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Letang helps Penguins douse Flames

Dec 7, 2007 - 6:33 AM CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Kris Letang scored in the fourth round of the shootout as the Pittsburgh Penguins skated past the Calgary Flames, 3-2, on Thursday.

The rookie defenseman faked to his left before backhanding the puck past goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff to end the bonus format and give Pittsburgh its third straight victory.

"I don't think I stole the show," Letang said. "It was a great hockey game, very physical. We trailed by one. Yesterday, we trailed by two. It just proves we have a team that can get back in the game."

Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien was asked why he chose to use Letang, who prior to the game had no professional experience in the shootout.

"Because the kid's got no fear," Therrien said. "We do practice the shootout every week."

After Petr Sykora tallied in the first round of the shootout, Kiprusoff made a stellar glove save on Sidney Crosby before Evgeni Malkin hit the crossbar.

Kristian Huselius scored in the first round, but captain Jarome Iginla, Alex Tanguay and Matthew Lombardi all were unsuccessful for the Flames.

Playing his second professional game in Western Canada, Crosby was kept off the scoresheet against the Flames. On Wednesday, the reigning Hart Trophy winner assisted on three of his team's four third-period goals in the Penguins' 4-2 triumph over the Edmonton Oilers.

Thanks to an unbalanced schedule after the 2004-05 lockout, Crosby had played 186 regular-season games - but none at the homes of the NHL's three western Canadian hockey teams until Wednesday.

Crosby was excited that Pittsburgh has started its road trip with back-to-back victories.

"It's huge," he said. "Three games in four nights. Come out here back-to-back nights against two pretty hard-nosed hockey teams and two physical teams, that's a great test for our team. I think we should be proud of that, for sure."

With the spotlight at its brightest, Iginla did his best to show why he's the star in Calgary.

Iginla opened the scoring with 28 seconds remaining in the first period, deflecting a shot by Tanguay past netminder Dany Sabourin for a 1-0 lead.

After Malkin's one-timer leveled the game with just over six minutes remaining in the second, Iginla regained the advantage for the Flames 2 1/2 minutes later.

Stationed in the slot, Iginla accepted a brilliant feed from Huselius and beat Sabourin to give the Flames a 2-1 edge.

Despite his two-goal night, Iginla was not in much of a celebratory mood after the game.

"It was a hard one to lose," he said. "You get to the shootout, they're real fun to win. Everyone jumps off the bench. It's just as good as any win when you win them.

"They don't feel very good when you lose them. You get there and it really feels like it can go either way."

Ryan Malone drew the Penguins even with a tremendous individual effort with 8 1/2 minutes remaining in the third period. Malone stole the puck in his own defensive zone, tipping it past two Flames before racing down the ice and beating Kiprusoff on a breakaway to forge a 2-2 tie.

The shorthanded tally was Malone's ninth goal of the season.

Marc-Andre Fleury left the game with a right leg injury after stopping both shots he faced early in the first period. The 23-year-old Fleury, who became the third goalie in NHL history to be drafted first overall in 2003, was replaced by Sabourin.

"When you get a couple of saves in you, you don't try to fight the puck so much or try to freeze the puck as much as you can to get more comfortable with the game," Sabourin said. "You've got to make sure - it doesn't matter if you don't play - that you're ready. You never know what's going to happen."

The backup netminder finished with 24 saves, while Kiprusoff turned aside 33 shots for Calgary.