Fleury sets Pens’ record for shutouts in season

Associated Press

CALGARY, Alberta

Marc-Andre Fleury got his NHL-leading eighth shutout of the season and Sidney Crosby contributed two goals and an assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Calgary Flames 4-0 Friday night.

David Perron and Brandon Sutter also scored for Pittsburgh, which moved past the Islanders atop the Metropolitan Division.

Mired in a mini-slump with two assists in his last six games, Crosby was the best player on the ice — along with Fleury, of course.

Crosby moved into fourth place in NHL scoring with 56 points. He trails Jakub Voracek (58), Patrick Kane (58) and Tyler Seguin (57).

The Penguins outplayed the Flames, who entered having won eight of their last 10, and Fleury made 21 saves to surpass Tom Barrasso’s club record for shutouts in a season. After earning a shutout in Edmonton on Wednesday, Fleury has a shutout streak going of 131 minutes and 40 seconds.

The loss for Calgary ended a homestand on a sour note. The Flames went 4-2 at the Saddledome and now head to California for key games against San Jose and Los Angeles.

Leading 2-0 after one period, the Penguins kept pouring on the pressure in the second period.

Crosby outraced Paul Byron to the net and, with one hand on his stick, neatly deflected a perfect centering pass from Chris Kunitz over the blocker of Jonas Hiller.

In the third period, Crosby blew past Byron again and promptly zipped a shot under the crossbar.

Hiller left at that point, having stopped 20 of 24 shots. Karri Ramo was perfect on six shots in relief.

Pittsburgh opened the scoring 5:46 into the game after capitalizing on a giveaway by Flames captain Mark Giordano. Crosby quickly sent a pass across to Perron, who snapped his 13th of the season inside the goal post.