Jan 1, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Blake Lizotte (46) moves the puck against Detroit Red Wings left wing James van Riemsdyk (21) during the first period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Kris Letang scored 58 seconds into overtime for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who persevered to beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 on Thursday.
Letang tallied his third goal of the season in his 1,200th career game. Sidney Crosby scored twice and assisted on the game-winner.
Pittsburgh’s Blake Lizotte got his first goal in 11 games, and Erik Karlsson registered two assists, making him the 14th defenseman to reach 900 points in NHL history.
Arturs Silovs stopped 24 shots as he won his third straight start.
Alex DeBrincat, James van Riemsdyk and Andrew Copp scored for the Red Wings. Detroit overcame deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to force overtime but fell to 5-1-1 in the past seven games.
Cam Talbot made 27 saves for Detroit, which saw a two-game winning streak end.
Pittsburgh won its third straight game, a feat it hadn’t accomplished since a four-game run in October, despite committing seven penalties. Detroit went 2-for-8 on the power play, while Pittsburgh finished 1-for-3.
In a back-and-forth overtime, the Penguins earned the extra point when Crosby backhanded a pass to his longtime teammate, who one-timed it from the high slot for his second OT winner this season.
Crosby gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead less than six minutes into the contest, scoring his goals, including a power-play tally, 98 seconds apart.
Pittsburgh’s captain, though, played just two more shifts in the first because Detroit had five power-play chances in the opening 20 minutes. The Red Wings took advantage when van Riemsdyk scored with 2:14 left.
Detroit tied the game 2-2 just 61 seconds into the second period thanks to a fortuitous bounce. Copp scored when Ben Chiarot’s entry pass from the red line ricocheted to the front of the goal instead of behind, as Silovs expected.
Lizotte gave the Penguins the lead with 4:09 left in the third period for his fourth point in as many games. However, once again, a penalty would haunt the home team as Jack St. Ivany was sent off for delay of game just 23 seconds later. That allowed DeBrincat to score the tying goal with 2:58 remaining.
–Field Level Media
