marc-Andre Fleury (undisclosed), and Philippe Boucher (undisclosed) all missed the game. Tyler Kennedy and Mike Zigomanis left the game with undisclosed injuries and did not return.

The Pens take on the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow night at 7:08 as the Battle of the Staals continues.