Fleury made 27 saves for the shutout as Penguins snap Canadiens winning streak

MONTREAL - Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves for his league-leading fourth shutout of the season as the Pittsburgh Penguins snapped Montreal's six-game winning streak by beating the Canadiens 4-0 on Tuesday.

Beau Bennett and Steve Downie scored first-period goals for the Penguins (13-3-1). Brandon Sutter and captain Sidney Crosby added a goal each in the second.

The red-hot Penguins have now won 10 of their last 11 games.

Carey Price stopped 18 shots for Montreal (14-5-1).

Fleury, who made a couple of key saves early on, is 8-1-0 in his last nine starts dating back to Oct. 25. The Sorel, Que., native has a .944 save percentage over that period.

The Canadiens, looking for the club's first seven-game winning streak since 2006, started off strong. Montreal came close to opening the score twice in the game's first 90 seconds, but Max Pacioretty opted not to shoot on a partial breakaway just seconds in, and Fleury stopped Jiri Sekac going hard to the net a minute later.

Not beating Fleury right off the bat proved costly for Montreal, as Bennett gave the Pens a 1-0 lead at 7:46 of the first period. The 22-year-old intercepted a pass by defenceman Nathan Beaulieu in his own zone, and shot one past Price for his first of the season.

Two minutes later, Downie doubled Pittsburgh's lead. Kris Letang faked a shot, and passed the puck off to Downie at the side of the net leaving Price with no chance.

Montreal's Beaulieu and Tom Gilbert were on the ice for both of Pittsburgh's two goals.

Sutter added a third for the Penguins just 58 seconds into the second, as the Pens forward patiently waited out Price to beat the Canadiens netminder with a wrister to the roof of the net.

Pittsburgh made it 4-0 when Crosby put away his first goal in nine games, the simplest of tap-ins into a gaping net while the Pens had the man advantage.

Pittsburgh's power play is converting a league-best 33.8 per cent.

Montreal went 0 for 3 on the power play.

Notes: Forward Pascal Dupuis missed the game due to an illness. … Olli Maatta, who missed Pittsburgh's last six games after undergoing thyroid surgery, returned to the lineup versus the Habs. … An upper-body injury kept Mike Weaver out of the match. … Bennett's two-point night was just the second of his career. … Montreal's Gilbert was on the ice for Pittsburgh's four goals.