Penguins pulverize Red Wings

Evgeni Malkin had his 15th career hat-trick and added an assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins drilled the reeling Detroit Red Wings 11-2 in Pittsburgh on Sunday night.

Sidney Crosby, Kasperi Kapanen, Jeff Carter, Teddy Blueger, Danton Heinen, Brian Boyle and recently acquired Rickard Rakell also scored for the Penguins, who needed less than 30 minutes to take a 6-0 lead en route to their first 11-goal game in nearly 30 years. Tristan Jarry made 33 saves to win for the sixth time in his last seven starts.

Pittsburgh bounced back from a listless loss to the New York Rangers on Friday by overwhelming the Red Wings, showcasing their firepower in the process by putting up the franchise's first 11-goal game since an 11-5 win over Philadelphia in 1993.

The Penguins also stayed one point ahead of the Rangers for second place in the tight Metropolitan Division.

Dylan Larkin scored his 28th goal for Detroit and Jakub Vrana added his sixth, but it wasn't nearly enough as the Red Wings lost for the ninth time in 11 games. Alex Nedeljkovic absorbed most of Pittsburgh's early onslaught, giving up four goals before being replaced by Calvin Pickard after Carter's short-handed goal 3:18 into the second made it 4-0.

Pickard fared no better, giving up four goals on 13 shots before exiting in the third period after a collision with Rackell, forcing Nedeljkovic to come back in. He fared no better the second time around, ultimately allowing seven goals on 22 total shots faced.

Agencies via Xinhua