PITTSBURGH -- The few points the Detroit Red Wings have scrounged up lately can be credited mostly to the play of goaltender Jimmy Howard.

The rookie goalie turned in another strong performance in Sunday afternoon's 2-1 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Mellon Arena, stopping 46 shots for the second consecutive game.

"It's great, isn't it? It's called goaltending," coach Mike Babcock said. "He battled and gave us a chance."

Players realize they are making Howard's job more difficult. They don't want to keep relying on their goalie to bail them out.

"It's going to be a tough year if we keep letting 40-plus shots against," defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "He's standing on his head, keeping us in the games. We have to come up with a better effort defensively and all over the ice."

Howard is seventh in the NHL in goals-against average (2.25) and tied for third in save percentage (.928).

"I'm seeing the puck, just letting it hit me," Howard said. "The guys do such a great job blocking key shots, deflecting guys to the outside. I just stand back there and try to weather the storm."

Said captain Nicklas Lidstrom: "We've been leaving our goalies out to dry on different occasions and today he made some big saves to keep us in the game when they were up 1-0. Gave us an opportunity to come back."

Waiting game

No word yet on when defenseman Andreas Lilja can begin his conditioning stint in Grand Rapids (AHL). The Red Wings and the NHL still need to clear up some issues.

"I talked to him this morning and told him to stay put until I get further information between our doctors and some other things going on with the league,'' Holland said. "He's sort of sitting (at home), waiting for a call.''

Switching up

Babcock altered his shootout lineup, putting Jason Williams in for Todd Bertuzzi as the second shooter. He said if his team had gotten a third shot, Valtteri Filppula would have taken it instead of Henrik Zetterberg because Filppula scored a shootout goal in Minnesota on Jan. 21.

"Williams has always been an outstanding shooter for us and it didn't work today,'' Babcock said.

Odds & ends

Sidney Crosby's second-period goal snapped Pittsburgh's home regular season scoreless streak against Detroit at 165 minutes, 15 seconds, dating back to Oct. 18, 2003. The Red Wings had recorded shutouts in their Past two regular season games at Mellon Arena. ... Unless these clubs meet in the finals for the third consecutive season, this was Detroit's last game at Mellon Arena, the oldest building in the NHL. The Penguins will move into the Consol Energy Center, across the street, next season.