SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Penguins are still looking for answers. Center Evgeni Malkin instead offered a reason ... him.

At least, he felt responsible for the latest setback as the Penguins try to navigate out of a losing streak that last night hit a season-high five games with a 6-2 defeat to the Florida Panthers at BankAtlantic Center.

"It's my fault tonight," Malkin said. "After [Florida] scored a second goal, my game is not good, I know."

On that second Panthers goal, Malkin was in his own end when he had the puck poked away by Gregory Campbell. It went directly to Florida's Radek Dvorak, who cut in from the left circle and scored at 17:35 of the second period to tie the score, 2-2.

It was Dvorak's first goal of a hat trick night and came 1:02 before Rostislav Olesz scored what proved to be the winner, wiping out a 2-0 lead the Penguins had built in the first period on goals by Tyler Kennedy and Sidney Crosby.

The Panthers then poured it on with goals from Steven Reinprecht and two more from Dvorak, and goaltender Tomas Vokoun finished with 46 saves.

In a quiet locker room afterward, Malkin's long face stood out.

He is searching for answers to his personal slump. A brief awakening with a hat trick Dec. 23 against Ottawa and an assist the next game are Malkin's only four points the past eight games. He has 13 goals, 38 points in 36 games -- not exactly the kind of pace expected of the reigning NHL scoring champion -- and has goals in just three of his past 16 games.

"I don't know," Malkin said. "I'm trying to play simple, but I don't know."

Malkin hit the post twice Saturday night in a 3-1 loss at Tampa Bay. Against Florida, he had eight shots, two more blocked and missed on another, but he still had a plus-minus rating of minus-4 for the game.

Crosby, a fellow center and past scoring champion who knows something about the pressure of a slump, stood by Malkin.

"He's getting chances," Crosby said. "He hit two posts [at Tampa]. It's a fine line. Sometimes it's not going your way.

"It's kind of the natural thing when you're struggling as a player and you start losing, guys like us get looked at, and that's fine. But I don't think he's got to change a whole lot. I think he's one shot away from being back where he wants to be. He's playing good. They've just got to go in for him."

Coach Dan Bylsma has coached Malkin for less than 11 months but has gotten a sense that his big Russian center can go into a funk over his play.

"It's happened more than one occasion where 'Geno' is disappointed with how he's playing and frustrated," Bylsma said. "It certainly does affect his energy level and his posture. It happens sometimes within a game, sometimes with a series of plays.

"We've continued to talk to Geno, he's a good hockey player. Play the right way. Do the right things. Other things will take care of themselves."

Bylsma wasn't coaching the Penguins when Malkin went 10 games without a goal last season at around this time, Dec. 22-Jan. 8. He still finished with 35 goals, 113 points to lead the league.

Bylsma wants Malkin to focus on something other than his offensive statistics.

"One of the things that he needs to be careful of is looking to get goals and assists to prove that he's playing well," Bylsma said. "That's where he can get frustrated."

When Malkin had one great outing with his three goals against Ottawa in an 8-2 Penguins win -- their only win in their past seven games -- it might have given him a false sense of where his game is.

"Maybe I relaxed a little bit [after that]," he said. "I don't know."

Malkin missed seven games in late October and early November because of a sore right shoulder, but he said there are no physical problems or limitations affecting him.

"I feel OK," he said.

Last night, Malkin was reunited with wingers Ruslan Fedotenko and Pascal Dupuis, linemates he has had often this season. It didn't give him a kick-start.

"We change lines every game and I play with [so many wingers], but my game is not good now," he said.

There have been suggestions that Malkin would play better if his parents were here visiting from Russia. That idea almost put a smile on his face.

"No," he said of that possible solution, then shrugged. "Maybe.

"I played before when my parents aren't here and played better [than this]."

As dejected as Malkin is, he is able to look at the bigger picture.

"It's a hard time in my career, but my life is not over," he said.

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