Detroit Red Wings sleep in for matinee 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh Penguins

The Detroit Red Wings needed 35 minutes to wake up – and then they just hit the snooze button.

That they lacked energy when the nationally televised game on Saturday, Jan. 3, began at noon was evident the moment the puck dropped, but the thing to remember is, their opponent played at the same time. The Pittsburgh Penguins did what they did when the teams met two days earlier, only this time at Little Caesars Arena: Play with the lead.

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The Wings, who entered the outing atop the Eastern Conference standings by a point, looked inept and inert, deserving of their 4-1 defeat. The loss dropped them to 24-15-4; they hit the road next with a trip to Ottawa to face the Senators on Monday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network).

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Credit goaltender John Gibson (27 saves) for the Wings having a chance till the end; he, at least, was alert on time. He was pulled with about 2:20 to play for an extra attacker. Rickard Rakell scored into an empty net with 39.3 seconds on the clock; Connor Dewar dded another one with 30 seconds to go.

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Sidney Crosby, who scored twice to help the Penguins win in overtime against the Wings in Pittsburgh on Thursday, ensured the Penguins would play with a lead again when he got the puck and fed a wide-open Bryan Rust, whose shot sank behind Gibson at 3:44 of the first period. Parker Wotherspoon began the play when he intercepted Emmitt Finnie's attempt to chip the puck ahead in the neutral zone and fed Crosby.

The Wings, meanwhile, had no shots on goalie Stuart Skinner when they went on a power play at 7:25 and one when it ended after 61 seconds when Moritz Seider was called for high-sticking. Nor, none, when there was eight minutes left in the first period. It took until just past the 13-minute mark before Skinner had to make a save, on a shot from the slot by James van Riemsdyk.

An early hole for Wings

Just like the previous game, the Penguins went up 2-0. Ben Kindel sprang Yegor Chinakhov with a stretch pass up a wide-open middle, allowing Chnakhov to walk in alone on Gibson, at 17:30. Shots after the first favored the Penguins, 10-5.

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That sloppy, shoddy first period should have woken up the Wings, but it did not. They were no better as the second got underway, struggling to gain possession of the puck. Ten minutes in, they had one shot on net. (The Penguins only had two over that span – but they also had two goals earlier.)

It took until there was five minutes left in the period for the Wings to show some life, when Alex DeBrincat cut Pittsburgh's lead in half with a shot off the rush. That was only Detroit's seventh shot on net of the game.

DeBrincat came close to another one minutes later during a Detroit power play, but his shot clanked off the right goal post. Shots after two periods favored the Penguins, 19-9, and wound up at 31-12.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings offense missing in 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh Penguins