Red Wings-Penguins preseason wrap-up: Wings shake off rust with preseason win over Penguins

The Detroit Red Wings won 4-3 over the Pittsburgh Penguins in their preseason opener. Nate Danielson scored his first pro goal, Alex DeBrincat had two assists, and Jan Bednar played a very solid half-game in relief of James Reimer, as NHL.com’s recap notes:

DeBrincat assisted on Dylan Larkin’s power-play goal that gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead at 6:58 of the second period. He had the secondary assist on Moritz Seider’s power-play goal at 11:40 that put Detroit up 3-2.

DeBrincat was acquired by the Red Wings in a trade from the Ottawa Senators on July 9 and signed a four-year, $31.5 million contract ($7.875 million average annual value).

Michael Rasmussen scored, and Shayne Gostisbehere also had two assists in his debut with Detroit, which played its first game of the preseason. James Reimer allowed two goals on nine shots in 30:14, and Jan Bednar made 11 saves in relief.

Radim Zohorna and Valtteri Puustinen each had a goal and an assist, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 29 saves for the Penguins.

Zohorna gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 6:23 of the first period, but Nate Danielson tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 17:23.

Puustinen tied it 2-2 at 10:14 of the second, and Sam Poulin made it 3-3 with a power-play goal at 13:08.

Rasmussen gave Detroit a 4-3 lead at 6:13 of the third period.

MLive’s Ansar Khan also posted a just-the-facts recap…

The Red Wings dominated the play, outshooting the Penguins 33-22. Pittsburgh dressed mostly an AHL lineup as stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, among others, did not make the trip.

Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider also scored for Detroit. Free-agent additions Alex DeBrincat and Shayne Gostisbehere each contributed a pair of assists.

James Reimer started in goal and stopped 7-of-9 shots before Jan Bednar took over midway through the second period. Bednar stopped 12-of-13 shots.

…

Former Red Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 29-of-33 shots.

The Red Wings continue the preseason Thursday in Washington (7 p.m., NHL Network).

For Michael Rasmussen, it was good to get back to work after suffering a season-ending broken kneecap while blocking a shot last February, as he told the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan…

“Felt good, felt good in camp and good to get a game, especially at home here,” Rasmussen said. “To get back with the guys. There’s some stuff to clean up here and there, but I felt good and it felt nice to be out there with the guys.”

Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider had second period power play goals, and first-round pick Nate Danielson had the other marker.

Danielson, the Wings’ first-round draft pick in June (ninth overall), played over 16 minutes and made a positive impression.

“He’s just building off a good rookie tournament, a good camp in Traverse City, and he was good tonight,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “There was some learning to do (also) which is great. We’d like to get him in there soon again. Very valuable minutes (for him).”

Earlier in the day, coach Lalonde explained that the Red Wings know that they didn’t necessarily play Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson on Tuesday…

“Some of these lineups are so (varied) night in and night out. They’re (the Penguins) not bringing in a very deep NHL roster and we’ll probably returned the favor to them (next week in Pittsburgh) but that’s just the reality of the schedule,” Lalonde said. “You’re more concerned about structure, some individuals (competing for jobs), a lot of teaching and building and what you’re trying to accomplish. But I love the mix of camp. The fact we have eight games, you get both ends of that (facing veteran and inexperienced lineups), and some of our young guys will see those (star) types of guys along the way.”

But everybody shook off some “rust,” as Lalonde told the Free Press’s Helene St. James…

“It was good to play, good to get some reps out there,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Little sloppy in some areas – two goals against from the defensive zone, on some puck play there. For the most part, fairly good. Just what you expect a first exhibition game to look like.”

Exhibition games are about seeing who fits where, and giving young players a chance to show where they’re at developmentally. First-round pick Nate Danielson continued a strong camp by scoring a goal. Alex DeBrincat, the prize acquisition of the summer, assisted on goals from Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider.

Newcomer Shayne Gostisbehere showed off his power play prowess in earning an assist. Defense prospects Simon Edvinsson and William Wallinder assisted on Rasmussen’s goal.

And the power play “got some reps,” as Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen noted:

“Some good movement (on the power play),” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “It looked organized with some of the habits. We had some really good looks, cashed in twice. But we had some really good looks. Power play is important for scoring, but sometimes momentum. It was good. A work in progress. We’ll get some different looks but guys did some good things tonight. That’s definitely a good step.”

