In Detroit, the Red Wings surrendered a 3-0 and a 4-3 lead to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.
Detroit recovered when David Period, who had put the Red Wings ahead, 4-3, early in the third, scored twice for a hat trick and a 6-4 lead en route to a 7-4 win.
Dylan Larkin hit an empty-net for the 7-4 final.
“This was a special night,” Perron said. “My favorite hat trick was definitely the one last year in the playoffs (for the St. Louis Blues against the Minnesota Wild), but it was nice to contribute to a win tonight.”
Alex Nedeljkovic made 35 saves in the Detroit win.
“We all know the history with the Penguins and the back-to-back Stanley Cup [championships in 2016 and 2017], so it is special to play against them,” said Larkin. “They are in the position we want to be in next year, so this is very meaningful for our young team.”
The Red Wings improved to 32-32-9.
Detroit took a 3-0 lead in the first period on goals from Jonatan Berggren off the power play, Andrew Copp, Dominik Kubalik.
Pittsburgh dropped to 36-28-10, and failed to put further distance between themselves and the Florida Panthers in the chase for the second wild card.
The Pens rallied with three goals of their own in the middle frame.
Jason Zucker, Jake Guentzel (power play), and Jeff Carter knotted the game at 3-3 headed to the third period.
“I thought the guys really responded to [Lalonde] getting thrown out,” Detroit assistance coach Bob Boughner said. “They played hard, inspired hockey, especially in the third period.”
Peron put the Red Wings back in front in the third, 4-3, but Josh Archibald got the Pens even at 4-4, ahead of the Peron hat trick.
“I don’t know how to explain that,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “We got outplayed in the first period and I liked our response. We climbed back into the game, but we just didn’t get it done in the third.”
Casey DeSmith made 18 saves in the Pens loss.
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