James Neal leads Pittsburgh Penguins to 5-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings
James Neal lit the lamp in the sixth round of the shootout to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-4 victory against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena on Monday night.
Pascal Dupuis netted two goals and had an assist, while Brent Johnson turned away 37 shots for Pittsburgh, who have now won three of their last four games.
Tyler Kennedy also notched a goal, while Chris Kunitz tallied a goal and an assist to earn the victory.
Dan Cleary and Valtteri Filppula both found the back of the net and dished out an assist for Detroit, who have lost their last two play-offs. Henrik Zetterberg and Mike Modano each also added a goal in the loss.
Jimmy Howard was beaten for four goals on 15 shots and was pulled in the middle stanza. Joey McDonald replaced him and made 10 saves in the losing effort.
Red Wings Head Coach Mike Babcock was pleased with his side’s performance despite the loss. He said, "Our guys really battled and we're able to rally to get a point. It was nice to see that, I mean it would have been nice to get the second one, but we'll
take it, especially after the start that we had."
The Penguins drew first blood to take a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute of the opening frame, as Dupuis fired a shot between the goalie’s skate and left pad on a wide wraparound. Kunitz doubled Pittsburgh’s advantage with 43 seconds remaining in the
first period, as he followed up a rebound off Dupuis’ shot and knocked it into the net.
Dupuis pushed the Penguins’ lead to 3-0 with a short-handed goal just eleven minutes into the middle session, as Dupuis lost the puck that bounced off toward him from the end boards. He took advantage on another chance when he got the puck behind the net
and buried it home from the right side for his 13th goal of the season.
The Penguins built a huge 4-0 advantage with less than seven minutes left in the second period, as Tyler Kenndey grabbed his own rebound and tipped a backhander into the net. The Red Wings finally got on the board to make it a 4-1 game in the 18th
minute of the second period, when Zetterberg ripped a backhander toward the net from the left circle that was redirected home by Penguins’ Kris Letang’s skate.
Filppula reduced the deficit to 4-2, just two minutes into the final frame, when he stole the puck from a Pittsburgh’s defender down low at the left side and stuffed it home.
The Red Wings made it one-goal game, 4-3, on a power play just eight minutes into the third period. The goal came when Detroit won a left circle face-off and Niklas Kronwall unleashed a shot on net from the right point that was redirected into the net by
Cleary.
Detroit then tied the game at 4-4 on a power play midway through the final stanza. The play was set up by Filppula, who sent a cross-ice pass from the left circle to the right, where Modano blasted a wrist shot past Johnson’s glove to send the game into
overtime.
After a scoreless overtime, Johnson stopped shots from Todd Bertuzzi and Modano in the extra period. James Neal then sealed the win at 5-4 in the final round of the shootout, as he rushed in and stuffed the puck into the right corner of the net.
Penguins Head Coach Dan Bylsma praised Neal after the game. He said, "He's a guy I wanted to see win the game for us. He certainly came up with a big shot, he's done it in the past and he did it again here tonight."
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