Blues  1    Penguins  5

Recap: Pittsburgh vs. St. Louis

Sports Network | October 21, 2009

Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko each scored a power-play goal, as the Pittsburgh Penguins flattened the St. Louis Blues, 5-1, at Mellon Arena.

Matt Cooke registered a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who have displayed no signs of a Cup hangover, winning six straight games and eight of nine to start the season.

Tyler Kennedy and Alex Goligoski also tallied for Pittsburgh, while Kris Letang notched two assists. Marc-Andre Fleury made 22 saves for his eighth consecutive victory, the longest streak of his career.

"It's a good feeling to be able to do different than what people thought," said Fleury. "It's still surprising at how well the team is playing right now."

Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar suffered an undisclosed injury and will be evaluated Wednesday. The injury could leave the veteran All-Star out for a period of time.

Paul Kariya provided the lone marker for St. Louis, which has dropped four of five after it swept a season-opening two-game series against Detroit in Stockholm, Sweden.

Chris Mason allowed four goals on 35 shots through two periods before he was replaced by Ty Conklin. Conklin stopped seven shots the rest of the way.

"The shots and the total domination by Pittsburgh was clear," stated Blues coach Andy Murray. "To see such a drop-off is difficult to understand."

The Penguins scored two goals 69 seconds apart in a dominant first period, one in which they registered 20 shots. Conversely, there were only three shots taken by the Blues.

Jay McKee, who spent the previous three seasons in St. Louis before having his contract bought out this past summer, fed the puck to Kennedy and he fired a slap shot from the left circle over the glove of Mason.

Moments later, St. Louis forward Andy McDonald went off the ice for high- sticking and Pittsburgh converted on the power play when Malkin wristed a shot from the slot behind Mason with 7:32 remaining.

The Blues had a better start to the second period, but a too-many-men penalty curbed the momentum as Fedotenko capitalized on the power play, snapping a shot earmarked for the top right corner at 7:29. Cooke then tipped a Letang slap shot 36 seconds later to make it 4-0 in favor of Pittsburgh.

Kariya put the visitors on the board, parking himself in front of the net and redirecting Erik Johnson's point shot past the right pad of Fleury with 7:06 remaining in the middle stanza.

Goligoski accounted for all the scoring in the third.

The Penguins continue their five-game homestand Friday against Florida...St. Louis hosts Minnesota on Friday...Kariya appeared in his 100th game as a Blue...Malkin recorded 12 shots on goal...Pittsburgh is now 26-4-4 in the regular season since Dan Bylsma took over as head coach for Michel Therrien last February.