There was no more beautiful sight at Mellon Arena Tuesday than the first-period goal scored by Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar. It didn't just lead to a 3-2 victory against the Buffalo Sabres, a terrific start for the home team to the NHL season's stretch run after the Olympics break. It gave a nice lift to its ultra-talented power-play unit, which often struggled in the first 62 games.

But, sadly, the goal -- the 200th of Gonchar's career -- came at some cost.

It's one more reason to think Gonchar will become a free agent July 1 and be with another hockey club next season.

A tip:

Enjoy the man while he's here because it might be a long time before you see someone who's better at running the power play.

I know what you are thinking: Why don't the Penguins just sign Gonchar to a new contract? Well, it's not that easy because of the NHL salary cap. It's especially not easy when the player in question will turn 36 before the playoffs begin this spring.

The Penguins have had all season to do a deal with Gonchar and haven't been able to get it done. Both sides have agreed to suspend negotiations until after the playoffs. That is not good news for those who want to see Gonchar stay. If he gets to free agency, he's likely to get an offer for more money and more years than the Penguins have to offer.

Bye-bye.

It hurts to think the Penguins will lose Gonchar and get nothing in return for him.

But it seems inevitable.

It's not as if the Penguins can move him before the trade deadline at 3 p.m. today. For one thing, he has a no-trade clause. For another, they wouldn't get fair value in return because of his impending free agency. For a third thing -- and this is the big one -- they need him to have their best chance of winning a second consecutive Stanley Cup.

Gonchar is that valuable on the Penguins' power play. The unit has converted at a 16.5 percent rate for the season, but, in the 47 games in which he has played, the number is nearly 20 percent. Gonchar also provides veteran leadership, a calming influence, if you will, in the team's room. Fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin especially leans on him for advice. There are times you have to think he would be lost without Gonchar.

Penguins general manager Ray Shero and coach Dan Bylsma know how valuable Gonchar is to the Penguins. They would love to keep him for another season. Neither of their prized young defensemen -- Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski -- has shown he's ready to step in for Gonchar as the power-play quarterback. Maybe newly acquired defenseman Jordan Leopold could do it next season, although he, too, is going to become a free agent in July.

"I definitely want more than one year," Gonchar said. "I don't want to quit after one year."

Length of a new deal for Gonchar could be just as much of a problem as the money, although he makes a hefty $5 million this season. The Penguins would be crazy to give him more than two years. They have cap issues that only figure to get worse between now and the end of the season. They are hopeful of signing Letang -- a restricted free agent July 1 -- to a long-term deal. Although his offensive game has been something of a disappointment this season -- he has just three goals in 54 games -- he is 22 with what management believes is a high ceiling.

A new contract for Letang almost certainly won't leave enough under the cap for Gonchar.

I know, I don't like, either.

At this point, the best thing for the Penguins and their fans to hope for is that Gonchar will leave with memories of a third consecutive trip to the Cup final and another championship.