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 Crosby had two goals and an assist and Fleury made 21 saves as
the Penguins rolled Friday to a 4-0 victory over the Calgary Flames
at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Fleury wasn't especially busy, but he didn't let any pucks sneak
behind him as he recorded his second consecutive shutout and erased
the Penguins' single-season record with his eighth goose-egg already
this season. Tom Barrasso had seven shutouts for Pittsburgh during
the 1997-98 campaign.
"That's really incredible for this time in the season to have eight
shutouts," said Penguins coach Mike Johnston.
Left winger Chris Kunitz had three assists for the Penguins
(30-14-8), while right winger David Perron and center Brandon Sutter
also scored. Pittsburgh has won nine straight against Calgary.
Fleury blanked the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday to tie Barrasso's
club record, and he didn't wait long to take sole possession of that
spot in the Penguins' history books.
His best save Friday came early in the third period, when he reached
back to grab a shot by Flames right winger Jiri Hudler as it
trickled toward the goal-line.
 "(Barrasso) was a guy that I looked up to growing up, so it's fun to
be able to get those," Fleury said. "There are personal goals you
want to achieve. I'm glad I got it, but at the same time, I want to
do well as a team. I want to win, and that's what is most
important."
The Penguins didn't need Fleury to be flawless Friday.
Not the way Crosby was playing.
The Penguins captain assisted on Pittsburgh's opening goal and then
added a pair of insurance markers as he snapped out of his six-game
scoring slump.
The Flames (29-21-3) didn't provide any support for starting
netminder Jonas Hiller, who was hooked after allowing four goals on
24 shots in 45:19 of action. Backup Karri Ramo made six saves in
relief.
Calgary's three-game winning streak was snapped, but they have won 8
of their past 11 games.
"For all our young players, tonight we saw why Sidney Crosby is the
best hockey player in the world. He put on a clinic," said Flames
coach Bob Hartley. "Tonight, he was by far, the best player on the
ice."
Friday's game marked Crosby's fourth trip to Calgary to face the
Flames, and the reigning Hart Trophy winner gave his fans plenty to
cheer about.
Early.
And often.
Kunitz picked off an ill-advised breakout pass by Flames defenseman
Mark Giordano less than six minutes after the national anthems and
tapped the puck to Crosby, who quickly relayed a pass to Perron for
the first goal of the night.
Perron now has eight goals in 14 games since being traded from the
Edmonton Oilers to the Penguins on Jan. 2.
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The Penguins added to their lead late in the opening period. Sutter,
who grew up less than two hours north of Calgary in Red Deer, Alta.,
won a faceoff and headed for the net, getting his stick on a pass
from defenseman Simon Despres for a deflection goal at 18:10 of the
first frame.
Crosby would hit the cross-bar early in the second period, then end
his goal-scoring drought at the 11:58 mark, reaching to tip a pass
by Kunitz on a two-on-one opportunity.
Kunitz made another pretty pass to Crosby early in the third,
sending his linemate off to the races on a breakaway. Much to the
delight of his many fans in attendance, Crosby fired a snapshot into
the top corner for his second goal of the game.
That was the end of Hiller's night.
"You can't give those guys the chances that we gave them," said
Flames right winger Joe Colborne. "You can't blame Hills on any of
those. It's almost like the coaches just wanted to get him out of
there. He was under some pretty intense fire."
With a four-goal lead, the Penguins focused for the remainder of the
night on ensuring that Fleury would achieve his record.
"The last 15 minutes there, you could tell that guys weren't going
to take any chances," Crosby said. "And when we did kind of give up
something, you could tell guys were extra desperate. For a 4-0 game,
you don't see guys usually that desperate ... Guys really wanted to
see him get that (record)."
The Penguins conclude their three-game road-trip Saturday against
the Vancouver Canucks. The Flames are back in action Monday, when
they visit the San Jose Sharks.
NOTES: Penguins LW Blake Comeau has been cleared to start shooting
pucks, which represents progress in his recovery from a wrist
injury. Comeau has 11 goals and 19 points in 32 games for the
Penguins this season but has now missed 19 consecutive contests. D
Christian Ehrhoff (head), LW Pascal Dupuis (blood clot) and D Olli
Maatta (shoulder) are also sidelined for Pittsburgh ... Flames LW
Curtis Glencross was activated Friday from injured reserve but did
not play against the Penguins. Glencross has missed nine games with
a lower-body injury. With Glencross nearing a return, the Flames
reassigned two forwards -- LW Sven Baertschi and C Markus Granlund
-- to the AHL's Adirondack Flames on Thursday. ... D Ladislav Smid
(upper body) and LW David Wolf (lacerated leg) are still on
Calgary's injured list.
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