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Penguins drop Coyotes for sixth straight win

Mar 6, 2012 - 4:42 AM Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Marc-Andre Fleury posted 36 saves to help the Pittsburgh Penguins take a 2-1 decision over the Phoenix Coyotes.

Zbynek Michalek and Chris Kunitz each scored for the Penguins, who have won six straight and sit comfortably in the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference.

"They came at us hard and he made so many unbelievable saves that we never thought he could keep it going," said Michalek about Fleury. "But he did and he's the main reason why we won."

Ray Whitney scored the lone goal of the game for the Coyotes, who have dropped their first three games of the month after going 11-0-1 in February. Mike Smith posted 26 stops in the loss.

"In a tight game like that you have to make the big saves and tonight I didn't do that in the first period," said Smith. "We were chasing them the rest of the night."

The Penguins got both of their goals in the first period for a 2-0 lead.

The first goal came at the 11:44 mark when Jordan Staal brought the puck in down the right wing and from the circle sent a short pass to Michalek, whose quick shot went in off the blocker of Smith and in.

Just three minutes later, Kunitz scored when he got the puck near the Phoenix blueline, skated in down the right side and from the circle snuck a shot inside Smith's blocker for his 19th of the season.

The game stayed scoreless in the second period thanks to the work of the goaltenders as Smith stopped 12 shots and Fleury turned aside 15.

Phoenix cut its deficit to one just 87 seconds into the third when Radim Vrbata chased down the puck in the deep right boards and immediately centered it for Whitney, who redirected it in for his 21st of the season.

That was it, though, as the Pens defense shut the Coyotes down the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Pittsburgh hosts Toronto on Wednesday...Phoenix plays at Columbus on Tuesday...The Penguins have won three straight over the Coyotes...Pittsburgh went 0-for-1 on the power play while Phoenix was 0-for-2.