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Crosby, Penguins hope to build off momentum

Dec 23, 2008 - 11:21 AM Tampa Bay (7-16-9) at Pittsburgh (18-11-4), 7:30 pm EST

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- With captain Sidney Crosby marred in the longest goal-scoring slump of his career, the Pittsburgh Penguins struggled.

Now that a controversial goal ended that stretch, Crosby and the Penguins will hope to start climbing back up the Eastern Conference standings when they host the lowly Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

Crosby deflected in the game-winner just 43 seconds into overtime Monday to lift Pittsburgh to a 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Evgeni Malkin received a pass from Alex Goligoski and one-timed a fluttering shot that Crosby redirected past Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller.

"He sure did score a good one," Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said of Crosby. "Those players are our game-breakers, I thought he deserved that goal. We were managing the puck real well and we found a way to come back after trailing in the second (period)."

The 21-year-old Crosby, who did not have a goal in the previous nine games, may have deflected the puck with his stick above the crossbar - which would have nullified the goal - but the play was reviewed and upheld.

"A little (doubt). I didn't see the replay but I thought my stick was on an angle down," Crosby said. "If it was up I would have been a little more worried but it was down. I didn't think I raised it quite above the crossbar."

Before Crosby's heroics, the Penguins had posted a 3-5-1 record this month and dropped to seventh in the conference standings.

The Lightning have struggled all season, collecting an NHL-low 23 points.

Tampa Bay has lost 12 of its last 13 contests, including Saturday's 4-3 setback to the Atlanta Thrashers.