Zybnek Michalek and Chris Kunitz scored three minutes apart in the first period, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 36 saves as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 Monday for their sixth straight victory. The Penguins extended the NHL's longest current winning streak by holding off a late charge from the suddenly slumping Coyotes. Ray Whitney scored 21st goal of the season, but Phoenix dropped its third straight after going unbeaten in regulation in February to surge to the top of the Pacific Division. Mike Smith recovered after a shaky start to finish with 26 saves, but the Coyotes couldn't stop the Penguins from improving to 10-1 in their last 11 home games. Phoenix outshot Pittsburgh 37-28 and tilted the ice on several occasions, but Fleury continued his brilliant play in winning his sixth consecutive start. He has stopped 163 of the last 168 shots he has faced. Fleury has 35 wins, one behind Nashville's Pekka Rinne for the league lead. The Coyotes' surge in February, when they went 11-0-1, coincided with spectacular play from Smith, but his slipped in March. He was beaten by only two shots from one of the league's most potent offenses, but the Penguins are playing so well that every miscue by an opponent is magnified. Michalek, who spent five seasons with Phoenix before coming in Pittsburgh in 2010, scored his first goal since Oct. 17 with 8:16 left in the first period. He took a drop pass from Jordan Staal and beat Smith to the stick side. Kunitz scored his 19th goal 3:01 later with a nearly identical shot. Evgeni Malkin chipped the puck off the boards at center ice and onto Kunitz's stick. He swept in and fired a wrist shot that deflected off Smith's blocker and trickled in. Malkin's assist gave him 81 points and pushed him back atop the NHL scoring race. Smith was perfect from there, but the damage was already done. Fleury's only hiccup came early in the third on Whitney's 21st goal. Radim Vrbata slipped a pass from the corner to the front of the net and found Whitney, who easily slid a shot past the lunging goalie. Jets 3, Sabres 1: At Winnipeg, Manitoba, Blake Wheeler scored the deciding goal on a breakaway in the third period and Bryan Little had three assists in Winnipeg's victory over Buffalo. Andrew Ladd and Chris Thorburn also scored and Ondrej Pavelec made 23 saves for the Jets (32-27-8), who maintained their hold on eighth place in the Eastern Conference and stretched their lead over Washington to three points. Corey Tropp scored for Buffalo, and Ryan Miller stopped 28 shots. The Sabres (30-28-8) are tied for 10th place with Tampa Bay, four points behind Winnipeg. In another game, Edmonton Oilers downed Anaheim Ducks 4-2.
