Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh moved within a point of the NHL Metropolitan Division lead by beating Detroit 4-1 on Wednesday, with Blake Comeau scoring and picking up an assist on his return from a long injury lay-off.
The Penguins closed on Metropolitan leaders, the New York Islanders, and stayed two points clear of Washington, who won a nine-goal game in overtime at San Jose.
The day’s other game saw Vancouver recover from blowing a two-goal lead to beat Chicago in overtime.
Pittsburgh’s Comeau returned after missed nearly two months with an upper body injury. He wasted little time getting back to work, assisting on Patric Hornqvist’s score just 1:51 into the game and firing a one-timer past Petr Mrazek later in the first period.
David Perron and Nick Spaling also scored for Pittsburgh.
Stephen Weiss scored for the Red Wings, who were never in it, and remained three points off the Atlantic Division lead.
Vancouver’s Sedin brothers combined for the overtime goal that gave the Canucks a 5-4 win against Chicago.
Henrik Sedin made a great pass to his brother Daniel in the middle of the ice, and he pushed it into the open left side of the net for his second goal of the game.
His first had given Vancouver a 4-2 lead with 4:37 remaining but they lost that advantage.
Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists for Chicago, while Marian Hossa scored two goals for the third consecutive game.
Washington’s Joel Ward scored with 2:18 remaining in overtime to give the Capitals a 5-4 win against San Jose, who have lost five of their past six games.
