In Pittsburgh, the Penguins rebounded from a 7-4 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday night with a 6-3 win over the struggling Detroit Red Wings.
Sidney Crosby had a goal and two points in the win, he ended an 11-game drought on the goal sheet.
“I thought it was good,” Crosby said. “Today, I thought we worked hard, generated a lot, especially in the first half of the game. That was the difference. Just converted.”
Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves in the win.
The Pens improved to 30-28-9.
“I thought we were much better defensively tonight, certainly, than we were yesterday (in a 7-4 loss to the New York Rangers),” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “Give Detroit credit, they’ve got some good players. They’re going to get some looks. But I thought we just did a better job defending with numbers and keeping the puck to the perimeter. That’s just an essential aspect of winning.”
The Penguins took a 3-1 lead through the first 20 minutes of the game.
Reilly Smith staked the Pens to a 1-0 lead midway through the opening stanza scoring with the puck glancing off his leg into the cage.
The Red Wings replied with a goal from Lucas Raymond at 15:39 to tie the game, 1-1, scoring a shot form the left side.
Crosby potted his marker at 18:53 for a 2-1 lead to the Pens, scoring off a rebound.
Pittsburgh the added another strike in the frame when Valtteri Puustinen scored with 44 seconds left on the clock. He scored off a slap shot form the right circle.
The Senators were outshot in the first period, 15-4.
The Red Wings dropped to 34-28-6 off their eighth loss in nine matches.
“I think there’s a little recipe for this group,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “We played extremely well last night. Things we’ve been trying to emphasize, better D-zone, managing the puck. There were moments in tonight’s game that got away from us. This is a really talented team. If you’re not hard on them, if you don’t take away their time and space, that’s what it’s going to look like.”
In the middle frame, the Penguins continued with the offense, pushing their advantage to 4-1 with a strike by Michael Bunting at 9:34, collecting a rebound at the crease.
The Senators pushed back, a bit, with a marker form Christian Fischer at 17:35 to trim the deficit to 4-2.
The pens replied to the Ottawa strike with a power play goal from Lars Eller at 19:39 for a 5-2 lead after two periods.
“It is a playoff situation for us right now,” Eller said. “We have to win way more games than we’re losing to stay in the fight. We’re still believing and still hanging in, taking one game at a time. It’s a little bit of a playoff mentality.”
In the third period, Raymond collected his double on the night with a marker at 16:37 to cut into the Pens lead at 5-3.
Drew O’Connor iced the win for Pittsburgh when he hit an empty net with 25 seconds left for the 6-3 final count on the scoreboard.
Alex Lyon made 34 saves in the loss.
“We give their skill and their guys that much time on the power play,” Lalonde said. “They get touches, they get looks, they get momentum, they get rolling. Our first power play ended up being in the second period, we get five or six shots on it. We dominated the next two shifts, and we get a goal.”
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