PITTSBURGH -- The San Jose Sharks kept coming at Marc-Andre Fleury. Chandler Catanzaro Kids Jersey . From the point. From the left circle. From the right circle. From the slot. From right in front of the net. The more shots the Sharks fired at the Pittsburgh Penguins goalie, the more creative he became. A pad here, a stick there. Fleury even found a way to make a few of his 44 stops while doing an impersonation of a snow angel in a 5-1 victory Thursday night. "When they dont go in, its fun," Fleury said with a laugh. "It makes you feel more a part of the action." Of course, getting staked to a massive lead helps. Chris Kunitz scored twice during a four-goal outburst early in the second period as Pittsburgh won its fifth straight. Pascal Dupuis, Jayson Megna and Kris Letang also scored for the Penguins, who snapped San Joses six-game winning streak. Sidney Crosby added three assists in his 500th career game to push his point total to an NHL-leading 42. Despite the lopsided outcome, the Penguins werent exactly ready to call it a statement of any kind. It is December, after all. "I dont know if the score dictated how much of a good team they are," Kunitz said. "Itll maybe settle down the next time we play them. Its going to be probably a closer game, but its nice to be opportunistic and score those goals." Pittsburgh rolled despite playing without star Evgeni Malkin, scratched after sustaining a lower-body injury during the morning skate. Dupuis left early in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return. He will be re-evaluated Friday. The Penguins cruised anyway while handing the Sharks just their fourth loss in regulation this season. Tomas Hertl got his 14th goal for San Jose. Antti Niemi made 23 saves but was pulled after two periods. "It was more our mistakes than what they did right," San Jose forward Logan Couture said. "We werent ourselves. We werent moving pucks. We were turning it over. In the neutral zone we werent good. I think it was more us than them." The Pacific Division front-runners hardly looked like the team that came in leading the league in goal differential and had outscored opponents 24-12 over its last six games. All that momentum came to a grinding halt during a frantic second period. Dupuis deflected a slap shot from Brooks Orpik by Niemi just 27 seconds in to give Pittsburgh the lead. Megna made it 2-0 just more than 2 minutes later when his wrist shot from the left circle zipped over Niemis right shoulder at the end of a 3-on-2 break for his third goal of the season. Kunitz kept up the barrage at 5:27 when the Sharks turned it over in their own end and the puck ended up on Crosbys stick. Niemi stopped Crosbys wrist shot but Kunitz flipped the rebound into the wide-open net. Kunitz struck again barely 2 minutes later when he buried a loose puck by Niemi for his 16th goal of the season and fifth in his last six games. "I think what (Kunitz) does is underappreciated, especially in terms of how he does it at the net front," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. "He plays in hard areas in hard minutes. Hes not a big-body guy, but hes a force." The Sharks kept Fleury busy but had trouble finding holes. Hertl made it 4-1 at 9:27 of the second when his centring pass from the bottom of the left circle deflected off a Pittsburgh skate and between Fleurys legs. San Jose got no closer. Letang beat backup Alex Stalock with a slap shot from just inside the blue line 3:30 into the third to push Pittsburghs advantage to 5-1 as the Sharks stumbled in the second game of a four-game road trip. The loss spoiled forward Tyler Kennedys homecoming. The centre spent six years in Pittsburgh, scoring three game-winning goals during the Penguins run to the 2009 Stanley Cup and earning minor folk hero status for his perpetually scruffy beard and knack for delivering in big moments. Kennedy, traded to San Jose last summer, received a loud ovation following a brief video tribute midway through the first period. It was a rare highlight for the Sharks, who were never in it over the final 35 minutes. "I dont think thats our team out there tonight," Kennedy said. "I dont think we played very well, myself included. Weve got to be better." NOTES: The Penguins are 16-1 when scoring first. ... San Jose D Dan Boyle played in his 900th career game. ... The Sharks scratched F Mike Brown, F Matt Pelech and D Matt Irwin. ... In addition to Malkin, the Penguins also scratched F Zach Sill and D Robert Bortuzzo. ... San Jose plays in Carolina on Friday. Pittsburgh travels to Boston on Saturday. John Brown Jersey . Stamkos suffered a broken leg 10 weeks ago and continues to rehab in hopes of returning to the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup before the Olympic break. As a result of the positive feedback from the X-ray, Stamkos will continue to ramp up both on- and off-ice workouts. Tony Jefferson Kids Jersey . Even after the late injury dramas within the All Blacks squad, with captain Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Mils Muliaina dropping out of the match, they were still far too superior to a second-string Japan.The San Antonio Spurs will try to keep the momentum going against the Portland Trail Blazers when the two squads meet for Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series Thursday at AT&T Center. The Spurs squashed the Blazers in Game 1 Tuesday night, 116-92. Tony Parker led six San Antonio players in double figures with 33 points and doled out nine assists as the seasoned veterans imposed their will against the younger, more inexperienced Blazers. The Spurs did not need their stars down the stretch for the second straight game thanks to building a big lead that was never seriously threatened. Marco Belinelli contributed 19 points off the bench, Tim Duncan finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. For Duncan, it was his 152nd career double-double in the postseason, which is second to Magic Johnsons 157. Kawhi Leonard added 16 points and nine boards for San Antonio, which ousted the eighth-seeded Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 on Sunday with a similarly lopsided 23-point rout. "We have to realize Game 1 is just Game 1. Its just one game," Parker said. "They will come out with a lot of energy (in Game 2) and we have to match that." Patty Mills and Aaron Baynes, who played one game in the Dallas series, both had 10 for the second unit. The Spurs benched destroyed their Portland counterparts, 50-18, which makes sense considering the San Antonio bench finished first in the regular season in bench scoring and tthe Blazers were last. Jared Veldheer Jersey. LaMarcus Aldridge put up 32 points and 14 rebounds for Portland, while Damian Lillard, the hero in the series clincher against the Houston Rockets on Friday, started slow and ended with 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Robin Lopez was the only other Portland player in double figures Tuesday night with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Portland reached the Western Conference semifinals for the first time in 14 years when Lillard ended the Rockets season with a dramatic buzzer-beating 3- pointer in Game 6. In the Blazers first six possessions of Game 1, they missed six shots, had two turnovers and trailed 8-0 after Parker drove to the hoop for two. An early timeout did little to help Portland, which shot 21.7 percent (5- of-23) from the field in the opening frame and nearly got outscored by Parker himself, with the All-Star point guards 13-point quarter leading the way to a 29-16 spread. "I think San Antonios energy was at a high level and it took us a little while to catch up to that level," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said after practice on Wednesday. "Youve got to learn from it and youve got to get off to a better start." Portland, which committed 20 turnovers to just nine assists, had posted a 14-7 record against San Antonio the past five regular seasons, the best record in the NBA against the Spurs in that time. Game 3 will be Saturday night at the Moda Center in Portland. ' ' '
