This was about as strange a preseason result as you could possibly imagine. The Red Wings played their “B Team” against a Pittsburgh Penguins lineup in which Sidney Crosby, Eveni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Kris Letang and Bryan Rust lined up for a total of nine power plays against Detroit, but the Red Wings prevailed 6-2.
Dominik Kubalik scored two goals, Filip Zadina scored a goal and had an assist, Elmer Soderblom scored his first North American goal, Jason Spezia and Steven Kampfer aided the cause, Michael Rasmussen had 2 assists, and Victor Brattstrom (19 of 20 stops) and Sebastian Cossa (12 of 13 stops) split the win.
The 1st period was a bit of a messy one. The Penguins found the back of the net only 1:42 in, when Brock McGinn ripped home a one-timer off a Marcus Pettersson pass, giving the Penguins a 1-0 lead:
BROCK ON 🤘
BROCK YOUR WORLD 🌎
IT’S MCGINN THE NET 🏒
Please reply with your favorite @BrockMcGinn21 pun. pic.twitter.com/COdRqCAuMZ— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 27, 2022
Worse, new Red Wings defenseman Olli Maatta took a slashing penalty only 4:28 into the game, and the Penguins’ power play got to work, but goaltender Victor Brattstrom was stout, and the Wings killed the penalty.
The same was true when Eemil Viro went off for a spurious hold at 9:13, with Brattstrom stifling more Penguins shots…
And in an exchange where Jonatan Berggren took another minor for holding at 13:14, but Sidney Crosby took a cross-checking penalty 58 seconds later, the Red Wings came out on top as their power play clicked:
A KUBY ROCKET 🚀
1-1 game. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/UsDdFHQ8pY— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 27, 2022
Kubalik’s power play marker from Filip Hronek and Michael Rasmussen, at 15:42, tied the game 1-1.
The Wings were out-shot 15-9 in the 1st period, but Filip Zadina, Kubalik and Elmer Soderblom had 2 shots apiece for Detroit.
In the 2nd period, Filip Zadina broke open the game only 23 seconds in, as the Wings’ top line of Rasmussen and Kubalik established possession and control in the offensive zone, and Rasmussen cycled back and slithered a pass to Zadina in the slot, and he ripped a shot through Jarry to make it 2-1.
RAS → ZADINA pic.twitter.com/qijNDQuGa4— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 28, 2022
The Penguins got a power play at 40 seconds of the 2nd as Eemil Viro took another minor, this time for inadvertently high-sticking Evgeni Malkin…
But the Red Wings killed the penalty, and generated momentum. At 5:01 of the 2nd, Jonatan Berggren wrapped around the net and jabbed a pass to Elmer Soderblom, who made it 3-1 Detroit.
THE SWEDE CONNECTION pic.twitter.com/bQ0NGAmTR0— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 28, 2022
Jonatan Berggren circles the net and finds Elmer Söderblom for a Red Wings goal #LGRW pic.twitter.com/rysIkdfN6M— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) September 28, 2022
Shortly after the goal, at 5:50, Jeff Petry took a roughing minor by slugging Berggren in the head at the Wings’ bench, and Detroit headed to the power play.
On the power play, Steven Kampfer took a rim pass from the Penguins’ defense and ripped it toward the net, where both Detroit and Pittsburgh screens yielded a sneaky goal for Kampfer and a 4-1 lead for Detroit at 6:55. The assist went to Filip Zadina.
KAMPF STOP NOW! pic.twitter.com/7Y9d2qeNXH— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 28, 2022
A couple minutes later, at 8:52, Kampfer took a hooking penalty, giving Pittsburgh a power play opportunity at a necessary time.
The Penguins chose to use the power play to swap out Jarry and goaltender Casey DeSmith, who took to the net while the Penguins headed to the PP.
The Wings killed the penalty and changed goaltenders, with Sebastian Cossa replacing Brattstrom, who stopped 19 of 20 shots, at 10:41 of the 2nd.
Detroit blocked a fair number of shots as the Penguins attempted to rally with their heavier NHL lineup over the next three minutes, and inevitably, Bryan Rust ripped a top-shelf, forehand-backhand deke over Cossa to make it 4-2 at 13:16, from Jason Zucker.
Rust certainly doesn’t look too rusty to us 🚨 pic.twitter.com/AB2FJdO8N7— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 28, 2022
The game was something of a stalemate until the latter portions of the 2nd period, where the Red Wings took another penalty as Filip Hronek took an interference minor with 17:29 gone in the 2nd, affording the Penguins their 6th power play.
Detroit killed the penalty, and the 2nd period ended with the Red Wings leading 4-2 despite a 24-15 Penguins shot advantage.
In the 3rd period, the Red Wings had to hold off a bit of a Penguins’ flourish before Tyler Spezia scored the 5-2 goal at 2:34, off a drop pass from Drew Worrad in the slot.
5PEZIA 5PECIAL! pic.twitter.com/UnMtmRF8Lw— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 28, 2022
Olli Maata also got an assist on the play.
Pittsburgh continued to attack and attempt to generate offense, but the Red Wings were surprisingly solid in terms of blocking shots and stifling slot chances, and when they faltered, Cossa was there.
Detroit really tried to shut the Penguins down and play as low-an-energy game as possible as they hit the halfway mark of the 3rd period, but the Penguins headed to the power play for the 7th time at 9:54, as Olli Maatta took a hooking penalty.
Crosby, Malkin, Guetnzel, Letang and Rust lined up for the Pens’ power play…
But, Dominik Kubalik would score a shorthanded marker off a bad giveaway from Casey DeSmith to make it 6-2 Detroit at 10:20.
😃 pic.twitter.com/tAULii1rlE— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 28, 2022
The Wings killed the penalty.
Regrettably, Elmer Soderblom took a hooking minor at 12:53, giving the Penguins their 8th power play.
Again, Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Letang and Rust lined up for the Penguins’ power play…
Cossa was strong and, of all people, Dominik Kubalik and Filip Zadina were strong on the penalty-kill, and the Wings continued to block shots, so Detroit killed the penalty.
Bafflingly, Jared McIsaac took a hooking penalty with 2:41 remaining in the 3rd, giving Pittsburgh their 9th power play, and Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Letang and Rust all came out for the late PP chance…
Instead, Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina blazed up on a 2-on-1 and DeSmith made a big stop.
The Wings killed the penalty, and Cossa ended the game with 12 saves on 13 shots against.
#REDWINGS WIN‼️ pic.twitter.com/FP5rC5DkGZ— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 28, 2022
Here’s the Game Summary and the Event Summary:
