A brand-new start
PITTSBURGH — The No. 1 draft pick was all he was supposed to be for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a dominating performance that gave promise this season won't be like all those bad ones gone by.
Only this time it wasn't Sidney Crosby, but goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury, the top pick in 2003 who didn't win the starting job until the final preseason game, turned aside 40 shots and the Penguins played one of their best games in years before their prospective new owner by beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 on Thursday night in the season opener for both.
Crosby, coming off his 102-point rookie season, scored a goal and third-line forwards Michel Ouellet and Jarkko Ruutu set up each other less than three minutes apart in the first period to give the surprisingly good Penguins the early lead and some momentum.
The Penguins not only got a goal from an unexpected source — defenseman Josef Melichar, who had only three last season — they overcame a 40-21 Flyers shots advantage. They also killed off two Philadelphia two-man advantages in the first two periods behind Fleury, who came into the game with a 17-41-2-6 career record and a spotty preseason in which he nearly lost his job to Jocelyn Thibault.
"He played awesome," said forward Colby Armstrong, who set the tone by holding his own in a fight with much-larger defenseman Nolan Baumgartner. "To get off to a good start is huge. We showed a lot of emotion, took good shots, had some big hits and made some big saves. We were coming hard all night."
The Flyers were 0-for-10 on the power play, and star Peter Forsberg — coming off an ankle injury — did not take a shot in 16Z\x minutes of playing time.
"I think they're a better team this year," Forsberg said. "It will a tough battle every time we play them."
Fleury said seeing so many shots wasn't a problem "because it keeps me focused. I don't mind it — as long as we win."
Playing on the first anniversary of Crosby's long-awaited NHL debut, a dismally played 5-1 loss in New Jersey that started them on a season-opening nine-game losing streak, the Penguins unexpectedly took the play to the Flyers. Philadelphia won six of eight from them last season.
"It was a hard game, a very physical game they made it very difficult for us," Flyers forward Mike Knuble said. "The team kind of fed off him. He made some big saves and it carried through their team."
Pittsburgh scored on four of its first 11 shots against Robert Esche, a performance more reminiscent of the Lemieux-Jaromir Jagr days than those during the franchise's four consecutive last-place division finishes since 2003. The Penguins frequently outskated the Flyers to the puck, fed off a succession of excellent saves by Fleury and a strong game by the Ouellet-Dominic Moore-Ruutu line.
Moore and Ruutu were among new general manager Ray Shero's off-season pickups — not big-name players but ones he felt would fit in well with a fast-skating, youthful team that will have four players 20 or younger when Russian star Evgeni Malkin recovers from his dislocated left shoulder.
