With four losses in the past five games, maybe the Olympics are coming at just the right time for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

For the third time in four games, the Pens fell in extra time, this time falling Sunday at home to Nashville in a shootout, 4-3. With the loss, the Penguins hit the Olympic break at 36-22-4, just one point behind New Jersey for first place in the Atlantic Division and 14 behind Washington in the Eastern Conference.

The Penguins opened the scoring with a Sidney Crosby power-play goal at the 14:43 mark of the first. Crosby’s goal, his 42nd of the year, tied Washington’s Alex Ovechkin for the league lead entering the Olympic break. Matt Cooke scored at 2:09 of the second, and Brooks Orpik made it 3-2 Pittsburgh at the 4:51 mark of the third.

Nashville tied the game with 7:43 left on a Shea Weber goal.

The Penguins open the stretch drive on March 2 with a home game against Buffalo.

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The Penguins have fired off out of the gate and are currently undefeated (4-0-0) on the road and sitting in first place in their division.

Even more impressive is the fact that the Penguins are winning games even without goals from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

I’m not sure any team in the NHL can beat the Penguins right now, but there is still a long, long way to go in the season.

Crosby has been dealing with a groin injury he suffered during their most recent preseason game against Columbus.

He is back on the ice skating for the first time since the injury and feels close to being ready for the regular season.

I’m sure he doesn’t want to miss Friday night for the world, as the Penguins will hoist their Stanley Cup champions banner to the top of Mellon Arena.

The visit occured two hours before the city’s other championship team, the Steelers, opened up their season against the Tennessee Titans.

The team had the opportunity to meet with President Obama and speak to him while also having their photo taken with the head of the United States.

President Obama received the customary jersey from the Penguins, something nearly every major championship team gives out on their trip to the White House.

That must have been quite the experience, especially for some of the team’s younger players.

Crosby suffered a knee contusion that has been able to heal itself during the offseason and shouldn’t be an issue heading into the season.

That’s a big relief for Penguins fans, although I’m not sure the injury was really on anyone’s radar.

He did mention that he was unable to work out for several weeks after the injury, but has begun his regular offseason work over the past month.

The Penguins will need Crosby at full strength if they want to successfully defend their Stanley Cup.

The star forward received a ride into the festivities on a military helicoptor before landing in Halifax.

He said the opportunity to share the Stanley Cup with those around him is what he gets a kick out of the most.

He also added that the experience has been amazing, pretty much everything he ever dreamed of and that much more.

It’s a matchup of two Atlantic Division rivals who will get after each other on October 2 and have the night to themselves.

The league’s other 30 teams will then take to the ice for their opening games on October 3.

The Penguins will raise their championship banner to the roof on opening night, which also happens to begin their final season in Mellon arena.

The star hockey player will be taking the Stanley Cup to his hometown in Nova Scotia show it off.

A parade is planned in Crosby’s honor that will feature the Cup, and he will have a question-and-answer session with fans.

There is also a hall of fame being planned for the Penguins star that will showcase some of the odd things he used to practice when he was younger.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

McKee had one goal and seven assists in 69 games last year while playing for the St. Louis Blues.

The defenseman has played 13 NHL seasons, splitting time between the Blues and Buffalo Sabres.

He has also spent his fare amount of time in the penalty box, racking up well over 500 minutes during his career.

He is expected to miss training camp and at least the beginning of next season, which is a big blow for the Penguins.

It will take four to five months for Talbot to recover from the injury, making it questionable whether he will return to the ice before 2010.

The forward scored both goals in the team’s 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 to clinch the Stanley Cup.