ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Penguins did a lot of things right last night.

They launched a lot of shots at Minnesota goatlender Niklas Backstrom. Spent a lot of time in the Wild's end. Got a good game from their top line of Sidney Crosby, Pascal Dupuis and Bill Guerin.

But it wasn't enough, in part because of a persistent problem -- no production on the power play.

The Penguins were 0 for 6, including a wasted five-on-three power play in the second period, and fell to Minnesota, 4-3, at Xcel Energy Center, a game that attracted a crowd of 19,044, the fifth-largest regular-season crowd in Wild history.

They had just six shots over the course of those power plays. That's six out of their 38 shots.

"We generated some good chances and played a pretty decent game, but they bounced back after goals, and we weren't able to really build a lead," said Crosby, who had two goals, an assist and seven shots. Dupuis had a goal and two assists, Guerin an assist.

Guillaume Latendresse, who had a goal and three assists, got the winner at 6:13 of the third when he batted in a pass from Kyle Brodziak.

The Penguins had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 and were sitting on a 2-2 tie in the second when opportunity rapped them in the head -- to no avail.

They had 2:50 of power-play time, including 1:10 with a five-on-three advantage, but managed just three shots during that extended span. The Wild then killed another penalty for having too many men on the ice around the midpoint of the second.

"We didn't really get set up," Crosby said of his team's power play. "We had trouble with our entries, and then when we got in, we didn't settle things down. We made it pretty tough on ourselves."

After that series of Penguins power plays in the second, Cal Clutterbuck gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead when the puck glanced off of him and past goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury at 12:03 on a shot by Latendresse, who finished with a goal and three assists.

"I clearly can point to the second period with the five on three and the stretch of power plays," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said of difference in the game. "They got momentum from it and scored the goal right afterward. That made a big swing in momentum."

The Penguins ranked 29th out of 30 on the power play entering last night's game.

The Penguins played without defenseman Brooks Orpik and backup goaltender Brent Johnson, who have unspecified injuries and are day-to-day, Bylsma said.

Defensemen Ben Lovejoy and goaltender John Curry were recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in time for the game. Lovejoy played, and Curry served as the backup to Fleury.

The Penguins are 1-1 on a five-game road trip that will take them across western Canada. They felt like they could be or even should be 2-0.

"It's frustrating," forward Craig Adams said. "I feel like for the most part we outplayed them, and we had lots of shots and lots of chances to show for it. I guess we've got to work on some things defensively, but it was a good effort all around.

"You get 38, 39, 40 shots and as many chances as we did, usually you're going to win."

Crosby opened the scoring, giving the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 3:44 of the first. He went to the net and, after a shot from the left point by Mark Eaton glanced off Dupuis' body, tipped the puck in from the crease while being closely covered by the Wild's Greg Zanon.

The Wild tied it, 1-1, at 11:40 of the first. Eric Belanger moved over the blue line and got off a knuckling shot that went through Dupuis' legs. The puck bounced at least once on its way to Fleury and handcuffed him, going in off his glove.

The teams traded goals early in the second.

Dupuis gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 0:54. He came down the slot unguarded and one-timed a short, soft pass Guerin, who was cutting across the left circle.

The Wild tied it quickly. Martin Havlat finished off a three-on-one breakaway at 1:45 to make it 2-2.

After Clutterbuck's goal, Eaton blasted a screened shot from the right point that Crosby got a piece of to tie it, 3-3, at 1:04 of the third, but the Penguins didn't have an answer for Latendresse's winner.

Not even with one more power play in the third.

Byslma said the low shot total on the power play was deceiving and revealing.

"We shot the puck; they got blocked. They never got to the goalie," he said, adding that the Penguins need to do a better job knocking in those shots or getting to rebounds.

The Wild got its four goals on 24 shots. Seven of those shots were generated on three fruitless power-play chances, but it didn't cost Minnesota the game.

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