Fleury right on the mark as Penguins beat Rangers, 2-0
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Marc-Andre Fleury gloves one of his 27 saves en route to his franchise record-tying 22nd career shutout in the Penguins' 2-0 win vs. the New York Rangers. -
Evgeni Malkin's 33rd goal of the season gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead in the second period Tuesday night. -
Paul Martin checks New York's Ryan Callahan into the Penguins bench Tuesday night at Consol Energy Center.
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Marc-Andre Fleury has had games like this before.
Chances are good that he'll have quite a few more, too.
It's just that no one, including Fleury, can predict when.
"Some days, I feel great and I let in five," he said. "Some other days, I don't feel good and I don't let in much."
- 1. Marc-Andre Fleury, Penguins G: 27 saves
- 2. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins C: 1 goal, 1 assist
- 3. Steve Sullivan, Penguins LW: 1 goal
Fleury volunteered that he "felt good" before the Penguins' 2-0 victory Tuesday night against the New York Rangers at Consol Energy Center, and he surely felt even better when it was over.
He stopped all 27 pucks the Rangers threw at him and looked fully capable of stopping 27 more if he had had to.
"We just couldn't finish on Fleury," New York coach John Tortorella said.
And the Rangers probably couldn't have if they'd tried for three more periods. Or three more days.
Fleury's shutout was the 22nd of his career, tying Tom Barrasso's franchise record.
"I always liked to watch him," Fleury said. "So, for me to be able to reach him for the shutout [mark], it means a lot to me."
The victory raised the Penguins record to 34-21-5 and ended a run of five consecutive victories here for the Rangers.
New York continues to hold down first in the Eastern Conference with 81 points, while the Penguins are tied with Philadelphia for fifth with 73.
The Penguins aren't likely to overtake New York for the top spot in the East -- the Rangers have two games in hand, as well as that eight-point lead -- but beating the Rangers for the second game in a row should give them a bit of a confidence boost.
New York is one of several opponents -- Boston and the Flyers are on the list, too -- that had given the Penguins fits until recently.
So, while those victories are important now for the points they provide, they might matter even more this spring, when the Penguins could face any -- or all -- of them in a best-of-seven playoff series.
"We feel like Philly's a team we are going to possibly see in the first round," coach Dan Bylsma said.
"We wanted to make that statement in that game. Same thing with the Rangers. They're leading the East right now by a [large] margin.
First Published February 22, 2012 12:00 am
