Penguins shut out by Red Wings, 3-0

February 9, 2009 at 12:10a.m.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The booing, the chanting, the taunting. Marian Hossa heard it all before quieting Pittsburgh’s fans by doing what he did so often for the Penguins during last season’s playoffs: scoring an important goal.

Pavel Datsyuk scored twice, Hossa got the pivotal second goal midway through the third period and Ty Conklin shut out his former Penguins teammates, leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-0 victory Sunday in their first visit to Pittsburgh since winning the Stanley Cup there in June.

Datsyuk’s power-play goal at 10:08 of the second period came after the Penguins squandered three opportunities with the man advantage in the first. Conklin didn’t need much help after that, turning aside all 25 Pittsburgh shots.

Datsyuk added his 22nd goal of the season with 2:12 remaining, after Hossa’s goal 6 1/2 minutes earlier all but sealed the Red Wings’ fourth consecutive win.

Hossa, who angered Penguins fans by turning down an estimated $40 million more from Pittsburgh in an extended contract to sign a one-year deal with Detroit, skated down the right wing boards before changing directions. Shedding forward Jordan Staal, Hossa got off a backhander from the slot that eluded goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

“I tried to put everything on the backhand I had and I tried to shoot it pretty quick,” Hossa said. “I was just hoping it would get there. It kind of surprised me [it went in].”

There were three defenders between Hossa and the net, but none deflected the puck on what became Hossa’s 30th goal and sixth during Detroit’s winning streak, which followed an 0-4-1 slide.

“If you give him a second in the slot, he’s going to make a great play,” Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said.

Hossa was booed loudly whenever he stepped on the ice during the first two periods, and some in the sellout crowd of 17,132 once chanted, “Traitor, traitor.”

“I guess we expected them to boo him a little bit but, man, that was vicious at times,” Conklin said.

Hossa, who quickly became a fan favorite in Pittsburgh after being dealt at the trading deadline last year, used the fan reaction as motivation. Hossa was a key player during the Penguins’ Stanley Cup run with 12 goals and 14 assists in 20 games.

“These are great hockey fans, and they show you their emotions,” Hossa said. “Once or twice in your career you’ve got these games, so basically you try to enjoy it because this doesn’t happen often. You try to use their energy to your advantage.”

The Red Wings, following up an 8-3 win over Edmonton on Saturday, played like they did in beating Pittsburgh in the six-game finals. They prevented Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby from taking over the game, limited the Penguins’ scoring chances and repeatedly got their sticks on shots before they reached the net.

Conklin did the rest.