PITTSBURGH -- Yes, the Panthers got a point out of Friday night's overtime loss to the mighty Penguins.

They wanted so much more -- and came close to getting it.

Sidney Crosby spoiled Florida's upset bid by erasing a 2-0 third-period deficit with a pair of goals and the game-winner in the shootout as the Penguins came back to beat the Panthers 3-2 at Mellon Arena.

``Maybe we're a little fragile and maybe today was a step in the right direction, but we need to hold onto the lead,'' defenseman Keith Ballard said. ``That was two goals on the road. At this point we've given a lot of opportunities away. We were beating a good team for two periods. To have that kind of third is frustrating.''

Friday's game marked Florida's second foray into overtime this season, the first coming on opening night in Finland. That time, the Panthers beat Chicago in a shootout after clawing back time and again. Friday, however, the Panthers were the ones trying to hold off the aggressor in the third period and failed to do so.

The Panthers led 2-0 going into the third period after Steven Reinprecht scored twice in the opening period and the two teams played a scoreless second. Florida got the third off to a horrid start as Gregory Campbell took a penalty 27 seconds into the period and Rostislav Olesz quickly followed him into the box.

Pittsburgh is a tough team to defend with five skaters on the ice. The Penguins are almost impossible to defend with only three.

CROSBY'S FIRST

Florida was able to kill off most of the extended power play, but with Campbell out, Crosby scored his first of the night after Florida failed to clear the puck and he got a nice pass out on the right circle.

The Panthers looked to get the puck out of their zone when Dominic Moore went lunging for the puck; Evgeni Malkin beat Moore to it and sent it deep. It wasn't long before Crosby buried it.

Florida had a chance to extend its lead later in the third, but Cory Stillman couldn't handle a loose puck with an empty net in front of him as goalie Brent Johnson went behind the net and made an errant pass. Stillman whiffed on the bouncing puck and couldn't slow himself before plowing into Johnson as he returned to the crease. Stillman was called for goalie interference.

After Florida killed off that penalty, Dmitry Kulikov and Matt Cooke were both called for high sticking. David Booth, who had three terrific scoring chances stopped by Johnson, was sent to the box after he had a brain freeze and grabbed the puck with his hand and threw it 50 feet up the ice after losing his stick. Booth was called for the infraction, giving Pittsburgh a four-on-three chance for 1:05. The Panthers were able to stop that as well.

Florida didn't stop Crosby on a short-handed chance late, the Penguins All-Star getting a nice feed from Malkin who swooped in behind the net. Malkin wrapped around the net and fed a wide-open Crosby. The shot appeared to go off Rostislav Olesz and past Vokoun with 3:19 remaining in regulation. It was Crosby's first short-handed goal in the 300th regular-season game of his career.

ELUSIVE THIRD GOAL

``I thought we played a good road game, did a lot of good things,'' Florida coach Pete DeBoer said. ``The story of the game wasn't the penalties. It was that we couldn't get a third goal. We had a lot of opportunities.''

DeBoer watched his team miss a number of prime scoring chances on Friday, with Booth getting several opportunities.

In the shootout, the Panthers went 0 for 3 with Reinprecht, Ville Koistinen and Nathan Horton all stopped. Pittsburgh, which has won seven in a row, was 1 for 3, with Crosby doing the damage.

``The effort was good, but it doesn't get you two points. At least not [Friday night],'' Ballard said. ``. . . They're good, but in the first two periods we worked the puck in deep and got chances. In the third we kind of clammed up trying to hold on. That's not what teams do.''

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