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 That's good considering how busy he's been in net lately.
Fleury stopped 33 shots, right winger Phil Kessel scored the
go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Pittsburgh Penguins
defeated the Washington Capitals 3-1 on Wednesday night.
"I sweat more, that's for sure," Fleury joked when suggested the
more shots he sees, the better he plays.
Fleury stopped 38 pucks in Saturday's 2-1 win at Nashville.
"It's easier to stay in the game I think, Fleury said. "There's
always something going on and you're moving around, trying to follow
the puck."
Right winger Beau Bennett also scored early in the third period and
center Nick Bonino added an empty-netter for Pittsburgh (5-4), which
won five of six.
Center Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his fourth goal of the season and
goalie Braden Holtby made 22 saves for Washington (6-2), which had
won five straight.
Kessel broke a 1-1 tie with his fourth goal of the season at 3:49 of
the third when center Evgeny Malkin slid a pass into the slot that
Kessel snapped past Holtby.
"The last few games (Kessel's) found an opening down low and he's
missed some of those chances," Penguins coach Mike Johnston said.
"And with some of our scorers, the number of shots they're getting,
if they get the quality chances, goals are going to come."
Kuznetsov gave Washington a 1-0 lead 1:28 into the period when his
shot deflected off defenseman Rob Scuderi's skate and got between
Fleury's pads.
Pittsburgh, playing its first game against a Metropolitan Division
opponent, tied it just 24 seconds later when Bennett, back after
missing five games, banged home his own rebound.
Washington left winger Alex Ovechkin saw his streak of six straight
games with at least one point come to an end.
"We knew coming into this game it was going to be a big challenge
for us," Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom said. "We played a good
team, and they had a good goalie. It was probably not one of our
best games, at the same time we were still in the game with a couple
of minutes left."
The Capitals had scored 24 goals during their five-game winning
streak.
Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play.
"We had some really good chances and we didn't capitalize. We were
right in the crease a lot," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said.
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"I didn't think we were real sharp in terms of playing fast. We
weren't playing fast early."
Fleury offset the Penguins lack of offense lately, and that was the
case again in the first period.
First, he made a pad save on right winger T.J. Oshie, who was alone
in front, on a rebound. Then, late in the period, a prone Fleury
stretched out his hand to block a shot during a scrum in front.
"Our defense, I thought all night they were good in the corners,
they didn't allow a lot of extra shots around the net," Johnston
said, "and (Fleury) was big when he had to be. He made some big-time
saves on those rebounds."
At the other end, consecutive penalties to Washington center
Chandler Stephenson and defenseman Brooks Orpik gave the Penguins a
two-man advantage for 1:45, but they got only two shots on net.
Washington outshot Pittsburgh 14-4 in the second period, but Fleury
kept it scoreless.
The Capitals had a two power plays in the stanza, but Fleury stopped
Oshie from point blank range on the first one, and did the same to
left winger Marcus Johansson on during the second.
NOTES: Penguins F Beau Bennett (undisclosed injury) returned after
missing five games. ... Capitals C Evgeny Kuznetsov was named the
NHL's "First Star" for the week ending Oct. 25 after posting three
goals and six assists in three games. ... D Sergei Gonchar, who
spent 10 seasons with Washington and five with Pittsburgh, joined
the Penguins' staff as defensemen development coach. ... Capitals G
Braden Holtby and Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury have faced each other
seven times, with Fleury winning four. ... Penguins D Kris Letang
became just the fourth defenseman in franchise history to play 500
games with the team. ... Pittsburgh scratches included D Adam
Clendening and LW Sergei Plotnikov. C Michael Latta, RW Stanislav
Galiev and D Nate Schmidt were scratched for Washington.
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