GAME RECAP: Red Wings Beat Penguins 6-3

The Pittsburgh Penguins late surge falls short in 6-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were back in action after a three-day break and picked up where they left off in this one. Evgeni Malkin put the team up 1-0 early, finishing a stellar passing play from linemate Reilly Smith. The rest of the Penguins followed with a handful of productive shifts in the offensive zone.

But after a poor attempt at a power play midway through the first period, the momentum shifted quickly to the young stars of the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings dominated the following 30+ minutes of the game, building a 4-1 lead after two periods.

A strong third-period surge pulled the Penguins within one goal, but the Red Wings deposited a pair of empty net goals to close the door on the Penguins' comeback hopes.

Goal Recap

(PIT 1-0) Evgeni Malkin (3): Reilly Smith (2) & Erik Karlsson (2)

(TIE 1-1) Alex DeBrincat (4): Austin Czarnik (1) & Shayne Gostibehere (3)

(DET 2-1) Ben Chiarot (1): Dylan Larkin (3) & Jeff Petry (1)

(DET 3-1) A. Copp (2): Jeff Petry (2) & Michael Rasmussen (1)

(DET 4-1) David Perron (1): Dylan Larkin (4) & Alex DeBrincat (3)

(DET 4-2) Erik Karlsson (1): Sidney Crosby (2) & Ryan Graves (2)

(DET 4-3) Bryan Rust (4): Erik Karlsson (3) & Marcus Pettersson (2)

(DET 5-3) Andrew Copp (3)

(DET 6-3) Alex DeBrincat (5): Dylan Larkin (5)

Three Stars

3. Jeff Petry

This game was Petry's first against the Penguins since being traded as part of the three-team deal that brought Erik Karlsson to Pittsburgh in August. Petry logged 19:32 of ice time and tallied two assists to help build the Red Wings lead in the second period. He joins the long list of former Penguins to find success against their former team.

2. Erik Karlsson

Karlsson and Sidney Crosby took over in the third period, creating multiple grade-A scoring chances. The Swede picked up his first goal since joining the Penguins early in the third period to cut the Red Wings' lead to two. He then collected an assist, his second of the night, on the Bryan Rust deflection goal that brought the Penguins within one.

Karlsson nearly tied the game on a few occasions but was denied by Red Wings goalie Ville Husso, who stopped 16 of 18 shots in the final frame to seal the victory.

1. Ville Husso

It was a very ordinary game for Husso through two periods. He had made 14 saves on 15 shots, with the only goal coming in the opening minute of the contest. The Penguins hadn't tested him much to that point, but that would change in the final period.

The Red Wings defense was nowhere to be found in the last 20 minutes, but Husso denied Karlsson, Crosby, and a few other Penguins multiple chances to steal the win for the Red Wings.

Final Thoughts

What a horrible night for the Penguins third defense pairing. One of Chad Ruhwedel or P.O. Joseph was on the ice for all four of the Red Wings' goals in this one. They struggled to clear out the net front on a couple of those goals, while the others were a direct result of their failure to clog up the passing lanes.

The third pairing had performed well leading up to this one, out-chancing opponents 10-8 at 5v5 and accounting for 69% of the expected goals. Unfortunately, that trend didn't continue as the Red Wings seemingly took advantage of every one of their mistakes in this matchup.

The Penguins don't ask much of their third pairing, who have averaged just under 12 minutes per game this season. They'll need a better performance from that duo as they prepare to take on the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

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