STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- As first goals go, this one could have been dramatic for Penguins rookie defenseman Alex Goligoski.

It came less than two seconds before the horn at the end of regulation Sunday night. It came from the slot on a set-up by Sidney Crosby. It ruined a shutout bid by Ottawa goaltender Alex Auld.

Yet it hardly put Goligoski in a celebratory mood.

"I thought I played all right, but whatever -- it's a 3-1 loss," he said glumly afterward.

Not only did the Penguins lose in the second game of NHL Premiere for a two-game split with the Senators at the Globe Arena, but the Penguins also had a difficult time generating offense, particularly on the power play.

Goligoski, who was making his season debut, kept the team from being shut out on the power play with his late goal in Game 2, but the Penguins were still 1 for 14 in the two games.

"We just had a tough time getting it set up, and when we did, we didn't make the plays we had to," said Goligoski, who took over the point spot on the top unit that in Game 1 was manned by Evgeni Malkin, who moved to forward the second game.

"We're just trying to keep shooting. It's kind of a group effort right now to try to jump-start the power play. It can only go up from here."

The Penguins took nine shots on seven power plays in each game and spent 25:03 against Ottawa penalty-killers over two nights, including just one shot during a five-on-three for 1:30.

They also gave up a short-handed goal to the Senators, who were effective in beating the Penguins to the puck.

"We're not getting control of the puck enough," Crosby said. "We have to be a little more calm out there making some plays. When the shots are there, take them, but when you have opportunities to pass the puck, we need to make plays well."

The Penguins had to revise their power-play personnel because of injury and roster turnover.

Defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who runs the top unit from the right point, is out four to six months after shoulder surgery. Point man Ryan Whitney is out until at least December after foot surgery. Winger Marian Hossa signed with Detroit and winger Ryan Malone, a fixture in front of the net, signed with Tampa Bay.

In addition, winger Petr Sykora missed both games because of a groin injury.

On Saturday, when the Penguins were 0 for 7 with a man-advantage in a 4-3 overtime win, coach Michel Therrien pretty well stuck with the power-play lineups he and assistant Mike Yeo developed in the preseason: Malkin and second-year defenseman Kris Letang on the points; Crosby and Miroslav Satan as two of the forwards. At the final spot, the net-crashing forward, Therrien rotated Jordan Staal and Ruslan Fedotenko.

"Right now I think me and [Fedotenko] are kind of battling for a spot," Staal said. "I definitely have to deserve to be out there. It's just a matter of me playing well if I want to be out there."

On Sunday, with Goligoski in the lineup, Therrien started off with Goligoski and Letang at the points, and Crosby, Malkin and Tyler Kennedy up front.

From there, the coach scrambled things on the power play the rest of the game. Nothing worked until Goligoski's goal, which came too late to alter the outcome.

Letang, often a point man opposite Whitney on the second power-play unit as a rookie last season, looks forward to cohesiveness that could come when the core players get more used to each other.

"A lot of guys played on the power play for two or three years together," he said. "That's maybe the adjustment right now.

"We moved the puck really well. We had a few chances. It's just a question of working the puck low, bringing it high, getting some shots and getting some rebounds."

For Crosby, the problem isn't who is on the ice.

"In the years I've been here, we've had a lot of different guys on the power play and it's been fine, so I don't think the personnel is the issue," he said. "We've got to make sure that we execute."

Therrien is far from panic mode.

"Sometimes it could be controlling the puck," he said. "Sometimes we don't make the right decisions on when to shoot the puck. It's a lot of things.

"We're going to keep working on it, and eventually it will get better."

NOTES -- The Penguins spent Monday in Sweden before flying home that night. They were given the day off yesterday and will resume practicing today.