After absorbing a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of nettlesome New Jersey on Thursday night, the Penguins desperately needed a bounce-back effort against the Red Wings yesterday afternoon.
They got one…in spades.
Sparked by five-point performances from Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin’s two-goal game, the Pens erupted for a season-high seven goals in a blowout win at Detroit. The outburst marked the 13th time the black and gold has tallied at least five goals in a game since Mike Sullivan became coach on December 12.
Contrary to the 7-2 final score, the Pens didn’t start like a ball of fire. While the locals muffed a number of good chances, Detroit snatched a 1-0 lead on a first-period breakaway tally by rookie Andreas Anthanasiou.
A garbage goal by Chris Kunitz got the Pens untracked. Twenty seconds into the second frame, No. 14 shoveled a tricky carom off the famously lively end-boards at “the Joe” into the back of Petr Mrazek’s pads. The Wings’ goalie inadvertently bumped the puck over the line.
The Penguins soon forged ahead. With Pavel Datsyuk off for hooking, Kris Letang took a short pass from Kessel, cruised into the right circle, and beat Mrazek five hole for his 15th goal of the season.
With the game still very much up for grabs, the Pens’ second line took charge. Hagelin struck on a great individual effort, curling off the end-boards to beat Mrazek with a bullet from the right faceoff dot. Three minutes later Kessel gathered in a pretty stretch pass from Ian Cole and blew the puck past Mrazek.
After Mike Green pared the Pens’ lead to two with a power-play goal five minutes into the third period, the onslaught resumed. Eric Fehr cashed in for his sixth at 6:44, followed by Hagelin’s second goal of the contest at 8:37.
Shaking off an injury suffered the previous day in practice, Bonino closed out the scoring with a power-play marker on a nifty backhand-to-forehand move off the rush. “Bone’s” heroics earned him the No. 3 star, behind linemates Kessel and Hagelin.
“He had a terrific game for us,” Sullivan said.
The victory gave the Penguins 90 points on the season and enabled them maintain a one-point lead over the Islanders in the race for third place in the Metro Division. The Pens hold a five-point edge over Detroit.
“We knew this was a key game, and we played like it,” said No. 2 star Hagelin. “The Red Wings have been getting closer in the race, so it was big to get two points and keep them to none.”
More Injuries
Add Kunitz and defenseman Brian Dumoulin to the Penguins’ burgeoning list of injured players.
Justin Abdelkader checked Dumoulin face-first into the boards early in the opening period. The Biddeford, Maine native appeared to be bleeding from the nose and mouth as he left the ice.
Kunitz was hurt at 16:22 of the second period when he collided with Datsyuk. The force of the impact caused his head to snap back. The peppery winger rested on all fours in an effort to gather his senses before being helped to the locker room.
No word as of yet on the exact nature and severity of the injuries.
Lovejoy Returns
With fellow defenseman Olli Maatta (lower-body injury) out on a week-to-week basis, Ben Lovejoy returned to the Pens’ lineup yesterday.
Displaying little rust following his five-week layoff, “the Reverend” registered a hit and a plus-1 in 20:26 of ice time.
