Red Wings slip back into loss column, with 6-3 defeat in Pittsburgh

This march toward a possible playoff berth hasn't been easy for the Red Wings in recent weeks, and it doesn't look as if it's going to be, heading into these final 14 games either.

The Wings lost, 6-3, Sunday in Pittsburgh, taking the luster off a big victory about 30 hours earlier against Buffalo. Hopes of stringing together needed victories against non-playoff teams on the schedule isn't materializing.

The Wings never led Sunday, as they lost for the eighth time in the last nine games.

Despite losing, the Wings (34-28-6) maintained the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference as the New York Islanders lost. The Wings lead both the Islanders and Washington Capitals by one point (74-73), although both Washington and the Islanders have games in hand.

Buffalo, the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh are lurking behind Washington and the Islanders.

It was a disappointing loss, given the possibility of moving ahead of Washington and the Islanders a bit further, and coming off an impressive victory over a red-hot Buffalo team the day before.

Lucas Raymond had two goals, one on the power play, and Christian Fischer added the other Wings goal.

Raymond's power-play goal, his 22nd, cut the Penguins' lead to 5-3 at 16:37 in the third period. The Wings pulled goaltender Alex Lyon and tried to cut it closer, but Drew O'Connor's empty-net goal (his 10th) pushed the lead to 6-3.

Reilly Smith, Sidney Crosby, Valtteri Puustinen, Michael Buntingand Lars Eller (power play) scored goals for the Penguins (30-28-9).

Former Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 24 shots to earn the victory against his former teammates. Lyon had 34 saves for the Wings.

The Penguins jumped to a 3-1 lead after one period, outshooting the Wings, 17-4, in the opening 20 minutes. The game was pretty much decided right there.

Smith scored his 12th goal, at 10:10, after a Marcus Pettersson shot bounced off Mortiz Seider, then off Smith in front of Lyon in the slot.

Raymond tied the game, 1-1, with his 21st goal at 15:39, whistling a shot over Nedeljkovic from the dot.

But the Penguins came roaring back. Crosby gave the Penguins lead with his 33rd goal, but first in the last 12 games, backhanding a shot while skating through the slot. Puustinen extended the lead to 3-1 with his fourth goal, just 44 seconds before the end of the period.

From there, the Wings never came within two goals the rest of the evening.

Bunting gave the Penguins a 4-1 lead early in the second period, before Fischer scored. But Eller's power-play goal with only 21 seconds left in the second period dented the Wings' comeback hopes.

Here are some highlights from Sunday's loss:

▶ Raymond continued his surge with another strong game, and has goals in the last four games.

Not many Wings have stepped up to needed levels since captain Dylan Larkin (lower-body) was injured, but Raymond has been one who has.

Coach Derek Lalonde is using Raymond in different situations, Raymond is getting more ice time and his confidence appears to be soaring the most it has in his third NHL season.

"He's playing in every situation, killing penalties, playing center in this lineup, there's a ton of growth in his game," said Lalonde earlier in the week "He's elevating his game, elevating his compete. We've asked a lot out of him and he's handled it very well. His compete is very high and we need it.

"It's a huge positive where Lucas is at."

▶ Another Wing who has scored in consecutive games now, two of them now, is Fischer.

Fischer's second-period goal cut Pittsburgh's lead to 4-2, converting a pass from Michael Rasmussen into the slot.

It was the first time Fischer has scored back-to-back games for the first time since December 2022.

Fischer has made an NHL career out of doing the grunt work on an NHL team, doing whatever is needed and more than glad to to do it.

"He's on our penalty kill now, he's helped us in every situation," Lalonde said. "You preach about wanting to do all the details and want to do things right all the time, going to the hard areas and winning line battles and wall battles and he does that.

"He's a good piece of our team."

▶ Alex DeBrincat hasn't scored a goal in the last nine games, and hasn't recorded a point in the last six games.

DeBrincat said last week he's trying to stay positive during the slump.

"Sometimes the frustration boils over, but for the most part, you can't grip your stick too hard," DeBrincat said. "It's definitely frustrating. A couple of key moments in certain games you have a look and it doesn't go in. If I put those in, maybe we are looking at a different position right now. Definitely, it's frustrating, but you stay positive and hope one goes in."

tkulfan@detroitnews.com

@tkulfan