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 Fleury notched his league-leading fifth shutout of the season and
Evgeni Malkin scored the game's only goal as the Pittsburgh Penguins
blanked New Jersey 1-0 on Tuesday night, sending the Devils to their
fifth straight loss.
Fleury stopped 29 shots in helping the Penguins (17-5-2) beat the
Devils for the 10th time in the teams' last 12 meetings at Consol
Energy Center. It was the 33rd shutout of the veteran goaltender's
11-year career and the five shutouts represent a single-season best.
"You need a little luck, a little push here and there," Fleury said
of the shutouts. "The defense has been playing great, great blocking
some shots and not giving the other team too much. When you get a
shutout, it's a team game and I think the forwards have done a great
job."
Malkin broke a scoreless tie with 17:28 left in the third period,
taking a pass from left winger Blake Comeau and sliding a backhanded
shot between Devils goalie Cory Schneider's pads for his 12th goal.
The star center has scored 13 points in his last eight games.
 "I thought it might be one of those games where we might just have
to will it out in the third period and it was one of those games,"
Penguins coach Mike Johnston. "We hung in there with it, we stuck
with it. We guarded against frustration for the most part and I
thought we did a good job in a really tough game."
The game wound up being more notable for who didn't play.
The Devils (9-12-4) lost three forwards to injury. Right winger
Stephen Gionta and left winger Patrik Elias went out in the first
period with what appeared to be lower-body injuries and right winger
Jaromir Jagr left in the second period after being hit in the head
and shoulder on a hard hit from Penguins defenseman Robert Bortuzzo,
who was not penalized.
New Jersey coach Pete DeBoer did not provide updates on the injured
players but felt Bortuzzo took a cheap shot at Jagr.
"I thought it was a real liberty. Totally unnecessary," DeBoer said.
"You know, if one of our guys had done that to (Penguins star center
Sidney) Crosby there'd be World War IV. Never saw it the (referees)
said, but the league will see it and I'm sure they'll take the
appropriate action."
Bortuzzo, who jostled with Jagr throughout the game, said he did not
try to intentionally hurt the 42-year-old future Hall of Famer.
"We have some high-end skill guys that take some abuse out there,"
Bortuzzo said. "Obviously they're targeted. If we can dole out a
little bit of that going the other way, that's what we're doing.
Just going hard in between whistles."
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The Penguins learned just hours before the game that veteran left
winger Chris Kunitz has a broken foot. The player called up from
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre of the American Hockey League to replace
Kunitz, left winger Scott Wilson, would up leaving the game with a
leg injury in his NHL debut.
Prior to the game, the Penguins placed defenseman Kris Letang (lower
body) and right winger Beau Bennett (knee) on injured reserve.
Schneider played well in defeat as he made 22 saves. He has started
24 of New Jersey's 25 games this season.
The Devils are 2-8-1 in their last 11 road games, a string that
started Oct. 28 when they were routed 8-3 by the Penguins.
"Guys competed hard, I just wish they would have got rewarded for
it," DeBoer said.
NOTES: Pittsburgh C Sidney Crosby was in the lineup after missing
the morning skate because he was "under the weather," according to
coach Mike Johnston. ... Penguins C Marcel Goc (foot) and New Jersey
RW Martin Havlat (lower body) were scratched. ... New Jersey C Scott
Gomez not only was in the lineup a day after signing as a free agent
-- playing 22:10 -- but centered the first line with LW/C Patrik
Elias and RW Jaromir Jagr. At 34, Gomez is the line's youngster as
Jagr is 42 and Elias is 38. ... Devils RW Michael Ryder was a
healthy scratch for the first time this season after going 11 games
in a row without a goal. ... Penguins D Robert Bortuzzo was credited
with seven hits while RW Tuomo Ruutu led the Devils with six. ...
Pittsburgh RW Patric Hornqvist blocked four shots. ... The Devils
play the Maple Leafs on Thursday night at Toronto while the Penguins
host the Vancouver Canucks.
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