PITTSBURGH -- To those watching, it appeared that Kris Versteeg pulled off a couple of deft dekes. He remembered it a little differently.

"Sometimes you close your eyes and it goes in. So I was lucky there," Versteeg said Tuesday after he scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.

Versteeg, Calgary's first shooter, beat goaltender Matt Murray as the Flames recovered from watching their two-goal lead evaporate in the third period.

The Flames (28-25-3) won for the fourth time in five games.

Calgary goaltender Chad Johnson made 31 saves to halt a three-game winning streak by Pittsburgh (33-13-6) and keep Penguins center Sidney Crosby from reaching the career milestone of 1,000 points.

"Had some really good looks, open nets," said Crosby, whose lone point, No. 998, was an assist. "Goalie made some really big saves, hit some posts. That's going to happen sometimes."

The Flames, as with most teams most nights, keyed on Crosby.

"I think we limited Sid as much as possible," Versteeg said. "He's pretty incredible, the way he can make things happen out of nothing."

In the shootout, Johnson stopped Phil Kessel and Crosby, and Kris Letang rang a shot off the post.

"You're just kind of in the moment," Johnson said. "I try not to worry too much who I'm going against. You just try to be in position and be patient. Obviously, I know Crosby has a good release, so I was just trying to be patient and get the pads down as quick as possible."

Crosby was involved in the first goal of the game, but surely not in a way he would have wanted. His giveaway led to a breakaway by Michael Ferland. With Crosby and defenseman Brian Dumoulin chasing, Ferland raced down the slot and beat goaltender Matt Murray to the glove side for a 1-0 Calgary lead at 16:19 of the second period.

Michael Frolik upped the Flames' lead to 2-0 just 1:44 later. He and linemates Matthew Tkachuk and Mikael Backlund executed a zone-wide give-and-go, and Frolik put a one-timer inside the left post.

"I thought we carried the momentum most of the game, but those two goals were killers," said Murray, who made 28 saves but had his home record fall to 7-1-2.

"That breakaway is one that I need to have -- I need to make the save there -- but I really liked our resolve and our resilience in the third period to come back and at least get the point."

Crosby got the secondary assist at 5:51 of the third when Chris Kunitz swept the puck inside the left post to make it 2-1.

The point also moved Crosby into a tie with Edmonton's Connor McDavid atop the NHL scoring. They have 60 points apiece.

Pittsburgh tied it 2-2 at 15:06 of the third when Jake Guentzel scored short side from the bottom of the left circle.

"We probably found our game more in the third," Kunitz said. "We probably weren't very effective in the first two periods, but we found a way to claw back into it and found a way to get one point, but I think that overall in that 60-minute game, we were probably lacking."

The Flames got a puck past Murray in overtime, but it was disallowed because Murray's helmet had been knocked off.

That sequence came as Pittsburgh was killing a Calgary power play to help send the game to the shootout.

Crosby's 1,000th point might come on the road. Pittsburgh plays Thursday at Colorado and Saturday at Arizona before returning home for a game next Tuesday against Vancouver.

NOTES: Pittsburgh C Evgeni Malkin, who missed his fifth consecutive game due to a lower-body injury, has returned to practice but has not been cleared to take contact. ... Penguins LW Carl Hagelin (concussion) has skated the past two days after being injured Saturday. ... Penguins C Sidney Crosby played in his 753rd game, tying him with Jean Pronovost for third all-time in club history. ... G Matt Murray started in the Pittsburgh net for the ninth time in the past 10 games despite a strong performance and a win Saturday from G Marc-Andre Fleury (one goal on 23 shots at St. Louis). ... Flames G Chad Johnson started for the first time in five games. ... Calgary RW Garnet Hathaway (upper-body injury) returned after missing nine games. ... Flames D Jyrki Jokipakka, who had played the previous three games, was replaced in the lineup by D Brett Kulak, who did not play the previous three games. ... Calgary also scratched C Lance Bouma and C Freddie Hamilton; Pittsburgh scratched D Chad Ruhwedel.