Postgame: Leaky third costs Coreau shot at first victory

Hey, chin up kid.

Through 40 minutes, Jared Coreau was on his way to a victory in his first NHL start, pulling a 3-1 lead on 23 saves.

Things didn’t quite end up that way.

Well, let’s go through the highlights first.

After Henrik Zetterberg got things started in the first with his fifth goal of the year, Frans Nielsen landed this beautiful shot to put the Wings up 2-0 exactly 8 minutes into the second.

Smooth sailing over the defending Stanley Cup Champions, right?

Phil Kessel got the Penguins back within a goal off a nice feed from Evgeni Malkin, but who else but D-Boss to give the Wings a 3-1 lead to end the second period.

It would’ve been something if the game ended there, giving Coreau the victory and 24 out of 25 saves.

Unfortunately for Coreau and the Wings, the wheels fell off the bus in the third period, and hard.

On just 11 third period shots (plus an empty-net goal), the Penguins found the back of the net four times in the period. Phil Kessel’s close-range wrist shot ended up being the winner.

Make your 3-1 lead jokes, I guess.

The Wings are right back at it Sunday at 6 pm against the Islanders.