It's not about shabby efforts by the Penguins anymore.

And it's not about porous goaltending or defensive negligence.

Now, it's all about the losing.

Drop five consecutive games, the way the Penguins have in the wake of their 3-2 loss to Calgary at Mellon Arena last night, and fall to 7-14-6, and it's no consolation that the three most recent losses have been by one goal each.

And that, with a break or two -- in last night's case, a different judgment by officials on and off the ice on what became Calgary's first goal -- every one of those could have been victories.

"That we are close is not enough," defenseman Josef Melichar said. "It's never enough. We need to get some wins together. I know we're close, but no one can feel good about it, because we just couldn't find a way to win, and that's what the games are about."

While the Penguins, not surprisingly, were outraged by the sequence of events, rulings and decisions that led to Marcus Nilson of Calgary being awarded a goal at 9:44 of the first period, there was no consensus on the impact that goal had on the outcome.

"We're not going to blame it on the goal," Penguins forward Mario Lemieux said. "But [a different ruling] certainly would have helped."

Calgary took a 1-0 lead after Nilson took a shot from the right side of the slot. The puck struck the cross bar and the left post, then dropped onto -- but apparently never went across -- the goal line, according to televised replays.

"After the period, we came in and looked at it," Lemieux said. "It wasn't even close. It was a one-goal game, and they got a freebie."

Referee Eric Furlatt obviously disagreed, and gestured emphatically while play was on that the puck had crossed the goal line.

"It's really unacceptable, to be honest with you," Penguins coach Eddie Olczyk said. "Especially how quick and how definite Eric was in pointing that the puck was in."

Video goal judge Dale Ruth reviewed the play -- every goal in every NHL game is supposed to be checked and verified -- and concluded that the goal was valid. Replay officials are not allowed to comment on their decisions.

League officials in Toronto are available to look at any goal in any game -- and, if need be, pass judgment on its legitimacy -- but senior vice president of hockey operations Mike Murphy said they received no such request from Ruth.

"This play happened very quickly and the video goal judge did not call us," Murphy said. "What ends up happening is we did call them, but by that time, the puck had been dropped [to resume play]."

At that point, a ruling cannot be overturned.

Had they been able to review the call, Murphy said, the on-ice ruling likely would have been upheld because the staff in Toronto did not see a replay that provided definitive evidence that the on-ice ruling was incorrect.

"We haven't seen the puck conclusively in the net or not in the net," Murphy said.

Sidney Crosby tied the score, off an assist from Dick Tarnstrom, at 8:12 of the second, as he shoveled a backhander past Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff from the right side of the crease. The second assist on the goal, Crosby's 13th, went to Lemieux, ending his career-worst streak of four games without a point.

But the Flames moved back in front to stay with a power-play goal at 1:51 of the third, when Daymond Langkow held off defenseman Steve Poapst long enough to rap a Kristian Huselius feed behind goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from close range.

Langkow and Huselius teamed again on their next shift, as Langkow -- unchecked at the right side of the net -- was able to take a pass from Huselius and toss the puck behind Fleury at 3:48.

That could have been a back-breaker, especially when the Penguins were unable to exploit an extended five-on-three power play midway through the period, but Ryan VandenBussche's first pulled them back within one.

Matt Hussey carried the puck down the right side, drawing the defense and Kiprusoff toward him, then slipped a backhand feed to VandenBussche, who hit an empty net at 12:19.

The Penguins, though, could not manufacture the goal that would have forced overtime -- although they were pressing as the third period expired -- and Calgary withstood a last-second surge to secure its first victory here since 1989.

"That was a good team we played," Lemieux said. "Solid defense, and a great goaltender."

The Penguins had great goaltending too, and reasonably good defense. Everything the Flames had, pretty much, except a couple of points to show for their effort.

"If we continue to have the effort and the way we've been playing, we're going to win games," Olczyk said. "But it's getting a little late for waiting.

"You certainly try to look at all the positives. But, unfortunately, the thing that outweighs everything is the outcome of the game."