Oct 18, 2009 1:08 pm US/Eastern
Pens Drop Lightning 4-1, Fleury Remains Perfect
By: Casey Shea
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
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Marc-Andre Fleury made 22 saves in a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday.
Dave Sandford/Getty Images
The Pittsburgh Penguins continued their winning ways Saturday night with a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
This was the first game at Mellon Arena after a 4-0 road trip.
Bill Guerin drew first blood for the Penguins, who donned the powder blue jerseys for the first time this season.
While on the powerplay, Evgeni Malkin moved into the slot and fired a shot on Lightning goaltender Antero Niittymaki, who made the save. However, he came a little too far out of his crease to cut down the angle and the rebound went directly to Guerin, who slammed it home at 4:57 of the first period.
Later in the period, Sergei Gonchar scored off a face-off to put the Pens up 2-0. Sidney Crosby beat 2008 No. 1 overall draft pick Steven Stamkos clean on the draw.
Brooks Orpik collected the puck and feathered a pass along the blue line to Gonchar who uncorked a twine-seeking missile that Niittymaki had no chance to stop.
The Pens took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission.
During the second period, the Pens got into a little bit of penalty trouble and Stamkos punched home a rebound off a great save by Marc-Andre Fleury to cut the lead to 2-1.
In what is quickly becoming a trend, the Penguins responded just under two minutes later.
Gonchar let a wrist shot go from the blue line that Pascal Dupuis deflected out front. Niittymaki never saw the puck as Malkin skated right in front of him as the puck approached.
In the third period, Dan Bylsma sent Crosby out for a shift with the fourth line and it paid off. Fleury made a great save through traffic and the Pens took off the other way.
After chipping the puck in the zone, Crosby picked off a pass behind the net and set up Mike Rupp with a beautiful backhand pass. Rupp fired a wrist shot to the far post from the right face off circle to score the game's final goal.
Fleury stopped 22 of 23 Tampa Bay shots to keep his record flawless at 7-0.
The Penguins will take on the St. Louis Blues at Mellon Arena Tuesday night.
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Penguins 2009-10 Season In Pictures
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