CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Kris Letang scored in the fourthround of the shootout as the Pittsburgh Penguins skated past theCalgary Flames, 3-2, on Thursday. The rookie defenseman faked to his left before backhanding thepuck past goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff to end the bonus formatand give Pittsburgh its third straight victory. "I don't think I stole the show," Letang said. "It was a greathockey game, very physical. We trailed by one. Yesterday, wetrailed by two. It just proves we have a team that can get backin the game." Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien was asked why he chose to useLetang, who prior to the game had no professional experience inthe shootout. "Because the kid's got no fear," Therrien said. "We do practicethe shootout every week." After Petr Sykora tallied in the first round of the shootout,Kiprusoff made a stellar glove save on Sidney Crosby beforeEvgeni Malkin hit the crossbar. Kristian Huselius scored in the first round, but captain JaromeIginla, Alex Tanguay and Matthew Lombardi all were unsuccessfulfor the Flames. Playing his second professional game in Western Canada, Crosbywas kept off the scoresheet against the Flames. On Wednesday,the reigning Hart Trophy winner assisted on three of his team'sfour third-period goals in the Penguins' 4-2 triumph over theEdmonton Oilers. Thanks to an unbalanced schedule after the 2004-05 lockout,Crosby had played 186 regular-season games - but none at thehomes of the NHL's three western Canadian hockey teams untilWednesday. Crosby was excited that Pittsburgh has started its road tripwith back-to-back victories. "It's huge," he said. "Three games in four nights. Come outhere back-to-back nights against two pretty hard-nosed hockeyteams 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 showwhy he's the star in Calgary. Iginla opened the scoring with 28 seconds remaining in the firstperiod, deflecting a shot by Tanguay past netminder DanySabourin for a 1-0 lead. After Malkin's one-timer leveled the game with just over sixminutes remaining in the second, Iginla regained the advantagefor the Flames 2 1/2 minutes later. Stationed in the slot, Iginla accepted a brilliant feed fromHuselius and beat Sabourin to give the Flames a 2-1 edge. Despite his two-goal night, Iginla was not in much of acelebratory 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'sjust as good as any win when you win them. "They don't feel very good when you lose them. You get thereand it really feels like it can go either way." Ryan Malone drew the Penguins even with a tremendous individualeffort with 8 1/2 minutes remaining in the third period. Malonestole the puck in his own defensive zone, tipping it past twoFlames before racing down the ice and beating Kiprusoff on abreakaway 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 afterstopping both shots he faced early in the first period. The23-year-old Fleury, who became the third goalie in NHL historyto be drafted first overall in 2003, was replaced by Sabourin. "When you get a couple of saves in you, you don't try to fightthe puck so much or try to freeze the puck as much as you can toget more comfortable with the game," Sabourin said. "You'vegot to make sure - it doesn't matter if you don't play - thatyou're ready. You never know what's going to happen." The backup netminder finished with 24 saves, while Kiprusoffturned aside 33 shots for Calgary.
