PITTSBURGH — Early in the third period, Pittsburgh Penguins (18-12-9) center Blake Lizotte was the unhappy recipient of the Penguins’ seventh minor penalty of the game. It appeared Lizotte was redeemed when he scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period, but the Detroit Red Wings (24-14-4) then got their eighth power play.

And Detroit tied the game, again.

However, Kris Letang spotted the Penguins their third straight win with the overtime winner just 58 seconds into overtime, and the Penguins survived a penalty-laden 4-3 win at PPG Paints Arena.

It was also Letang’s 1200th career game.

The Penguins finally found a spark in the third period, as the fourth line swarmed the Detroit zone and Lizotte (4) scored when his turning wrister deflected off Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson at 15:51.

It looked like a third-straight Penguins win.

But 23 seconds later, Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany took a delay of game penalty when his clearing attempt fluttered over the glass. Alex (21) DeBrincat finished a scramble in front of the net for the tying goal at 17:02.

The Penguins’ dichotomous first period spotted them an early lead and happy fans with a pair of goals from captain and soon-to-be Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby, but the Penguins ran to the penalty box as if they had found leftover Christmas cookies.

The Penguins took five penalties in the first period, including Tommy Novak’s four-minute double minor for splitting Detroit winger Patrick Kane’s lip with a high stick at 16:19 of the first. And all but one of the calls were rather obvious.

The Penguins’ PK neatly killed four of the five penalties, allowing just four shots in 9:27 of being shorthanded. Detroit’s James van Riemsdyk (10) tipped Marco Kasper’s shot at 17:46 of the first to halve the Penguins’ lead.

The Penguins led early in the first period with their own power play goal. Crosby (22) blasted a top-corner slapper through traffic at 4:08.

Crosby struck again shortly afterward. Following a Detroit turnover in their defensive end, it quickly became the Penguins’ offensive zone as Crosby (23) was the opportunistic hero, taking the forfeited puck to the slot and whipping a wrist shot past Detroit goalie Cam Talbot at 5:46, just 1:38 after his first goal.

Detroit outshot the oft-shorthanded Penguins 9-6 in the first, but the low tally and low-event period was a Penguins victory.

Early in the second period, Detroit was gifted an easy goal by the boards at PPG Paints Arena. Ben Chiarot’s dump-in did not carry behind the net as Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs expected. Silovs waited behind the net for a puck that never arrived as it hit the stanchion on the glass, caroming into the slot. Andrew Copp (5) easily put the puck into a mostly empty net as Silovs scrambled to recover, but too late, tying the game 2-2 at 1:01 of the second.

However, the same referees drew scorn from the Penguins, including Bryan Rust, in the second period for not making several calls that might have also been considered easy.

Eventually, the perception led to a couple of terse exchanges and frustrated Penguins players. Bryan Rust took the sixth Penguins penalty midway through the second period for an unpleasant verbal joust with those who call the game after teammate Rickard Rakell’s stick was knocked out of his hands without a call.

Detroit appeared to score the go-ahead goal at 12:48, but Lucas Raymond’s goal was overturned on an offside challenge.

Penguins Notes

For the third time in three games, the Penguins met an opponent that was on the second of back-to-back games. As teams in the Eastern Conference finally begin to shed their mediocrity for stacked wins, the Penguins sit perilously on the edge between being a playoff contender and falling to the bottom of the conference.

The Penguins began the new year with the 10th-best winning percentage in the conference.

With a pair of assists, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson earned his 900th career point.

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Categorized: Penguins Postgame