Valtteri Filppula scored in the final minute of the first period and Jimmy Howard finished with 26 saves for the surging Red Wings.
Pascal Dupuis pulled Pittsburgh within a goal late in the second period and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 30 shots.
A lot more was at stake the last time the past two NHL champions met in Joe Louis Arena. The Penguins hoisted the Stanley Cup on June 12, 2009 after Game 7 to deny Detroit's quest to repeat.
This time the Red Wings padded their lead for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs with their fifth win in six games.
Kings 4, Avalanche 3, OT: At Los Angeles, Drew Doughty scored on a fierce slap shot with 1:20 left in overtime as the Kings recovered from T.J. Galiardi's dramatic equalizing goal for a 4-3 victory over Colorado.
Ryan Smyth scored his second goal with 10:05 left in regulation for the Kings, but Galiardi tied it on a desperate rebound goal with 6.6 seconds to play. Los Angeles rallied for its second straight victory on a power-play goal by Doughty, their rising star defenseman.
Wayne Simmonds also scored and Jonathan Quick made 18 saves as Los Angeles moved into a share of fifth place with Nashville in the Western Conference at 87 points apiece - two more than seventh-place Colorado.
Senators 2 Canadiens 0: At Montreal, Brian Elliott made 29 saves for his fourth shutout, while Erik Karlsson had a goal and an assist as Ottawa ended a five-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over the Canadiens.
Ottawa won for just the second time since the Olympic break. The Senators also lost five in a row from Jan. 5-12 before putting together a club-record 11-game winning streak on their way to winning 13 of 15 prior to the break.
Peter Regin scored his first goal in 10 games midway through the first and Karlsson added a power-play goal in the third for Ottawa, which moved into sole possession of fifth place in the Eastern Conference, two ahead of Montreal and Philadelphia.
Meantime, NHL players are looking to tweak the proposed rule on blindsided hits to the head in an effort to get it in place this season.
Competition committee member Jason Spezza said in Montreal on Monday that the NHL Players' Association is looking to make a counterproposal to the rule drafted by general managers earlier this month. However, the players aren't seeking any major changes.
“It's very similar,” Spezza said. “We're looking for a Band-Aid fix for the rest of the year in case something happens, but in the long term, we have to sit down together and find a better solution than just tweaking a little rule. It has to be something that's talked about. It can't just be sprung on.
“It's too bad because we've been talking for two years to try to get something in place, but it's hard to find the proper language and the right rule.” The NHLPA first expressed a desire to see a head-checking penalty in March 2009.
After meeting earlier this month in Florida, the league's 30 GMs proposed one that would give referees the ability to call a minor or major for any blindside hit where the primary point of contact is the head. It was intended to be implemented next season, but a series of recent incidents has prompted the league to look at fast-tracking the process.
The NHLPA received a DVD detailing the new rule on Friday night and held a conference call that evening with the five members who sit on the competition committee — Spezza, Ryan Miller, Mathieu Schneider, Jeff Halpern and Brian Campbell.
Even though the group appears to have come up with a counterproposal for the league, a union spokesperson said Monday that one hasn't officially been made. It's expected to come as soon as Tuesday.
“We've talked about some things and we have to bounce it back off the league now,” Spezza said. “We've come to a decision that we want to do something, but the league has to agree to what we want to do.” With less than three weeks left in the regular season, the players want to take a cautious approach.
“We've been trying as players for two years to get something in and the league has said there are rules already in place to protect against head shots, and now they want to make a change,” Spezza said. “But we have to be careful. There are about 10 games left in the season and you don't want to make a change and put the refs in a bad position.” Any changes made to the rulebook require the approval of both the competition committee and NHL board of governors.
