Fleury carries Pens to a win in Boston

Associated Press

BOSTON

Marc Andre-Fleury hardly looked like a goalie who had just finished an intense third period.

Fleury, back in net after getting a night off, made 28 saves and Evgeni Malkin scored a power-play goal that lifted the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Boston Bruins 2-1 Saturday for their ninth win in 10 games.

“Just came off a five-day break,” said Fleury, sitting with a baseball cap on backward and smiling frequently. “It was nice to get back.”

Matt Cooke had the other goal for the Penguins, who rebounded from a 1-0 loss at Toronto on Wednesday that ended a season-high eight-game winning streak.

Until he got additional rest after the All-Star break, Fleury had played in 23 straight games. The break may have been what he needed after allowing four goals twice in four games.

“Marc was exceptional,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “He was able to control the rebounds and limit the opportunities they had.”

The only goal the Bruins got past him was a shot he couldn’t see.

Joe Corvo scored Boston’s goal, and Tim Thomas stopped 26 shots. The Bruins hadn’t lost consecutive games since early December.

Corvo’s goal on a seemingly harmless shot from the point beat Fleury 6:45 into the third, cutting it to 2-1.

From there, the Penguins defense helped make Fleury’s day a bit easier, blocking a number of shots.

“They got a goal to cut it to one and every player had to play good team defense,” Bylsma said.

The Bruins have lost six of 10.

“Obviously, I think we’ve been getting a lot of chances,” Boston center Tyler Seguin said. “I don’t know if we’re running into hot goaltenders or we’re just not getting enough people in front of the net, but we have to figure out a way to score."