The Detroit Red Wings are a team in transition Taven Bryan Jaguars Jersey , and that was evident Tuesday night.

Veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall scored a goal for his 400th point, while rookie defenseman Joe Hicketts, playing his second NHL game, grabbed a pair of assists for his first career points as the Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2.

”It’s neat for sure,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. ”It’s good. I thought a number of our young players played well.”

Luke Glendening scored twice and Darren Helm matched his career high with three points. Helm had a goal and two assists, and Frans Nielsen and Niklas Kronwall also scored for Detroit. Jimmy Howard made 22 saves to help the Red Wings win in regulation for the first time since a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 24.

Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins. Matt Murray stopped 21 shots.

It took Pittsburgh 38 seconds to gain the lead. Crosby took Jake Guentzel’s cross-ice feed and snapped a shot before Howard could get across.

”(Dylan) Larkin, Helm and (Anthony) Mantha was the line that went up against Crosby,” Blashill said. ”They didn’t start great. The turnover early and then they go down and score. But that’s the learning process that you have to do and after that they were really good, so that’s a real positive.”

The Red Wings pulled even 17:43 into opening period. Helm found Kronwall pinching down from the point, and Kronwall whipped a quick shot past Murray. It was his 80th goal, tying him for fourth among Wings defensemen with Hall of Famer Marcel Pronovost.

”I try to keep them,” Kronwall said of his milestone pucks. ”I’m not sure exactly where I have them. I don’t have that many, let’s be honest. I think they’re around somewhere.”

Detroit Ezekiel Elliott Jersey , mired in a 1-12-1 stretch, grabbed the lead on the power play at 14:28 of the second period. Martin Frk faked a shot, then zipped the puck across the ice to Nielsen, whose high shot eluded the sprawling Murray.

Just 41 seconds later, Detroit made it 3-1 when Glendening deflected Nick Jensen’s point shot.

”We let them have the momentum with those two quick goals in the second period,” Crosby said. ”You can’t let that happen. Once we fell behind there, we were chasing the game.”

The Red Wings added another goal 6:21 into the third period when Helm converted Larkin’s feed for his 10th.

Letang’s point shot found its way through traffic and behind Howard with 3:16 left in regulation.

Glendening finished the scoring into an empty net with 1:28 to play.

”I don’t think we were struggling tonight, we just weren’t playing with the kind of urgency it takes to win games,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. ”This is a hard league, and it is hard to win a game no matter who you are playing.

”If you aren’t willing to make the commitment it takes to give that kind of effort, you are going to get beat.”

NOTES: Red Wings GM Ken Holland would not confirm reports that he and Blashill would return next season, saying only that the question would be answered by the end of the season. … The Penguins are the first visiting team to lose twice at Little Caesars Arena. They also fell 4-1 in Detroit on Dec. 31. . Glendening recorded his second career multi-goal game and first since Jan. 27, 2015 at Florida Minkah Fitzpatrick Jersey , along with his fifth career multi-point game.

UP NEXT

Penguins: At New Jersey on Thursday night.

Red Wings: At Buffalo on Thursday night.

—

With another Game 7 victory at stake, LeBron James would not sit out.

He would not say goodbye to Cleveland again – not yet, anyway.

And he would not be denied an eighth straight trip to the NBA Finals.

The four-time league MVP scored 35 points with 15 rebounds and nine assists on Sunday night, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to an 87-79 win over the Celtics and eliminating Boston from the Eastern Conference finals in the decisive seventh game.

”He’s had a lot of gaudy games,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. ”But I just think Game 7, in Boston, all the circumstances that surround Boston, the history … to come here in a hostile environment: (it’s) right there.”

In the first close game, the lowest-scoring and the first victory for a road team in the series, James played all 48 minutes, scoring 12 of his points in the fourth quarter for his sixth straight Game 7 win. Lue used his timeouts to get his star an extra few minutes of rest when he could, and James didn’t warm up at halftime to conserve his energy.

”It was asked of me tonight to play the whole game,” he said. ”And I just tried to figure out how I can get through it.”

James played all 82 regular-season games for the first time in his career and is already at 100 for the year with at least four more to come. He tired late in Game 5 Denzel Ward Jersey , when the Celtics won their 10th straight at home this postseason.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens said the plan was to wear James out.

Nice try.

”Our goal going into the series was to make him exert as much energy as humanly possible and try to be as good as we can on everybody else,” Stevens said. ”For the most part, I thought we were pretty good at that … but he still scored 35. It’s a joke.”

For James, a potential free agent, the victory postponed a decision about his future until next month.

Now, the only question is who the Cavaliers will play for a chance at their second title in three years: The Rockets host Game 7 of the Western Conference finals against Golden State on Monday night, and the winner will host the opener of the NBA Finals on Thursday.

The Cavaliers are expected to be underdogs against either.

”We have an opportunity to play for a championship,” James said. ”It doesn’t matter what the story line is going to be, it doesn’t matter if we’re picked to win or not. I’m the wrong guy to ask. I just like to compete.”

Jayson Tatum scored 24 points, Al Horford had 17 and Marcus Morris added 14 points with 12 rebounds for the Celtics, who were looking to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010.

Tatum had a dunk over James with 6:41 left – staring down the Cavaliers star and bumping him with his chest – then followed it with a 3-pointer that gave the Celtics a 72-71 lead. But that would be Boston’s last basket for more than five minutes while Cleveland went on a 15-2 run to put the game away.

James embraced Horford and Tatum after the buzzer, then the Cavaliers donned celebratory hats and T-shirts before shuffling off the court to receive the Eastern Conference championship trophy.

It’s not the one they want.

James has been in the finals every year since 2011 – four with Miami, and now four straight with Cleveland.

This might be his weakest supporting cast.

He had to do it without Kevin Love – Cleveland’s only other all-star – who sustained a concussion in Game 6 and was replaced in the lineup by Jeff Green. Making his first start since the first-round opener against Indiana Josh Allen Bills Jersey , Green scored 19 points and added eight rebounds – the star of James’ starless supporting cast.

”We said we want to do this for Kevin,” Lue said. ”Kevin wanted to play, to be in a Game 7 situation like this in the Eastern Conference Finals, being an All-Star, being our second-best player, and he just wasn’t able to go. The guys picked him up, so now he has another chance when we get to the finals to be ready.”

The Celtics have had more time to get used to their injuries: Gordon Hayward has been out since the first game of the season, and Kyrie Irving has been sidelined since March. With the rookie Tatum and second-year Jaylen Brown, Boston established itself as the team of the future in the East.

”It was pretty incredible run by an incredible group of guys, and an absolute pleasure and privilege to be around them every day,” Stevens said. ”We obviously have a good thing going.”

But the present still belongs to James.

And, for now, that means Cleveland Malik Jefferson Jersey , too.

ADMIRING HIS WORK

The Celtics led by as many as 12 points in the first half, and they had a 51-47 lead midway through the third quarter when James hit a long 3-pointer and then Green made a 3 of his own. James hit Tristan Thompson for an alley-oop to give Cleveland a 55-51 lead, but then James threw the ball away and sent Terry Rozier off on a fast break.

James tracked the Celtics guard from the far sideline, timing his attack. When Rozier went up for the lay-in, James blocked it off the backboard and right to Green. James did not run back down the court, resting up while Green drew a foul at the other end and made one free throw to give the Cavaliers their biggest lead of the game.

TIP-INS

Cavaliers: Shot just 2 of 17 from 3-point range in the first half, making three of their first 22 shots from long range before James and Green connected on back-to-back attempts midway through the third quarter.

Celtics: Tatum is the first rookie to have 10 or more playoff games with at least 20 po.