Pittsburgh Penguins @ Detroit Red Wings 4-1 - 12/14

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each scored a power-play goal in the first period to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a lead they would not relinquish in a 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday night. Malkin did not return after he was helped off the ice with a lower-body injury early in the third period. He was injured when he fell to the ice and slid into the end boards feet first when defending on a shorthanded chance by Detroit's Luke Glendening.

''He was walking around after the game,'' Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said of Malkin, who, along with defenseman Kris Letang, a surprise scratch with an upper-body injury, will be reevaluated Sunday.

Crosby tied the game at 1-1 when he followed his own shot and banged in a rebound to the left of Detroit goalie Jonas Gustavsson at 10:52. The puck came to Crosby after Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson jarred it loose from a scramble in the goalmouth. Malkin put the Penguins ahead to stay less than two minutes later. Jussi Jokinen's centering pass bounced off Red Wings defenseman Brian Lashoff's stick right to Malkin, who put a wrister from between the hash marks into the net at 12:50. The goal was the 600th career point for Malkin, who assisted on Crosby's first-period goal. Defenseman Niklas Kronwall gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead at 6:09 of the first period when his wrister from the point deflected off Crosby's stick and bounced through goalie Jeff Zatkoff's five-hole. Red Wings left wing Justin Abdelkader was injured late in the first period on a hit by Pittsburgh defenseman Deryk Engelland at center ice. He did not return after being helped from the ice with 29.3 seconds left in the opening period.

''Obviously, I'm not trying to hit him in the head or anything like that," Engelland told the media, "but I think I catch his chin a little bit before his body.''

Engelland will have an in-person hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety on Wednesday, meaning he is eligible for a suspension of more than five games. Detroit failed to convert on the ensuing five-minute power play after Engelland was assessed a match penalty. Zatkoff stopped Tomas Tatar on a point-blank snap shot with 21 seconds left on the penalty kill, Detroit's best chance on the man advantage.

''We didn't do enough with it,'' Detroit coach Mike Babcock told the media when asked about the five-minute man advantage. ''We had some looks. Their guy made some saves, but we were perimeter on the power play. Power play is establishing a net-front presence, shooting the puck and getting it back and outworking them to get retrievals and be on top of them.''

Zatkoff, a Detroit native, finished with 28 saves, including 14 in the second period. Malkin added his 601st career point with an assist on Olli Maatta's goal at 19:13 of the second period. The young defenseman's second goal of the season, which went in off Detroit forward Drew Miller's skate after Gustavsson made the initial stop, gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead. Gustavsson made 21 saves for Detroit, which is 0-1-2 in its past three games. Pittsburgh went ahead 4-1 when Crosby scored his second goal of the game and team-leading 18th with 5:27 left in the third period. He leads the NHL with 46 points.

''Losing Kris before the game was tough,'' Crosby told the media. ''We stuck with it and found a way.''

Letang played 23:28 in a 3-2 win against the New Jersey Devils on Friday night before being scratched in Detroit.

"We'll see tomorrow," said Letang, who took part in the pregame skate. "I don't know what's going on right now."

Malkin was not putting any weight on his left leg as he was helped off the ice with 17:41 remaining in the third period, and he was walking with a limp in the dressing room. The Penguins have won eight of their past nine games.