Fleury Shines, Pens Beat Sens 2-1
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - In a battle of goaltenders, Marc-Andre Fleury stole the show as the Pittsburgh Penguins knocked off the Ottawa Senators 2-1 Friday afternoon.
Fleury made 43 saves as the Pens extended their winning streak to five games and improved to 7-0-1 over their last eight contests.
In their last three games, Fleury has only allowed three goals and has lowered his goals against average to 2.53 and raised his save percentage to .905.
He was tested early and often in the first period as the Senators registered 21 shots on goal.
Fleury's best save of the game came in the first period on Chris Kelly.
After holding a puck in at the blue line, Chris Campoli fed Kelly on the back door. Fleury slid over, stacked the pads and robbed Kelly with the glove.
Despite his solid play, the Senators finally broke through with just under eight minutes to play in the opening period.
Erik Karlsson's blast from the point made it through a crowd, but Fleury was able to make the save. The rebound bounced off former-Penguin Jarkko Ruutu's skate and Winchester was there to bury the rebound.
In the second period, the Penguins began to better assert themselves and the scoring chances started to pile up.
While on the power play, Sidney Crosby made a nice move to get around Sergei Gonchar and get a shot on net.
Pascal Leclaire made the initial save, but the rebound popped out to a waiting Evgeni Malkin, who ripped a low shot to the back of the net to tie the game 1-1.
In the third period, the Penguins would provide Fleury with all the offense he would need.
With Kelly in the box serving minor penalties for hooking and holding, Alex Goligoski closed in on the net and ripped a wrist shot to the short side off the post and in for the eventual game-winning goal.
With his second period assist, Crosby extended his point streak to 11 games and pulled within one point of Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos in the NHL scoring race.
The Penguins will look to extend their winning streak Saturday afternoon when they host the Calgary Flames at 1 p.m.
