The Detroit Red Wings used a chippy, productive second period to build a comfortable lead.
The Pittsburgh Penguins pushed back, whittling away at a three-goal deficit Wednesday at Little Caesars Arena. The Wings were able to withstand a late push to win, 6-3, their third victory in a row.
A lengthy video review upheld Andrew Copp’s empty-net goal with 92 seconds to play. Alex DeBrincat likewise added his second goal of the game when he found an an empty net with 1:11 to play.
Ville Husso made 29 saves.
DeBrincat’s first goal helped the Wings recover from a shoddy start. Ben Chiarot, Copp and David Perron scored during the second period, which ended with a couple of scrums, one of which had Dylan Larkin engage in a brief fight with Marcus Pettersson, and the other, Moritz Seider tussle with Evgeni Malkin.
Sidney Crosby set up Erik Karlsson early in the third period to edge the Penguins within two goals. Jeff Petry took a stick penalty soon after, but the Wings were able to quell Pittsburgh’s momentum with a strong penalty killing effort that included Copp being awarded a penalty shot (unsuccessful) after Kris Letang hauled him down on a breakaway. Bryan Rust made it a one-goal game on a setup from Karlsson at 13:03.
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Productive period
The Wings went up by a goal early in the second period. Larkin sent the puck to Chiarot, who took a step and fired a shot through traffic that sank into the far corner. It was Chiarot’s first point of the season. The Wings built on that lead at 15:42, when Petry ripped a shot from the blue that went in off Copp. Perron stuffed Larkin’s rebound at 17:49, 17 seconds into the Wings’ first power play of the game.
DeBrincat’s streak grows
Credit Austin Czarnik, who made a second straight appearance while Robby Fabbri recovers from an undisclosed injury, with making a really nice pass — and DeBrincat for finishing it. The two connected in the first period to level the score at 1, with Czarnik sending the puck down low just as DeBrincat arrived to put it behind Tristan Jarry. That extended DeBrincat’s scoring streak to four straight games; when he assisted on Perron’s power play goal, it gave DeBrincat five goals and three assists.
Penguins march all over ice
Crosby won the opening faceoff against J.T. Compher and before the Wings could recover, Malkin had scored. Reilly Smith had the puck deep in Detroit’s zone whe he found Malkin, who had time and space to score his fourth goal of the season. The Wings struggled to regain composure, pushed into their own zone as the Penguins directed one shot after another at Husso.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings walk by Penguins, 6-3, for third straight win
