GLENDALE, Ariz. _ Sidney Crosby was hoping to make hockey history at Gila River Arena tonight.
He had to settle for a personal footnote that he would have just as soon avoided.
Crosby, who needs two points to become the 86th NHL player to record 1,000 in his career, was shut out for the second game in a row during the Penguins' 4-3 loss to Arizona.
This is the first time he has been held without a point in consecutive games in nearly a year, since Feb. 24-27, 2016.
Connor Murphy scored the game-winner with 21.8 seconds left, when his shot from the left side glanced off the stick of defenseman Brian Dumoulin and sailed past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
The Penguins are 34-13-7, and have slipped into a tie with Columbus for second place in the Metropolitan Division.
They are 5-0-2 in their past seven games.
Arizona is on a 2-0-1 roll, but remains anchored in next-to-last place in the overall standings with an 18-28-7 record.
The Penguins played without four prominent forwards _ Evgeni Malkin and wingers Carl Hagelin, Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary _ all of whom are injured.
Of that group, Malkin, who has missed seven games in a row, appears to be the one closest to returning to the lineup.
The first period was largely uneventful, as each team generated seven shots on goal.
The most compelling sequence occurred just over 12 minutes after the opening faceoff, as there were quality scoring chances at both ends of the ice.
Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley prevented a potential goal when he swept a puck out of the crease after it had gotten past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and was skidding toward the net.
Shortly thereafter, Penguins right winger Patric Hornqvist got behind the Arizona defense, but was unable to beat Coyotes goalie Mike Smith after being harassed from behind by Arizona left winger Brendan Perlini.
Both sides were penalized for delay of game during the opening period, but neither club was able to score on the resultant power play.
Things picked up considerably early in the second period, as the teams traded goals 59 seconds apart.
Josh Archibald, recalled a day earlier from the Penguins' farm team in Wilkes-Barre, staked them to a 1-0 lead at 5:41, as he backhanded an Eric Fehr rebound under the crossbar for his first goal in the NHL.
Tom Kuhnhackl received the second assist.
The large contingent of Penguins fans at Gila River still was celebrating Archibald's goal when Tobias Rieder pulled the Coyotes even at 6:40.
Rieder beat Fleury high on the glove side with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle.
Arizona went in front, 2-1, during a power play at 9:00, as Martin Hanzal backhanded a Radim Vrbata rebound past Fleury while defenseman Brian Dumoulin was serving an interference minor.
Hanzal struck again at 3:36 of the third period, lunging to backhand a loose puck out of the crease and into the net for a 3-1 lead.
Archibald revived the Penguins with a short-handed goal at 14:38, courtesy of a terrible puck-handling gaffe by Smith.
Smith had the puck near his left post, but failed to control it. Archibald kicked it toward the crease, then swatted it into the net to cut Arizona's lead to 3-2.
The Penguins pressed for the goal to force overtime, and got it when Phil Kessel rapped a Kris Letang rebound past Smith 14.2 seconds before regulation expired.
