Wings vs. Penguins on a Sunday afternoon. The weather is getting warmer and the fans are getting restless.
The Wings came out of the gate playing hard, but struggling to adjust to an ice surface that looked like it needed to be scraped right out of the gate. The Penguins were ready though as Jeff Carter got into the zone with speed and fed Kasperi Kapanen, who cut across the crease and deked Alex Nedeljkovic out of his crease before dumping it into the net behind him. 1-0 Pittsburgh.
For the next chunk of play, it was really just waiting for Larkin’s line to get back on the ice to have any hope of the Wings scoring a goal.
2nd TV timeout sees Evgeni Malkin feed Rickard Rakell for an A+ scoring chance in front of Ned that the Wings’ goalie just gets his glove onto.
14 minutes in, the Larkin line is pushing to try to get pucks in front and get caught as Moritz Seider steps up in the offensive zone without a forward being in position to cover back on him. Brian Boyle runs Seider over and Pittsburgh gets a 2-on-1 rush. Teddy Blueger finishes. 2-0 Penguins.
The period ends with the Wings having more shots and much less interest in playing heavy along the boards.
The 2nd period starts with Dylan Larkin having Tristan Jarry guessing pass on a 2-on-1 and still hitting the pad. Then on the next shift the Wings took an offensive zone hooking penalty. Pius Suter with the hook.
Malkin scores 4 seconds later on the power play. Double-deflection off Wings sticks. 3-0 Pittsburgh.
The Wings barely avoid going down another on the very next shift. Fortunately that didn’t happen and then the refs felt bad enough to give Brian Boyle a penalty for… something. Jeff Carter scores shorthanded. 4-0 Penguins.
Jake Walman found a way to get a puck through the crease and two of his teammates couldn’t find a way to touch it. The penalty expires and then Adam Erne takes a slashing call.
5-0 Pittsburgh
If you want to watch those, just go to NHL.com for that.
Jeff Blashill called his timeout and talked to the team. Let’s see how that works out.
6-0 Penguins.
6-1 Penguins (Dylan Larkin on a 5-on-3).
Larkin goes to the room for a few minutes after the goal and the highlight of the remainder of the 2nd period is showing him back on the bench.
7-1 Penguins.
Third period starts
8-2 Penguins.
Pickard gets hurt
9-2 Penguins.
10-2 Penguins.
11-2 Penguins
All the numbers should be posted here. https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-pit/2022/03/27/2021021050#game=2021021050,game_state=final
Bye.