*Photo from the Observer-Reporter*
Sometimes games rely on defense. Sometimes they rely on offense. Dylan Larkin had a goal and two assists, David Perron had a hat trick, and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 7-4 victory on Tuesday night in Detroit.
Winning just their 4th game out of 10, the Red Wings are all but out of the playoff race, but were able to play spoiler to the Penguins playoff hopes, handing them their 6th loss in 8 games. Moritz Seider, Jordan Oesterle, and Pius Suter each had two assists to go with Perron and Larkin's performances.
Larkin said of playing the Penguins that "We all know the history with the Penguins and the back-to-back Stanley Cup, so it is special to play against them. They are in the position we want to be in next year, so this is very meaningful for our young team."
Jonatan Berggren got the Red Wings on the board, scoring a power play goal to make it 1-0, his 13th goal of the season. Andrew Copp scored 34 seconds later for Detroit, doubling their lead to 2-0. Dominik Kubalik then scored his 19th goal of the season at the 16:07 mark of the first, making the score 3-0.
The Penguins got on the board in the second period, with Jason Zucker scoring 4:40 into the period to make it a 3-1 game. Jake Guentzel followed that up with a power play goal, making it a 3-2 game on his 33rd goal of the season. Jeff Carter then scored a power play goal of his own, evening the score 3-3 after two periods.
Perron scored 4:05 into the 3rd period for the Red Wings to put them ahead 4-3. Josh Archibald then scored for the Penguins to tie the game 4-4. Perron then got his second and 3rd goals less than a minute apart, giving the Red Wings a 6-4 advantage as he completed the hat trick. Larkin then scored on an empty net to seal the 7-4 win.
Asked about getting a hat trick, Perron said that "The biggest one of my career was obviously the one in the playoffs last year, but this one was special. I’ve gotten more in my 30s than I did in my early 20s, so maybe I’ve still got a couple left."
It was Alex Nedeljkovic in goal for the Red Wings, winning his first game since November 6. Nedeljkovic stopped 35 of the 39 shots he faced from the Penguins, which was good for a .897 save percentage. His record improved to 3-6-2 in 12 games, 10 of which have been starts.
Getting the start for the Penguins was Casey DeSmith, who got shelled and fell to 14-16-4 in 37 games with the loss. DeSmith mustered only 18 saves on the 24 shots the Red Wings had, recording a paltry .750 save percentage.
Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said of the team's latest loss that "I don’t know how to explain it. We got outplayed in that first period. What I did like was the response. I thought we responded the right way and climbed back into the game. It turns into a one-period game and then we didn’t get it done in the third."
Both teams get back in action on Thursday night with home games. Nedeljkovic is projected to start for the Red Wings against the Carolina Hurricanes, while Tristan Jarry is in line to start for the Penguins against the Nashville Predators.
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