Confident Fleury leads Penguins past Blue Jackets

PITTSBURGH - When Marc-Andre Fleury calmly blocked Ryan Murray's shot from the slot with 1:06 left on Wednesday, about 1.5 million people in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area might have exhaled for the first time that night.

"It was a pretty good shot to give up and Fleury had to be sharp on that one," Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen said.

Pittsburgh fans are looking for Fleury to be sharp on most of them, and he took a step toward restoring fan confidence with a poised, confident display in a 4-3 against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal.

For the past four seasons, Fleury has been flat in the playoffs. His save percentage has been south of .900. Over the past two seasons, he looked like he had the hockey version of the yips, like a golfer who can't sink an 18-inch putt or a second baseman who suddenly can't throw the ball accurately to first. Fleury looked uncomfortable on what should have been routine saves.

But Wednesday he looked like he had the same confidence he had when he made the big save against Nickas Lidstrom in the waning moments to preserve the Penguins' Stanley Cup championship in 2009.

The first media question to him after the game was whether he felt nervous. "I did," he said, "Most guys do when the playoffs start."

He didn't look nervous. No yips. No runs. No errors.

When the game was tied 3-3, Fleury used a poke-check to thwart Matt Calvert on a breakway.

"It was big save at a big time of the game," Niskanen said.

It was exactly what the Penguins want to see from Fleury, and it's exactly what they saw from him this regular season. It seems clear that his mission is to erase any doubts anyone has about his ability to thrive in spring hockey

No NHL player has come into these playoffs with more pressure than Fleury, who probably is playing for his future in the organization. He has one season left on his contract.

The Penguins didn't make it easy for Fleury. The shot by Murray at the end of the game is not a shot that should be given up, especially at that time of the game.

"Their D snuck into a pretty dangerous area and that Murray is a skilled kid," Niskanen said.

This was a good win for the Penguins because Fleury looked comfortable, Evgeni Malkin is back and they started to play more efficiently as the game wore on. They were not sharp early as Columbus built a 3-1 lead on a 5-on-5 goal, a shorthanded goal and a power-play goal. Their comeback was fueled by two power-play goals.

"We have to plays these guys 5-on-5," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "I liked the way we started the game."

The Blue Jackets outhit, outshot and outperformed Pittsburgh for the better part of two periods.

"That's pretty much who they are – what we saw tonight," Niskanen said. "They work hard, they forecheck hard and they finish checks."

The Penguins thought they started to find their game late in the second and then they carried that momentum into the third when Brandon Sutter scored the game-winner on a 25-footer through goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

The Blue Jackets are a younger team, simply in need of experience, and they might have picked up some in this loss. There were plenty of teachable moments.

"We we got the early goal, I think our bench sat back and said, 'OK, we can play with these guys,'" said Blue Jackets leading scorer Ryan Johansen.

But the Penguins also learned about themselves. By the end of the game, they were playing more like they need to play if they want to keep playing until June. They want to build off that third period.

"The best lesson learned are the ones where you win the game and do well," Niskanen said. "This time of year, the results matter first; moral victories are second."