MONTREAL — Marc-Andre Fleury was at his best when it mattered most for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Fleury made 33 saves to help the Penguins beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Saturday night. He was particularly outstanding in the third period, stopping 17 shots to hold on for his 15th win of the season.

“He had to make some really tough saves all night,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “Especially when they were pushing at the end. He was solid again. You need that when a team is coming at you like that.

“You need a few of those saves and he did it again for us tonight.”

Bryan Rust scored his first goal of the season to put Pittsburgh ahead in the second period, and Patric Hornqvist and Eric Fehr also scored to help the Penguins improve to 3-1-2 in their last six games.

Fleury prevented Montreal from tying the score in the game’s waning minutes and is now 20-11-3 all-time against the Canadiens.

Perhaps his best save was on P.K. Subban, who had beaten him earlier in the game. With David Desharnais screening him, Fleury stuck out his glove at the last possible second to rob Subban of a goal with five minutes left.