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Penguins, Fleury blank Rangers, 1-0
Audio: Pens blank Rangers
Fleury records first shutout
Rob Rossi is the Penguins beat writer. He can be reached via e-mail. Also check out Rossi's blog or follow him on Twitter.
The manner in which they earned them might mean more in the playoffs.
"This was the kind of game you see in the playoffs -- a (close) game, when you have to battle as a team," defenseman Sergei Gonchar said. "It is probably a thing we did not do well last year. But this year we are getting better."
Marc-Andre Fleury cannot get much better than he was last night. He stopped 36 shots after making 30 saves in a 2-1 win in Washington on Saturday.
It was his first shutout since a 5-0 victory against Boston on March 25.
"The way Fleury is playing is not a huge surprise," defenseman Ryan Whitney said. "Everybody that was panicking can kind of take a deep breath."
Coach Michel Therrien joked yesterday morning he would keep his fingers crossed that the Rangers' presumed high-powered offense would continue to struggle.
New York arrived here averaging only 1.86 goals-per-game. Given their marquee-name talent up front -- Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and high-price free-agent acquisitions Scott Gomez and Chris Drury -- that paltry offensive output is puzzling.
Those four players have scored 1,562 goals in the NHL. However, only five of those tallies have come this season.
"They have so many weapons," Therrien said before the game. "This is an elite team. It is a tough challenge every time you play a team like this, but I believe we are ready for that challenge."
Therrien said he challenged the Penguins last week to improve their five-on-five play. Gonchar said they met that challenge against the Rangers.
"You can see everybody coming back and fighting for the puck," Gonchar said. "You could see it when (the Rangers) came into our zone, 3-on-2. Jagr had to stop to find somebody joining the rush. Our forwards did a good job jumping on that guy right away. (Jagr) did not have time to make a play."
Whitney said he had what felt like a lot of time to connect with Evgeni Malkin on a cross-ice pass that resulted in the only goal. The Penguins were on a power play when Whitney fed Malkin, who directed the puck past New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist just 44 seconds into the second period.
It was Malkin's third tally of the season.
Fleury, whom Therrien called "outstanding," made sure it held.
"You do not want to get too high or too low," Fleury said. "It is important to stay confident."
With three consecutive victories, and four in five games, the Penguins (5-3-0) are confident they have found a groove -- most of them, at least.
"We have better in us," captain Sidney Crosby said.
