Pens Clip Red Wings 4-1
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings renewed their rivalry Tuesday night at the CONSOL Energy Center.
Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 36 shots and four different Penguins scored in a 4-1 win.
Jordan Staal opened the scoring just 3:02 into the contest on a great feed by Tyler Kennedy after a turnover.
Red Wings goaltender Joey MacDonald stopped a lazy dump in and promptly turned the puck over to Kennedy. Staal followed up and was the recipient of a tap in goal after Kennedy moved the puck back to the front of the net.
Later, Chris Conner was awarded his first-career penalty shot after being hooked on a breakaway by Kris Draper.
Conner closed in on MacDonald with speed and used a quick shoulder and stick deke to open up the five hole before sliding a backhander through the legs to put the Pens up 2-0.
The score would remain unchanged for the remainder of the first period and well into the second. Johan Franzen's goal at 17:28 cut the lead in half.
However, the Penguins would answer just 30 seconds later to regain their two-goal lead.
Niklas Kronwall's pass out of the defensive zone was knocked down by Chris Kunitz. Evgeni Malkin picked up the loose puck and fed a pass to Kunitz.
The puck bounced off Kunitz's stick to Pascal Dupuis, who fired a backhand shot that was stopped by MacDonald. However, Kunitz was there for the rebound and made no mistake with it to put Pittsburgh up 3-1.
Matt Cooke sealed the deal with an empty net goal off a feed from Kennedy at 18:41 of the third period.
Pittsburgh will now head to New Jersey to take on the Devils Thursday night. The Devils are currently in the basement of the Atlantic Division and hold the NHL's worst record.
