Penguins win this 2nd period with offense, take pressure off G Marc-Andre Fleury

Fleury takes back seat to offense in 2nd period

PITTSBURGH — Marc-Andre Fleury saved the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second period in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals.

His offense took care of him in Game 4.

Just 46 seconds into the middle frame Thursday night, Detroit’s Brad Stuart scored through a double screen to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. Two nights earlier, Fleury kept the Penguins locked in a 2-2 tie despite Pittsburgh being outshot 14-4.

They called it their worst period in the playoffs, but because Fleury was on top of his game, Pittsburgh pulled out a 4-2 win in Game 3.

The Penguins rallied from a hole this time and took over with three quick goals that changed the game.

“Well, you can’t really compare them,” Penguins forward Bill Guerin said of the two second periods. “One was awful, one was really good. It’s something that we’ve tried to work on because we’ve had that problem before — a good first but a bad second.

“We’re just trying to focus and play 60 minutes because the second period is so big and (creates) momentum for the third period.”

It appeared Fleury wouldn’t be able to steal another second period when Stuart’s shot from the right point sailed past Pittsburgh’s Sergei Gonchar and Guerin, who blocked his view, and found the net. The Penguins’ early 1-0 lead was gone as Detroit connected twice in a 2:27 span bridging the first two periods.

Jordan Staal turned it around with a short-handed goal at 8:35 that tied it. Sidney Crosby and Tyler Kennedy also scored to complete the surge of three goals in 5:37 that built the Penguins’ edge to 4-2.

“We want to make sure we make life on him as easy as possible,” Crosby said of Fleury. “We don’t always do that, but you know we try to. We did a good job of putting a lot of pressure in the offensive zone and creating some good chances. That’s a big key for our team. That’s where we want to play.

“We definitely owed him one for sure.”

The final 20 minutes were scoreless and the Penguins skated off with their second straight 4-2 victory. They sent the series back to Detroit tied 2-2 and guaranteed it would return to Pittsburgh for Game 6.

“They took a lead 2-1 early in the second, and to see my teammates respond and get three goals against that team in the second was huge,” Fleury said

After the early hiccup on Stuart’s drive, Fleury finished the second with eight saves. His task wasn’t nearly as difficult in this middle period because the offense kept the puck at the other end of the ice for the majority of it.

“They got that goal in the first minute of the second period, and I’m sure there were more people than myself thinking, ‘Oh goodness,’” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “Give credit to our guys.

“We get the short-handed goal and come back with (Evgeni Malkin) and Crosby and we get the go-ahead goal.”

The Penguins had 11 shots in this second period and scored on three.

“The fans drove us the rest of the way in the second period,” Bylsma said. “That was a big momentum period for us and it set us up for the third.”

Fleury was busy overall, making 37 saves — including 18 in the first period. For the fourth straight game, the visiting team has held the shots advantage and lost.