Most of the fans at Mellon Arena knew they had witnessed a memorable goal when Chris Kunitz scored on a breakaway against Montreal to cap a 6-1 victory Oct. 28.

They just didn't realize why. Or how long they would have to remember it.

At the time, the goal seemed noteworthy because it was Kunitz's first of the season and just his second in 41 games, including the playoffs.

What no one could have known was that it would be the final power-play goal the Penguins would get for weeks. Or maybe longer.

After going 2 for 5 with the extra man against the Canadiens that night, they are 0 for 29 in the eight games since as they prepare to face Anaheim at 7:38 tonight at Mellon Arena.

Their conversion rate has plunged from 20.4 percent, which was 17th-best in the NHL, to 13.2, the league's third-lowest.

It doesn't help that guys who do some quality work on the power play, most notably defenseman Sergei Gonchar, are not playing because of injuries.

And it has to concern the Penguins that there is at least a chance Alex Goligoski, who inherited Gonchar's role as quarterback of the power play, will miss some time because of an unspecified injury that forced him to sit out yesterday's practice.

While many factors have contributed to the Penguins' struggles with the man-advantage, Gonchar's absence might be the most important.

He not only is a deft puck-mover and stabilizing influence, but has a knack for getting the puck on goal from the point.

"When you know the puck is going to get to the net more, you tend to have more bodies there, because they believe it's going to get there," said assistant coach Mike Yeo, who oversees the power play. "You tend to put the puck in [Gonchar's] hands."

Gonchar, who is recovering from a broken wrist, has had his cast removed and is practicing with the team. He is expected to rejoin the lineup in less than two weeks.

Simply getting him back won't necessarily cure all that's wrong with the power play, though.

Coach Dan Bylsma suggested yesterday that numerous parts of the Penguins' power-play performance have been unsatisfactory.

"There's a certain process you have to go through on a power play to have success, or to give yourself the best chance for success," he said. "It starts with the breakout and the entry [into the attacking zone] and the retrieval of the puck, and [those are] something we can do much better."

Gonchar and Goligoski are highly effective at getting the puck up ice and into the attacking zone. If Goligoski can't play, center Evgeni Malkin might take on more of those responsibilities, since he is capable of carrying the puck from end to end.

Simply getting across the blue line won't help much if the Penguins don't make good decisions once they're in the offensive zone, though. Winger Ruslan Fedotenko, who has been pressed into service on the left point of the No. 1 unit, said that has been a recurring problem.

"Right now, guys are trying to force some plays," he said. "We need to go with what's open, not stick to what we're supposed to do. A lot of times, [the penalty-killers] close those things up. We need to find a way to be more instinctive."

Yeo, who is responsible for constructing the framework within which the power play operates, agreed that players have to be more effective at reading and reacting to what's happening around them.

"You have to choose the option that's best, depending on what's available to you," Yeo said. "Not depending on what you think the coach would want you to do or what you think another player would want you to do."

In broad terms, the best option for any team struggling to score on the power play is to stick to the basics, getting pucks to the net as often as possible and having bodies there to screen the goaltender and capitalize on deflections and rebounds.

"We need to get it in the zone, take point shots and get some dirty ones," Fedotenko said. "Get in front of the net, get some rebounds, get some tip-ins. Something basic, and then other things will open up."

Do that, and it won't matter if anyone forgets that Kunitz goal against Montreal.

"I'm not focusing on our last one," Yeo said. "I'm looking forward to our next one."

Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.