Detroit Red Wings run off in home finale, losing to Penguins, 7-2

The Detroit Purple Wings bid farewell to Little Caesars Area, enjoying their final residence recreation as yet one more season ends with out the enjoyment of the playoffs.

A few of the largest cheers Saturday got here when the scoreboard minimize to the ballpark throughout Woodward Avenue, exhibiting Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera’s 3,000th hit.

At that time, the Pittsburgh Penguins already have been on their approach to victory. The Wings managed to maintain it shut for a stretch, however once more they could not measure up towards one of many elite groups within the NHL.

Gamers gathered on the ice to supply a stick-salute because the buzzer sounded on a 7-2 loss, a tragic ending at residence to the enjoyable that marked the primary half.

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Jakub Vrana and Michael Rasmussen every scored their thirteenth objectives. Moritz Seider earned an help to succeed in 40 factors. Thomas Greiss allowed 5 objectives on 23 pictures via two intervals and was changed by Alex Nedeljkovic to start out the third. Evgeni Malkin added his second of the sport within the closing minute.

The Wings (30-39-10) play their third-to-last-game Sunday on the New Jersey Devils. 

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Waking up

When Greiss stopped Evan Rodrigues on a breakaway previous the midpoint of the primary interval, it was solely the Penguins’ second shot on web. They, just like the Wings, began to stir as they acquired their legs underneath them and took benefit of a defensive breakdown to take the lead. Teddy Blueger, the fourth-line heart, had the puck deep within the offensive zone and wired a cross to defenseman Chad Ruhwedel, who was extensive open to the precise of the web. The Penguins doubled their lead lower than 90 seconds later when Sidney Crosby handed the puck via site visitors to Rickard Rakell solely to get it again proper on the web. That gave Crosby the tenth 30-goal season of his career. 

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Vrana nets one other

Vrana scored throughout an influence play late within the first interval, burying a one-timer off a cross from Tyler Bertuzzi. That gave Vrana 13 objectives in 23 video games. He missed the primary 56 video games recovering from shoulder surgical procedure. Courting to the 11 video games Vrana performed final season after being acquired on the commerce deadline, he is already surpassed 20 objectives in 34 video games. His capability to attain was magnified because the Wings misplaced second-line winger Robby Fabbri to a knee harm March 10, and Dylan Larkin to season-ending surgical procedure on April 18.

Penguins march 

On the opening shift of the second interval, Greiss performed the puck to Danny DeKeyser, who performed the puck off the boards and up ice, the place it was picked up by Rasmussen inside his personal zone. Rasmussen got here up the left flank and Oskar Sundqvist up the precise flank, pushing Brian Domoulin deep into his zone. Rasmussen snapped the puck from the left circle to tug the Wings inside a purpose. Rickard Rakell and Kris Letang scored 4 minutes aside to place the Penguins up by a pair of objectives once more. Video evaluate confirmed Malkin was within the act of taking pictures the puck previous to play being stopped, resulting in a 5-2 deficit for the Wings. 

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Comply with her on Twitter @helenestjames. Learn extra on the Detroit Purple Wings and join our Purple Wings e-newsletter. Her ebook, The Massive 50: The Detroit Purple Wings is offered from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalised copies accessible through her e-mail.