Penguins Shutout Canadiens For 13th Straight Win

The Pittsburgh Penguins shutout the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 Tuesday night for their 13th straight win. Sidney Crosby scored his 15th goal of the season as Marc-Andre Fleury and Tomas Vokoun combined for the shutout.

Crosby beat Montreal’s Carey Price just over 13 minutes into the second period after a great lead pass from Chris Kunitz. Crosby sent a wrist shot just over Price’s blocker to give the Penguins the lead.

With 49 seconds left in the period, Tyler Kennedy slammed into Marc-Andre Fleury after being hit by Brian Gionta. Fleury was shaken up on the play, but remained in the game for the final seconds of the period. He didn’t return to the ice for the third period and was relieved by Tomas Vokoun, who stopped all 12 shots he faced.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma addressed the incident after the game, but had no information on the details or length of Fleury’s injury.

“He’s going to continue to be evaluated and go forward,” Bylsma said after the game. “I don’t have anything for you right now in terms of length of his injury.”

The Penguins started their streak on March 2 against the Canadiens with a 7-6 win in a much more aggressive game. With the 1-0 win Tuesday, the Penguins opened up a seven-point lead over the Boston Bruins and Canadiens in the Eastern Conference.

The Canadiens have now lost two straight games and dropped into a tie with the Bruins for first place in the Northeast Division. Carey Price made 24 saves in the loss to the Penguins, while his teammates posted 37 shots and failed to find the back of the net.

Brenden Morrow made his first appearance after being traded to the Penguins on Sunday, and even took the opening face-off for the best team in the Eastern Conference. Morrow received a little less than 13 minutes of ice time and was moved around quite a bit to get a feel for his new team.

The Penguins continue their five-game homestand when the Winnipeg Jets come to town on Thursday, followed by a meeting with the New York Islanders on Saturday. Pittsburgh is tied with the Anaheim Ducks for the best home record in the NHL at 13-4-0. Eight of the Penguins 13 home wins have come during their current 13-game winning streak.

The Penguins shutout the Canadiens but might have lost their star goaltender in the process. Can the Penguins continue winning as Marc-Andre Fleury could miss the next few games due to the collision on Tuesday?