Fleury saves day for Penguins with breakaway stop

The Pittsburgh Penguins successfully averted a season sweep by the Washington Capitals with a 4-3 win Wednesday at Verizon Center. The victory was sweet given the fact the Capitals had outscored the Penguins 10-1 in the previous three games. It also earned Pittsburgh its third straight win and a three-point lead over the Capitals for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves, including a huge stop on Joel Ward on a 2-on-0 shorthanded breakaway in the second period to preserve a 3-1 lead.

The play began behind the Capitals net when a dump in ricocheted off the boards to center ice and onto Ward's waiting stick. Ward broke in alone with Brooks Laich trailing him and fired on goal but was denied by Fleury's brilliant glove save.

With the win, Fleury improved to 28-13-6 with a 2.17 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.