Penguins hammering Hank: Red Wings star Henrik Zetterberg wearing down without Pavel Datsyuk

Do-it-all Zetterberg wearing down for Red Wings

PITTSBURGH — The Detroit Red Wings ask Henrik Zetterberg to do it all.

It seems to be taking a toll.

“Zetterberg looks really tired,” Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik said.

The superstar simply looked worn out at times Thursday night, getting beat to loose pucks and not skating as hard or fast as usual, and the Pittsburgh Penguins took advantage with a 4-2 series-evening win in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals.

“I think you should look a little tired at the end of games,” Zetterberg said. “If you’re not, you’re doing something wrong. It’s pretty normal.”

The Red Wings hoped to give Zetterberg some relief from needing to score, hit, withstand being a target of checks, play on power plays and kill penalties with the return of Pavel Datsyuk.

But the much-needed help did not arrive because Datsyuk was scratched because of a foot injury, sidelining him for the sixth straight game.

“It was a smart move,” Zetterberg said. “Definitely, he wasn’t ready or he would’ve played.”

Zetterberg and the Red Wings can only hope Datsyuk is healthy enough to return for Game 5 Saturday night in Detroit and Game 6 is Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

As the Penguins took over the series-evening game — with three goals in a 5½-minute span of the second period — Zetterberg helped them out on the final score.

Tyler Kennedy beat Zetterberg to a loose puck, Kennedy passed it to Chris Kunitz, who got it to Sidney Crosby before Kennedy finished the bang-bang-bang play by firing the puck to the back of the net for a 4-2 lead.

“Me and Kennedy were down on the wall, I got the puck, but I couldn’t get it out,” Zetterberg said.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock said Zetterberg wasn’t the only player who didn’t look like himself.

“I didn’t think Z and (Johan Franzen) had as much jump,” Babcock said.

From the start of the series, Pittsburgh has clearly made a point of getting physical with Zetterberg.

Sidney Crosby landed a huge hit on Zetterberg in Game 1 in what was the first of countless checks the Penguins have landed on him in open ice and against the boards.

“I don’t think it’s any different than any other series,” Zetterberg insisted. “It’s a hitting game.”

When Detroit beat Pittsburgh and hoisted the Stanley Cup last year, Zetterberg was its best player and won playoff MVP honors.

If the Red Wings are going to respond to losing their 2-0 lead in the series, the Swede will have to deliver again.

“He’s done that in the past, and I know he can still do it,” Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said.

Lidstrom, though, acknowledged wondering if Zetterberg was wearing down after Game 3 on Tuesday night.

“I talked to him about it after the last game,” Lidstrom said. “He said he felt fine even though he’s playing a lot of minutes.”