DETROIT — Mike Sullivan said Saturday morning that the Penguins, with no more margin for error, must treat every game from here on out as a must-win.
They did just that when the puck dropped two hours later at Little Caesars Arena, avoiding all their bad habits and another letdown against an inferior foe.
The Penguins easily defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 5-1, on Saturday afternoon. Sidney Crosby had a three-point game and notched his 1,500th career point. Alex Nylander stepped in to score an important early goal. And the Penguins put forth another stingy defensive effort to move back into playoff position.
Saturday was the first time they won two straight since March 11 and 12.
With the win, the Penguins moved one point ahead of the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders in the race for the final two Eastern Conference playoff spots. The Panthers and the Islanders will both play a game Saturday night.
Crosby’s milestone point came in the third period, on his second goal of the game. With the Penguins on the power play, he received a simple pass from Kris Letang in the left circle, surveyed the scene then wired his wrister top shelf.
He is the seventh player all time to reach 1,500 points with one franchise.
His goal made it 4-1 and allowed the Penguins to coast to their critical win.
Saturday’s game had their earliest start of the season, beginning at 1 p.m. The Penguins were tentative early as they faced a younger, carefree club that two days earlier was eliminated from playoff contention. The Penguins settled down once they got a goal from an unlikely source midway through the first period.
Nylander, skating in his first NHL game since March 18, pulled in a nice pass from Mikael Granlund, showed patience then snapped a shot past Ville Husso. Given his poise on that play, you might think Nylander scored all the time. But that was Nylander’s first NHL goal since 2020 and his first for Pittsburgh.
Crosby pushed the lead to 2-0 with three seconds left in the first period. Detroit defenseman Jake Walman foolishly tried to dance around Jake Guentzel in front of his own net. Walman lost the puck and Crosby scooped it up, quickly spinning to flip one of his signature backhand shots under the crossbar.
The Penguins this season have given up a slew of goals in the final minute of a period. For once, they were the ones to bury one of those tilting tallies.
They rode that momentum into the second period, continued to control play then made it 3-0 when Danton Heinen batted in a rebound at about knee high. Crosby had the first two whacks, picking up NHL point No. 1,499 on the play.
The Penguins gave one right back 42 seconds later. Pius Suter scored for the Red Wings at the end of a tic-tac-toe play against their top defensive pair.
Crosby and Evgeni Malkin scored in the third period to put the game away.
Tristan Jarry stopped 19 shots to win for the second time in as many starts. The Penguins made it easy for him. They picked up where they left off in Thursday’s win against the Minnesota Wild, limiting odd-man rushes and defending hard inside their zone. The Red Wings didn’t have many shots from the slot.
ICE CHIPS
— Drew O’Connor did not play Saturday. He was hit up high by Wild defenseman Matt Dumba in Thursday’s win, went to the dressing room then returned to play the final two periods. Nylander replaced him in the lineup Saturday.
— Nylander skated on the third line at the start of Saturday’s game. The Penguins bumped Danton Heinen down into O’Connor’s spot on the fourth line.
— Defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Dmitry Kulikov and forward Nick Bonino remained sidelined, but the injured players all skated Saturday morning.
STAT N’AT
1,188 – The number of games that Crosby needed to reach 1,500 career points. Only five players in NHL history have pulled off that feat in fewer games.
COMING UP
The Penguins are off Sunday and are scheduled to practice Monday in Cranberry. Their next game is Tuesday against Chicago at PPG Paints Arena.
