Despite the absence of the league's best offensive player in
Sidney Crosby on Tuesday night, the matchup still provided a rare glimpse of two of the league's top Russian forwards facing off against each other.
Centers
Evgeni Malkin and
Pavel Datsyuk put on fantastic performances on Tuesday night with Datsyuk getting the better of his countryman, leading the Red Wings to an impressive 4-1 road victory at the CONSOL Energy Center against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Malkin certainly gave his best effort in attempting to singlehandedly carry the Pens' offensively. With Crosby on the sideline, Malkin played 23:27, scored Pittsburgh's only goal on a beautiful 2-on-1 rush late in the first period, had 9 shots on goal and hit two goalposts. Malkin did end up a -2 on the night and also was a putrid 20% in the faceoff circle (4-16), but his effort offensively certainly reinforced the league-wide notion that a motivated Evgeni Malkin is a very dangerous hockey player.
By comparison,
Pavel Datsyuk is well-known for his flashy dekes on breakaways or his fantastic stickhandling. However, what often times truly is so underappreciated with Datsyuk, is his ability to change a game with the most subtle of plays/moves.
After having tied the game up at 1 goal apiece late in the 2nd period with a slick backhanded goal past
Marc-Andre Fleury following a Penguin defensive zone turnover, Datsyuk once again changed the complexion of the contest early in the third period.
The Pens'
Matt Cooke attempted to clear his defensive zone killing a penalty by firing the puck up the middle of the ice in the air. Out of nowhere, Datsyuk deftly knocks down the puck out of mid-air and maintains possession within the offensive zone, turns up ice towards the goal before sliding a beautiful backhand pass to the Mule,
Johan Franzen who rifled it into the back of the net just as Cooke frantically attempted to stop Franzen from shooting.
Datsyuk is known league wide for his inate ability to takeaway the puck from an opponent. However, on this occasion, his tremendous hand-eye coordination allowed himself to make something out of nothing.
Lucky to be good. Good to be lucky.
"Pavs" has certainly risen to the occasion ever since calling himself out for his mediocre play early on in the campaign. He has 8 multi-point games in his past 12 contests and now has scored 20 points in the past 13 games. He sits 19th in the league in scoring and is now also a +6 on the season after beginning the year as a minus player (-4) through the first 17 games of the season.
On this night, Datsyuk once again elevated his game to lead his team to victory. He finished with a goal and an assist, two takeaways and won over 50% of his face-offs.
However, Datsyuk wasn't alone in leading this team to victory. Once again,
Jimmy Howard is proving himself to be one of the best bargains in the NHL given his current form. He made 25 saves on the night, none better than his desperation stick save on Malkin early during the 2nd period that prevented Pittsburgh from building on their lead.
Howard improved his record to an NHL-best 18-6-1. He allowed two goals or fewer for the ninth time in 11 games, a stretch in which he is 10-1.
Not a bad bargain for $2.25 million per season.
Finally
Daniel Cleary added some offense to finish off the victory. His insurance marker and empty-net goal give him seven now on the season, after a horrific start offensively. His work on the penalty kill, along with the other penalty killers in the 3rd period proved critical in preserving the victory.
The Red Wings move to .500 on the road, with 7 wins in 14 appearances thus far on the season. With 9 of their next 12 on the road over the next few weeks, if the Wings can maintain that .500 clip, they should be well situated come Februray to take advantage of a heavy dose of home games on the schedule, including a stretch of 10 home games out of 12 contests.
Detroit will have an off-day today and rest in Nashville, preparing to take on the Predators on Thursday night.
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