Penguins fall to Red Wings, fail to gain in wild card

DETROIT -- David Perron scored a third-period hat trick, and the Detroit Red Wings handed the Pittsburgh Penguins their sixth loss in eight games, 7-4 at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday.

"This was a special night," Perron said. "My favorite hat trick was definitely the one last year in the playoffs (for the St. Louis Blues against the Minnesota Wild), but it was nice to contribute to a win tonight."

Dylan Larkin had a goal and two assists, Andrew Copp had a goal and an assist, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 35 saves for Detroit (32-32-9) in his first win since Nov. 6 (0-4-1 in six games).
"We all know the history with the Penguins and the back-to-back Stanley Cup [championships in 2016 and 2017], so it is special to play against them," said Larkin, the Red Wings captain. "They are in the position we want to be in next year, so this is very meaningful for our young team."
Casey DeSmith made 18 saves for Pittsburgh (36-28-10), which remained three points behind the New York Islanders for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference and three points ahead of the Florida Panthers for the second wild card.
The Penguins trailed 3-0 after the first period but rallied to tie it 3-3 and 4-4 before allowing the last three goals.
"I don't know how to explain that," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "We got outplayed in the first period and I liked our response. We climbed back into the game, but we just didn't get it done in the third."

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde received a game misconduct for arguing a call in the second period and was replaced by assistant Bob Boughner.
"I thought the guys really responded to [Lalonde] getting thrown out," Boughner said. "They played hard, inspired hockey, especially in the third period."
Jonatan Berggren gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead at 11:03 of the first period, scoring just before a power play expired. Copp made it 2-0 at 11:37, tipping Moritz Seider's point shot.
After Detroit killed a penalty, Dominik Kubalik tipped in Gustav Lindstrom's shot through traffic to make it 3-0 at 16:07.
Jason Zucker cut it to 3-1 at 4:40 of the second period, and Jake Guentzel brought Pittsburgh within 3-2 on a 5-on-3 power play at 7:36. Rickard Rakell assisted on both goals.
Jeff Carter tied it 3-3 at 8:41. He hit the post as the Penguins continued on the power play, but Nedeljkovic dragged the puck over the line with his skate. The Red Wings unsuccessfully challenged for goaltender interference, resulting in a delay of game penalty and leading to Lalonde's ejection.

Perron gave Detroit a 4-3 lead at 4:05 of the third period, but Josh Archibald tied it 4-4 at 5:26 on a wraparound.
Perron's power-play goal from low in the left face-off circle put the Red Wings ahead 5-4 at 16:20, and he completed his eighth NHL hat trick by lifting a backhand over DeSmith's arm to make it 6-4 at 17:05.
DeSmith blamed himself for Perron's go-ahead goal.
"I overslid and he snuck one through the five-hole," he said. "That's one I have to have -- it's a huge letdown in that moment."
Larkin scored into an empty net at 19:23 for the 7-4 final. It was his third point of the period.
Nedeljkovic, who was recalled from the American Hockey League on Thursday, stopped 15 of 16 shots in the third.
"That was awesome to see," Larkin said. "He's had a tough road, but he's never complained. He's just done whatever he was asked and he went down and worked hard in Grand Rapids. I think everyone is happy for him."
NOTES: Perron became the first Red Wings player with three goals in a third period since Henrik Zetterberg did it in a 6-4 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 18, 2015. … Seider, Jordan Oesterle and Pius Suter each had two assists for Detroit. ... Evgeni Malkin had two assists for Pittsburgh.