Penguins beat Flyers in shootout, 3-2
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PHILADELPHIA -- Sidney Crosby had a plan, and he executed it perfectly.
Well, kind of.
As he moved in on Philadelphia goalie Brian Boucher in the shootout at the Wachovia Center last night, Crosby was intent on putting the puck over Boucher's glove, and he did to secure the Penguins' 3-2 victory against the Flyers.
It's just that, well, Crosby had been hoping to launch the puck so hard that Boucher couldn't react in time. As it was, he nearly whiffed on the shot, and it practically fluttered by Boucher in slow-motion.
"That's where I wanted to put it," Crosby said. "But not quite that slow. I don't think any goalie expects anything like that. It was just kind of a lucky shot."
This guy does seem to get lucky against the Flyers, doesn't he? He has 22 goals and 28 assists in 29 career games against Philadelphia.
Maybe that explains why the Wachovia Center crowd, as usual, spent so much of the game engaging in a cheer that sounds a lot like "Crosby's pucks."
But while Crosby was his usual productive self last night -- he scored a goal in regulation, got the shootout-clinching goal, finished with seven shots on goal and went 13-8 on faceoffs -- it was goalie Marc-Andre Fleury who did the most to sabotage a fairly good effort by the Flyers.
He finished with 31 saves, rejected Daniel Briere and Claude Giroux in the shootout and was incredibly effective at denying the Flyers on close-range chances.
Word circulating through the arena earlier in the day was that Steve Yzerman, who is charged with putting together Canada's Olympic team, was supposed to be in attendance for the game.
While there no longer seems to be much doubt that Fleury will be one of the three goalies named to Team Canada Dec. 30, performances such as this one against the Flyers would go a long way toward justifying significant playing time for him in Vancouver.
"There have been games this year where he's been real sharp," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "Controlling rebounds, making saves, challenging shooters, being real strong in those scrum situations.
"[It] was one of those nights where he was on his game."
Fleury's performance almost overshadowed the fact that the Penguins got both of their regulation goals from the power play, the first time they've had multiple man-advantage goals in a game since Nov. 28.
"Our power play was big tonight," Crosby said.
Big enough to help the Penguins run their winning streak to four and raise their record to 24-10-1.
The Flyers, who are 2-5-1 since Peter Laviolette replaced John Stevens as coach, took a 1-0 lead when Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar inadvertently knocked the rebound of a Jeff Carter shot out of the air and past Fleury at 1:15 of the opening period. But Bill Guerin pulled the Penguins even with a power-play goal at 3:48 by flipping in a shot from the front edge of the crease for his ninth of the season.
After Giroux put Philadelphia back on top during a power play at 2:04 of the second, Crosby countered for the Penguins when he hammered a slap shot past Boucher from below the right dot at 9:17 for his 22nd.
Crosby's goal marked the first time since Nov. 28 that the Penguins' power play produced two goals in a game. It also proved to be the final time either team scored until the shootout.
Some teams' stress level rises when they go to a shootout, but the Penguins aren't one of them.
They are 4-0 in shootouts against the Flyers, all-time, and 5-0 in them against the league this season.
A big part of the reason is that Crosby is 5-for-5 in shootouts, but Fleury being almost unbeatable in them helps, too.
"We like our chances [in shootouts]," Crosby said. "A shootout always starts with your goalie. You need the saves to give your shooters a chance to win it, and as a shooter, you're much more confident when you're shooting to win instead of playing catch-up.
"That really starts with [Fleury]. He's provided that cushion for us shooters to really go for it."
Other teams seem to be aware of Fleury's shootout prowess, because neither Briere nor Giroux forced Fleury to make a save.
"It felt like it didn't matter how many shooters they were going to [get], he was up to the challenge," Bylsma said.
So were his teammates. Especially Crosby, who feeds off the animosity the crowd here has for him.
"I don't really know anything different," Crosby said. "That's the way it's been for five years."
First Published December 18, 2009 12:00 am
