Crosby returns but Red Wings roll
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH
With a mid-March malaise threatening to become something far more ominous, the Detroit Red Wings figured it was time to clear the air before facing Pittsburgh on Sunday.
The Red Wings wouldn’t call the players-only meeting a big deal, just a necessary one.
“We just said ‘Enough is enough,”’ forward Henrik Zetterberg said. “We’ve got to go out and play, got to enjoy playing first of all. It was almost like everyone was a little afraid out there and not embracing it. Today it was a lot better.”
Certainly looked like it.
Zetterberg had a goal and an assist, Teemu Pulkkinen scored twice for the first multigoal game of his career and the Red Wings had little trouble in a 5-1 win.
Barely 24 hours removed from a 7-2 whipping in Philadelphia, the Red Wings righted themselves on the other side of Pennsylvania. Marek Zidlicky added a goal and two assists and Riley Sheahan also scored for Detroit. Petr Mrazek made 42 saves for his first win in over a month.
“We needed this one,” Pulkkinen said. “We were talking after the game yesterday that we can’t play like that.”
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped just 12 of the 16 shots before being pulled in the second period as the Penguins lost their second straight. David Perron scored his 17th of the season for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby picked up an assist after missing Saturday’s loss to Boston due to an illness, but the Penguins mustered little flow without center Evgeni Malkin, who is out indefinitely with a lower body injury.
“We’ve just got to regroup here and understand basically our playoffs start right now,” Crosby said. “You have to enter playing the right way. You have to do things right and have that mentality for the rest of the year.”
The Penguins drew 64 penalty minutes, including a handful of 10-minute misconducts.
“Certainly I thought our guys got on edge way too quick in the game,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Johnston said. “Penalties and 10-minute misconducts killed us tonight. It kept us from getting back into the game.”
Sheahan gave Detroit the lead 1:21 in by deflecting a Zidlicky slap shot from the point by a well-screened Fleury. Pulkkinen made it 2-0 late in the first period when he buried a one-timer from the left circle over the goaltender’s right shoulder.
Pittsburgh’s frustration quickly bubbled over. Chris Kunitz drew a roughing call with 52 seconds left in the first, and the veteran forward added a 10-minute misconduct and an unsportsmanlike minor for squabbling with officials at the end of the period.