Detroit Red Wings playoff hopes take another hit with abysmal 1st | Latest Sports News

PITTSBURGH — The Detroit Red Wings continued to sap their hopes of climbing in the standings, spotting their opponent a three-goal lead inside 20 minutes.

It led to what has become a trend: A loss.

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This time, it was 5-1 at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday, March 31. The Wings (39-27-8, 86 points, 8 games left) have dropped four of five games, while surrendered five goals in each of the past two games. They finished the month of March 5-7-2.

It was the second consecutive games the Wings faced being down 3-0. This night, it led to goalie John Gibson’s departure after the first period. Dylan Larkin scored on a power play in the second period. The Wings showed mettle in the third period, but their comeback hopes faded when Noel Acciari scored from just outside the net despite having Moritz Seider draped on him, giving the Penguins a four-goal lead with eight minutes to play.

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Playoff picture

The Boston Bruins (94 points, 7 games left) beat West contender Dallas to further secure their footing in the second wild-card berth and making a push to get inside the Atlantic Division’s top three.

First to three

When Rickard Rakell took a pass from Sidney Crosby and fired a shot that deflected in off the stick of Alex DeBrincat, it marked the 10th time in 14 games in March that the Wings surrendered the first goal. The only games the Wings were first to find the back of a net were March 2 at the Nashville Predators, March 8 at the New Jersey Devils, March 21 against the Boston Bruins and March 27 at the Buffalo Sabres. The Wings won all four games.

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Former Wings forward Anthony Mantha made it 2-0 at 8:34, and Egor Chinakhov upped it to 3-0 when he fired a shot that hit Seider’s stick and wobbled past Gibson.

Ex-Wing thriving

Mantha scored when he took advantage of a scrum in front of Detroit’s net, and scooped a loose puck up and over Gibson. That was Mantha’s 30th goal, in 75 games. Mantha, a former Wings first-round pick, is having a career season, helping the Penguins shore up playoff positioning with four goals in his past three games.

“Obviously a big man with a very good set of hands in and around the net,” coach Todd McLellan said before Tuesday’s game. “That combination is dangerous when he’s hot.”

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Mantha, 31, never got that hot during his four-plus (full) seasons with the Wings, topping out at 25 goals in 2018-19. It was Mantha’s inconsistency that drove the Wings to despair – at 6 feet 5 and 240 pounds, he had the size and skill set to be a power forward, but he’d be borderline invisible for stretches of games. That culminated with a trade at the 2021 deadline, when the Wings sent their underachieving pick from 2013 (No. 20 overall) to Washington for the Capitals’ underachieving forward, Jakub Vrana, from the 2014 draft (No. 13). Mantha also had stops with the Vegas Golden Knights and Calgary Flames before coming into his own in Pittsburgh.

Larkin reaches 30

Mantha was in the penalty box when his former team scored. Patrick Kane fired a shot that Stuart Skinner stopped, but captain Dylan Larkin was right where the rebound landed, and turned that opportunity into his 30th goal of the season, at 3:17 of the second period. It’s Larkin’s fifth straight season with at least 30 tallies, though he has yet to top 33 in a season (2023-24).

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Gibson starts, Talbot finishes

Gibson made his 12th consecutive start but was replaced in net by Cam Talbot after allowing three goals on 14 shots through 20 minutes. The Penguins slipped one by Talbot at 12:23 of the second period when Justin Breazeau tipped Connor Clifton’s shot to make it 4-1.

Next up for the Red Wings

There’s more action in the Keystone State, as the Red Wings head to Philadelphia to face the Flyers on Thursday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Extra). The Flyers entered Tuesday’s game against the Capitals with 86 points, same as the Wings, as both sit just outside the East’s two wild-card spots. After that, the Wings head to New York for a Saturday matinee against the draft lottery-bound Rangers before returning home Sunday for a visit from Michigan alumnus Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: score-game-recap-pittsburgh-penguins/89403024007/” rel=”nofollow noopener” Detroit Red Wings stumble in 1P again against Pittsburgh Penguins