Peter Diana , Post-Gazette photos Dominic Moore celebrates his goal in the second period against the Panthers at Mellon Arena. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Penguins Notebook: Eaton reunites with Gonchar

It's pretty tough to ignore the role Marc-Andre Fleury's 32 saves played in the Penguins' 3-0 victory against Florida at Mellon Arena last night.

Same with the goal and assist that Michel Ouellet chipped in, and the way the defensive pairing of Mark Eaton and Sergei Gonchar helped to limit Panthers center Olli Jokinen to a single shot.

But the most important number on the scoresheet might have been 9:57, which was Ronald Petrovicky's ice time.

Not because Petrovicky did anything terribly special during his nearly 10 minutes of work, but because it was the least playing time of any Penguins forward -- compelling evidence of how coach Michel Therrien consistently got all four of his forward lines into the game.

Which is something a coach can do only if every unit performs well enough to justify the confidence he shows in it.

"Since Michel has asked every guy to contribute, every guy has stepped up," Ouellet said.

That's a big part of the reason the Penguins were able to win even Sidney Crosby was limited to a second assist, and Ouellet was the only player to record multiple points.

"All four lines are going, the defense is playing solid, Marc's playing well," Crosby said. "We need all the guys if we're going to play consistently and we've had that."

The Penguins have won four games in a row, are 6-0-1 in their past seven and raised their record to 24-17-8 to remain tied with Tampa Bay for seventh place in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

What's more, they defeated Florida for just the second time in 16 games.

Panthers goalie Ed Belfour wrestles with Evgeni Malkin in the second period last night. Click photo for larger image.

"They've had our number," center Dominic Moore said. "They played us tough again tonight. The game was a lot closer than it looked."

That certainly was the case during the final period, when the Panthers ran up a 13-4 edge in shots. Nonetheless, they could not get a puck past Fleury, who recorded his third shutout of the season and fifth in the NHL.

"Marc-Andre Fleury was outstanding, phenomenal even," Therrien said.

The Penguins got the only goal they needed when Ouellet shoveled a backhander past Panthers goalie Ed Belfour from near the bottom of the left circle at 18:11 of the opening period. The goal was Ouellet's tenth of the season and third in the past six games.

"Since I got put with Malkin and [Jordan] Staal, we've had good chemistry," he said.

Moore made it 2-0 at 2:39 of the second, as he backhanded a shot past Belfour from in front of the net after taking a feed from Jarkko Ruutu, who was behind the goal line. Moore's goal was his first in 10 games.

"Dominic's line really played well tonight," Therrien said. "That was a huge goal."

The Penguins had a chance to put the game out of reach when they were awarded back-to-back five-on-three power plays in the middle of the period, but failed to generate a single shot on goal during a total of 120 seconds with two extra men.

They did get a power-play goal before the Panthers returned to full-strength, however, as Ryan Whitney pinched in from the left point, took a pass from Ouellet and beat Belfour from inside the left circle at 10:46.

"It was kind of disappointing that we gave them a goal after working so hard and doing a good job with the 5-on-3," Panthers coach Jacques Martin said.

Whitney's goal was his ninth and stretched his scoring streak to eight games; Crosby received an assist, extending his points streak to seven.

Fleury preserved the Penguins' three-goal edge with an outstanding stop on Panthers center Stephen Weiss at 17:07. Gonchar gave the puck away to Weiss in front of the net, but Fleury stood his ground and rejected Weiss' shot.

"[Gonchar] bailed me out a couple of times this year, so it was OK for me to once stop the puck for him," Fleury said, smiling.

The Penguins had to survive a two-man disadvantage for 34 seconds late in the third period, but got through it unscathed, in part because Fleury is learning to thrive in pressure situations and is routinely coming up with critical saves.

"He knows how the game is played now," Ouellet said. "When you come in your first year, your first two years, it's tough. You have so much to think about."

So do any Eastern Conference clubs who've noticed that the Penguins simply are refusing to go away.