Recap: Perron puts away Penguins with hat trick, Pittsburgh falls 7-4

Ex-Penguin David Perron scores a hat trick to shift the game to the Detroit Red Wings. The Pens drop another one they might stand to regret

• By
  
  Hooks Orpik
  
• on March 28, 2023 9:51 pm

Pregame

It’s a happy return for the Penguins to welcome back Jeff Petry to the lineup. Some new faces in right wing places greet Casey DeSmith as he makes his third straight start.

The home Detroit Red Wings enter the game with the following lines and lineup.

First period

Sloppy start for Pittsburgh, Chad Ruhwedel gets beat on a deke and Mark Friedman has to clean it up and takes the game’s first penalty as a result. Detroit can’t take advantage, though they come close when old friend Olli Maatta strikes the post with a shot.

Soon after getting out of the sin bin, Friedman’s going right back for another minot after taking Dylan Larkin into the boards. Larkin hits the cross-bar but can’t score, the penalty almost expired and Detroit finally gets their reward. Austin Czarnik passes the puck right through Ruhwedel and Jonatan Berggren shoots from in front. The puck leaks through DeSmith and doesn’t even hit the back of the net but does trickle over the goal-line. 1-0 DET.

Only 34 seconds later, the Wings strike again. P.O. Joseph and Jake Guentzel aren’t on the same page on a breakout and it ends up going back to Moritz Seider. The defender shoots from the point and it hits off Andrew Copp and something else too, leaving DeSmith with no chance. 2-0 Red Wings.

Pittsburgh gets their chance at a power play, with Czarnik getting the gate for holding. Guentzel puts one quick shot that Alex Nedeljkovic stops but don’t get much out of it.

Detroit continues their goal party when they get back to even. They get traffic in front of the net. Nicklas Lidstrom, uhh make that Gustav Lindstrom scores by snapping a shot that clicks off Domnik Kubalik in front and ends up lighting the lamp. 3-0 Detroit.

Shots are 10-9 Detroit, but that’s the only place this game is close. Rotten effort and start for the Pens.

Second period

The spark for the Pens comes from their second line. Evgeni Malkin slings a shot on goal. Nedeljkovic leaves a rebound that Rickard Rakell quickly pounces on and centers for Jason Zucker to smack it in. 3-1, Pens are on the board.

Pittsburgh starts getting to a hitting game, Drew O’Connor finishes a big check that raises the temperature a little bit. Detroit tries to respond, but Lindstrom takes a tripping call to open the door for another Pens’ power play. While the Pens are working on that power play, Malkin gets hooked and taken down, leading to 1:20 of an extended 5v3 opportunity. They quickly pick the Red Wings apart and…