PITTSBURGH _ The Detroit Red Wings came out with another good start _ and left with another disappointing finish.
They emerged from the Christmas break as they entered it: With a loss that highlighted a disparity in talent. Thursday's game at PPG Paints Arena saw the Penguins win 5-2 on the strength of three straight goals in the second period, two of them from a power play unit that featured Phil Kessel, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
The Wings built a lead as Dylan Larkin scored to extend his point streak to 12 games, but they had rotten puck luck, hitting two goalposts and two crossbars. Jimmy Howard played well before being pulled with more than three minutes to play in regulation. They've won just twice the last 10 games.
The Wings built on Sunday's performance at Toronto with a good start against the Penguins, using speed to gain the offensive zone and testing Matt Murray. The Wings went on a power play 1:23 into the game, and Filip Hronek just missed scoring, as his shot clanked off a goalpost. Frans Nielsen had a terrific shot denied by Murray around the period's midpoint.
Gustav Nyquist won a puck battle along the wall and fed the puck to Larkin, who angled a puck from the bottom of the left faceoff over Murray's shoulder and into the far corner of the net while Justin Abdelkader screened to make it 1-0, at 11:49. Thomas Vanek had an open shot soon after but the puck hit the crossbar. Jimmy Howard made 10 saves in the first period.
It was more back-and-forth as the second period took shape. The Wings got into trouble when Filip Hronek and Patric Hornqvist engaged in some stick holding in front of Howard, leading to a penalty on Hronek. The Penguins _ who entered the game with a power play that ranked 22nd at home _ converted when Phil Kessel eluded Jonathan Ericsson, skated in and scored. Just over a minute later, the Penguins took the lead when Derick Brassard tipped Kessel's shot stick-side on Howard. Dennis Cholowksi hit a crossbar. The Wings fell into a 3-1 hole when Kessel converted on a second power play with a shot from the slot at 18:52 of the second period. Hronek hit another goalpost as the second period came to a close.
Andreas Athanasiou cut the Penguins' lead to one goal when he sped off on a breakaway and scored five-hole on Murray at 4:45 of the third period. It was Athanasiou's first goal since Nov. 28. He missed the previous two games because of injury. The Penguins needed just 1:10 to restore a two-goal lead, with Hornqvist redirecting Jack Johnson's shot past Howard. From there, it was the Penguins who carried play, running up a 13-3 edge in shots as the Wings were unable to clear their zone. Brassard scored into an empty net with 2:25 to play in the third period.
