With their third straight win, and eighth in nine games, the Pittsburgh Penguins (23-10-1) defeated the Detroit Red Wings (15-10-9) on Saturday night. The Penguins won 4-1, with backup goalie Jeff Zatkoff in net, and handed Detroit its fourth consecutive loss.
Unfortunately for the victors, these two points in the standings came at a significant cost. Evgeni Malkin was injured in the third period on a play in which he was also called for a holding penalty. Malkin was wrapped up with Red Wings winger Luke Glendenning, and fell onto his stomach and backwards into the boards, legs first. He was looked at by trainers and helped off the ice, unable to put any weight on his left leg.
At that point in the game, the Penguins had built a 3-1 lead through the first two periods. After Niklas Kronwall scored six minutes in for Detroit, Pittsburgh answered with power play goals by Sidney Crosby and Malkin. Olli Maatta added one late in the second period and Crosby scored his second of the night with six minutes remaining to finish off the struggling Red Wings.
Late in the first period, enforcer Derek Engelland was ejected and given a five-minute penalty for injuring Justin Abdelkader on a blow to the head in the open ice. Both players went for the puck, which flew by as Engelland hit Abdelkader hard in the upper chest and in the chin. On an already injured roster, and without the suspended James Neal, the Penguins can ill forward to lose any other players for any amount of time.
Pittsburgh now has 47 points and leads the Metropolitan Division by ten points over Washington. They are tied for the NHL lead with 23 wins, only matched by Chicago in that category. They return home Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
