Goalie Fleury stars as Pens prevail

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — In the aftermath of Monday’s 3-2 win over the Binghamton Senators, Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury admitted that he had no idea what the organization had planned for him in the next few days.

He could be in net on Wednesday night at Wachovia Arena when the AHL Pens host the Hershey Bears.

Or, he could be on his way back to Pittsburgh to reclaim his job as the franchise’s No. 1 goalie.

What Fleury did know was that he’s probably as ready as he’ll ever be to return to the NHL.

A good, solid test at the hands of the Senators – the first true test of his rehab assignment – told him that.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve played (in a game like that),” said Fleury, who hauled his trademark yellow pads, blocker and glove out of mothballs to match the Penguins’ yellow third jerseys. “It was exciting. I was just trying to make sure the puck didn’t go in.”

Two pucks did find their way past Fleury in the third, when the Penguins looked more like the team that had been shut out in back-to-back games last weekend than the one that roared out to a 3-0 lead over the B-Sens here on Monday.

But Fleury kept his cool and made 12 of his 33 saves in the final 20 minutes, including a glove stop at the buzzer.

“Unbelievable,” said defenseman Alex Goligoski, whose power-play goal at 9:06 of the second period turned out to be the winner. “This was probably one of the more sloppy defensive games we’ve had – there were a lot of odd-man rushes, a lot of tips in front of the net, screens. … (Fleury) won the game for us.”

The Penguins, who hadn’t scored a goal since the 8:49 mark of the third period on Feb. 13, and hadn’t scored a power-play goal since 19:03 of the third on Feb. 2, ended both droughts late in the first.

Jonathan D’Aversa snuck in from the right point, took a pass from Tim Brent and beat B-Sens goalie Brian Elliott for a 1-0 lead at 19:34.

Dave Gove scored his 12th of the season by redirecting Goligoski’s point shot past Elliott at 1:59.

A Goligoski one-timer at 9:06 had the Penguins up 3-0 and looking to run away with the game.

“We went right to our heels,” Penguins coach Todd Richards said of his team’s play in the third. “It started with turnovers. As a forward group we weren’t skating forward. We weren’t going after them. We were retreating.”