With Comeau back on ice, Pens cool off Red Wings

Blake Comeau spent seven weeks dealing with an upper body injury that lingered far longer than he would have liked. The energetic Pittsburgh Penguins forward did his best to make up for lost time.

Comeau picked up an assist on his first shift in nearly two months and threw in a goal of his own in Pittsburgh’s impressive 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.

“I’ve never gone through an injury like that where I’ve missed that much time,’’ Comeau said. “When you’ve been out that long, it definitely eases the mind a little when you can get on the score sheet right away.’’

He’s not kidding. Comeau ended his first shift back by helping set up Patric Hornqvist’s 15th goal of the year. Comeau wasn’t done, drilling a one-timer by Detroit’s Petr Mrazek later in the period as the Penguins put together perhaps their finest 60 minutes of hockey in weeks.

“I think we’ve got to use it for some momentum here,’’ Comeau said. “We’ve got to realize what we did well.’’

Namely keep the pressure on the Red Wings. Detroit came in as the hottest team in the league, going 9-1 in its previous 10 games. The Red Wings were never really in it. The rejuvenated second line of Hornqvist, Comeau and Evgeni Malkin - all of whom came off the injured list in the past 10 days - provided an early boost the Penguins rode through three one-sided periods.

“[Malkin’s] line was really buzzing,’’ said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. “I think just to kind of get everyone into it, get that pace, get that momentum, a lead is always nice, too, but we finally have everyone in the lineup and we have to build now.’’

AP