Penguins’ winless streak continues
PITTSBURGH (AP) – After a lackluster first period against the free-falling Pittsburgh Penguins, Sergei Fedorov and the Detroit Red Wings got back to basics. “It was our third game in four nights, and it was not easy to come up with a game plan because Pittsburgh is struggling. So we just concentrated on our game,” Fedorov said.
Fedorov scored twice in the third period to help Detroit beat Pittsburgh 5-1 Tuesday night for its fifth straight victory.
“The way we’ve been playing lately gives us a lot of confidence against other teams,” Fedorov said. “We can control the puck, move it quickly, and we’re not in a rush to give it back. That turned out to be a pretty good game plan.”
Fedorov also had an assist, and linemate Brendan Shanahan added a goal and two assists for Detroit, which remained atop the Western Conference standings and just two points behind Ottawa for the NHL points lead.
Darren McCarty and Luc Robitaille also scored for the Red Wings, who have lost just one of 18 games in regulation (16-1-0-1).
The Penguins are winless in 13 games (0-12-1), the second-longest streak in team history. They are also winless in nine home games (0-8-1).
“That’s certainly a great team. They just keep coming and coming and coming,” Pittsburgh goalie Johan Hedberg said. “I don’t know how many games we’ve been playing without winning, but I don’t know when the last time was that we had a bounce go our way, either.”
Detroit was holding a 2-1 lead after two periods when Fedorov threw a quick pass from the left wing corner toward the Pittsburgh net. It bounced off the skate of Penguins defenseman Dick Tarnstrom and past Hedberg at 1:08.
“The lucky goal discouraged them a bit,” Red Wings coach Dave Lewis said. “It was a game at 2-1 and they had generated chances, especially in the first 30 minutes. I think we got emotionally into it (after that). We weren’t as sharp as we should have been in the first period.”
Manny Legace stopped Brian Holzinger’s breakaway in the opening minute. Martin Straka’s 17th goal gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 8:30 after he slipped behind the Detroit defense and converted Tomas Surovy’s pass.
“We didn’t match their intensity early in the game,” Legace said. “But we didn’t give them much in the second period, and we gave them absolutely nothing in the third.”
Pittsburgh’s lead was short-lived, as McCarty deflected Nicklas Lidstrom’s shot from the left point past Hedberg just 11 seconds after Straka’s goal.
Shanahan gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead at 8:38 of the second period when he converted Fedorov’s pass from the left-wing corner for his 29th goal.
Fedorov scored his second goal from the left circle at 3:57 of the third period on the power play, and Robitaille converted Igor Larionov’s pass for his ninth at 10:37.
NOTES: Straka’s goal was his 500th NHL point. … Pittsburgh LW Ramzi Abid, acquired March 11 from Phoenix, will have surgery Thursday to repair a knee injury sustained Sunday against Florida. … Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, who didn’t play Sunday against Ottawa, returned to the lineup. He has sat out three of 12 games since coming back from offseason knee surgery. … Michal Rozsival returned to the Pittsburgh lineup after missing seven games with a thumb injury. … The Red Wings’ line of Brett Hull, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk has 71 points in the last 18 games.