PITTSBURGH -- The San Jose Sharks kept coming at Marc-Andre Fleury. 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. Carlos Gomez Jersey . -- During a players meeting following the All-Star break, Jermaine ONeal promised his teammates to play the rest of the regular season like he would never play again -- because he very well might not. Gregor Blanco Jersey . Peko, a fourth-round pick in 2006, started all 16 games and a playoff loss to San Diego last season. He was second on the line with 72 tackles and had a career-high three sacks. http://www.metssale.com/mets-zack-wheeler-jersey/. If Vettel wins at Suzuka on Sunday, and his nearest rival Fernando Alonso finishes worse than eighth, the German driver will join his compatriot Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four consecutive titles. Keith Hernandez Mets Jersey .com) - Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 12 points in the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats 70-55 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Travis dArnaud Jersey . The visitors missed a host of good chances to win the game, and were left to rue substitute Ivo Ilicevics strike against the crossbar in the 86th minute, when he only had the goalkeeper to beat.DALLAS -- Boris Diaws big third quarter wasnt enough to hold off a Dallas comeback. The San Antonio veterans decisive shot in the final minute was. Diaw hit a go-ahead 3-pointer for the last of his 17 points, Manu Ginobili scored 23 and the top-seeded Spurs held on to beat the Mavericks 93-89 in Game 4 on Monday night, pulling even in their first-round playoff series. "Youve got to give up something," said Dirk Nowitzki, who was running at Diaw as the shot was released. "That was a tough one." Just like Vince Carters buzzer-beating 3-pointer was for the Spurs two days earlier, when Dallas went up 2-1 with a one-point win. The difference was, the Mavericks had a chance to do something about Diaws shot after San Antonio went up 90-87 with 32 seconds remaining. Nowitzki, who had 19 points, had a putback on a missed 3 by Monta Ellis to get Dallas within 90-89 with 19 seconds to go. But the Mavericks let nearly 10 seconds run off the clock before fouling Ginobili. Ginobili missed one of the free throws, giving Ellis a chance to tie on a driving layup. Ellis, who led the Mavericks with 20 points, missed again to finish a 6-of-20 shooting night. "I had a good look at the end but it didnt go down," Ellis said. The Spurs, who led by 20 points in the third quarter, regained the home-court advantage by getting a split of two games in Dallas, matching what the eighth-seeded Mavericks did in San Antonio. Game 5 is Wednesday night in San Antonio, and the Spurs are going back tied because a bench thats been quiet this post-season outscored Dallas reserves 50-30. "We knew that we could do better," Diaw said. "We didnt play the same like we did during the regular season." Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter had double-doubles for the Spurs, with Duncan getting 14 points and 10 rebounds and Splitter adding 10 points and 12 boards. San Antonio, which led from early in the second quarter until late in the fourth, was down 83-82 when former teammate DeJuan Blair was ejected for kicking Splitter in the back of the head after getting called for a foul when he got tangled up with the San Antonio centre as both players fell to the court. Ginobili, who had five assists, madde the technical free throw for an 83-all tie, and Splitter hit both free throws on the foul for an 85-83 San Antonio lead.dddddddddddd Blair had a big hand in getting Dallas back in the game, scoring all 12 of his points and grabbing nine of his 11 rebounds in the second half. "Its real disappointing because with me in the game our momentum was going great and when that happened and that got me out of there, that was a big deal," said Blair, who said the kick was unintentional. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich challenged his team to play with more "nastiness" after falling behind in the series with two straight losses, and his Spurs responded in the first half. The best display was in a dominant second quarter, when the Spurs outscored the Mavericks 32-13. Kawhi Leonard intended to swat Carters driving shot into the stands. Instead, Patty Mills dived into the seats to save it, sending the Spurs on a fast break that ended with a miss by Tony Parker, who had 10 points of 5-of-14 shooting. Parkers miss didnt matter, though, because the Mavericks were in the middle of a 5-minute scoreless stretch that included eight straight misses to cap a 2-of-18 shooting spell from late in the first quarter to late in the second. Dallas shot 21 per cent in the second quarter. Diaw scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting in the third quarter, and looked like he was going to be able to hold off the Dallas surge. "Manu and Boris changed the entire game," Duncan said. "They kept us from blowing a big lead." Dallas hurt itself with missed free throws. Samuel Dalembert was 1 of 6 from the line two nights after he hit two late to get Dallas even in a back-and-forth final minute. The Mavericks were 18 of 28 from the line. NOTES: Both teams wore black socks in support of the Los Angeles Clippers as the NBA investigates racist comments that owner Donald Sterling is alleged to have made in a taped conversation. ... Dalembert had 15 rebounds but just three points. ... The Spurs improved to 25-0 on the road when leading after three quarters. They are 53-1 overall. ... Nowitzki was held under 20 points in a fourth straight playoff game for the first time since his first post-season in 2001. ' ' '