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Scott Cunningham, Getty Images Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen makes a save against Sidney Crosby last night in Atlanta. Click photo for larger image. 
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ATLANTA -- It's not that the point takes the sting away.
Hey, this is pro hockey. Losing hurts.
Always.
But usually a lot worse than it did after the Penguins' 4-3 shootout loss to Atlanta at Philips Arena last night.
Earn a point the way the Penguins had to -- by wiping out a two-goal deficit in the third period, on the road and against a goalie who looked unbeatable for most of the evening -- and not getting two of them becomes a bit easier to take.
"It doesn't taste too sour," left winger Ryan Malone said.
Especially when the goal that guaranteed their point came with just 15.3 seconds left in regulation, which is how much time was left when Sidney Crosby got the shaft of his stick -- barely -- on a puck and nudged it past Thrashers' goalie Kari Lehtonen from the right side of the crease.
"I just went to the net," Crosby said. "It's a cliche, but coaches always tell you, 'Stop in front of the net.' I stopped, and I got lucky."
Yeah, lucky. Fifty-five points in 31 games lucky.
Lehtonen, though, got a measure of revenge when he stopped Crosby and Erik Christensen in the shootout, while Slava Kozlov and Marian Hossa beat Penguins goalie Jocelyn Thibault.
It's not as if Lehtonen had anything for which to atone, however, considering that he had rejected 34 of 37 shots in regulation, and two more in overtime.
"Their goalie was outstanding," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said.
Thibault, meanwhile, gave the Penguins a solid performance, rejecting 29 of 32 Atlanta shots and allowing only one even-strength goal.
Lackluster special-teams play hurt the Penguins more than goaltending; their power play was 0 for 7, while the Thrashers scored twice in seven tries with the extra man.
"It would have been nice to get one on [the power play]," said Crosby, whose goal and assist extended his scoring streak to 10 games, tying his personal-best as a pro.
The loss stretched the Penguins' winless streak to 0-2-1 and leaves them 15-13-6 as they enter a four-day Christmas break. They are off -- no practice, no games -- until Tuesday, when they will visit New Jersey.
The game began ominously for the Penguins. Thrashers center Niko Kapanen made it 1-0 just 96 seconds after the opening faceoff, punching in a Braydon Coburn rebound from the left side of the net.
Ilya Kovalchuk pushed the Thrashers' lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal -- his first man-advantage score in 17 games -- at 6:32 of the second, as he beat Thibault from near the left hash while Jarkko Ruutu was serving a hooking penalty.
Evgeni Malkin hit his second cross bar of the evening eight minutes into the period, but the Penguins didn't get a puck past Lehtonen -- and get something to show for it -- until Jordan Staal picked up a short-handed goal at 16:36.
He picked off a Coburn pass in front of the Atlanta net and whipped a shot past Lehtonen high on the stick side for his 10th of the season, a league-high five of which have been scored with a teammate in the penalty box.
Atlanta got that goal back almost immediately, however, as Slava Kozlov scored at 18:03, when his shot from the right point changed direction on the way to the net and eluded Thibault.
But Malone got the Penguins back to within one at 4:08 of the third, when he backhanded a shot from the right side of the crease off Lehtonen and into the net. That ignited a Penguins surge that produced a 19-8 edge in shots on goal.
"We were pretty much all over [Lehtonen] in the third," Staal said. "He was making some spectacular saves."
But he couldn't stop Crosby on the rebound of a Christensen shot that had ricocheted off the cross bar to put the game into overtime. That goal provided a tangible payoff for a fairly impressive performance against a quality opponent.
"We have to take that point and move on," Crosby said. "But realize that if we play like that, we're going to get some wins."