Alex DeBrincat was brought in to score goals, and he showed his offensive instincts with a pair of assists. He managed four shots on goal. The Red Wings used DeBrincat down low on the left on a five-on-three power play. He set up Dylan Larkin with a nifty pass through the crease area. Gostisbehere delivered a perfect feed to Seider on his tally. He was set up on the right flank.

“It’s a simple goal but he makes a play on the half wall to Mo,” Lalonde said “(David Perron) gets the goalie’s eyes and it’s in the back of the net. But that’s a good play. He draw the guy over and makes a good pass. We’ll have some different looks there but Shayne looks pretty comfortable in that spot.”

The Red Wings were 17th on the power play last season with a 21.1% power play efficiency. If they could raise that power play effectiveness above 24% it would certainly help their scoring numbers. DeBrincat is also known for drawing penalties. He created the 5-on-3 by drawing a penalty on a power play in the second period.

On defense, Shayne Gostisbehere has been on the “half wall” on the right wing half boards–on the power play–since the start of training camp, and he’s looked strong there, as Sean Shapiro noted…

The Red Wings brought him on a one-year, prove-it deal. And in an era where teams are going more of a 4-forward, 1-defender approach on the power play, Detroit seems inclined to give Gostisbehere a chance to find his game with a 3-forward, 2 defender look with Gostisbehere on the flank and Moritz Seider manning the top of the 1-3-1.

Gostisbehere had a pair of assists, both on the power play, and embraced the distributing role on the side of the 1-3-1. He’ll have to shoot at some point to be more of a dual threat, but against a the Penguins’ AHL squad, he was able to surgically find passing lanes with patience.

Gostisbehere’s play at even strength will likely determine how much of an overall role he plays with the Red Wings this season, but Lalonde and his staff seem happy with giving him those extra opportunities to win the job on the man advantage.

And in goal, the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton makes a rather bold assertion regarding Jan Bednar getting in half a preseason game:

Reimer, who earned plaudits from Lalonde for his performance in the Red & White game Sunday, faced a light workload in his 30:14 of action.  He stopped seven of the nine shots he faced, but he hardly stood a chance on either of the goals he conceded—the first a byproduct of a defensive breakdown, the second on a 2-on-0 after the aforementioned Berggren turnover.  

It wasn’t a spectacular performance by any stretch, but it was a solid one, and Reimer would seem to maintain a lead on Alex Lyon for the number two goaltending spot behind Ville Husso.

Bednar, meanwhile, earned his opportunity based on strong performances at both rookie camp and training camp, according to Lalonde.  Unfortunately, it’s impossible to ignore that this development also represents Bednar appearing to jump ahead of Sebastian Cossa on the Wings’ organizational depth chart after Cossa’s struggles in Traverse City.

Bednar started slowly but finished with a tidy 12 stops on 13 shots.  The lone goal he conceded (to Pittsburgh’s Sam Poulin) was one he would certainly want back, losing his post and allowing an innocuous stuff attempt to slip through him.  However, Bednar recovered nicely and answered every subsequent question the Penguins asked of him.

I understand that roster spots are earned on merit, but I’m not quite ready to bury Cossa in Toledo after one exhibition game.

Anyway, DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills’ recap will wrap this up for us:

Lalonde on Danielson navigating situational play against the Penguins

“Very valuable, just building off a good rookie tournament and good camp in Traverse City. Good tonight. Some learning too, which is great. We’d like to get him back in there again soon.”

Lalonde on the value of having Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Dan Watson behind the bench

“Continuity and cohesion. We kind of have a routine. We rifle through every American Hockey League coach for one game on the bench because we think it’s a valuable experience.”

Rasmussen on the overarching goal of the NHL preseason

“Being in the offseason, you kind of get out of that compete and grind mode. Just get the systems down and really get our compete high because come Game 1, it starts.”

One game down. Eight to go. No, preseason results don’t usually translate into regular season results–be that in terms of even strength or specialty teams play–but it’s always good to get systems down, establish good work habits, and integrate new players into your team, and the Red Wings turned over a good 40% of their roster, so there’s a lot of integration to accomplish over the next two weeks.

Multimedia:

Highlights: Both the NHL and Sportsnet posted YouTube highlight clips from the game:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vQOYYPEuBr0%3Fsi%3DfRf9bGtmvYqU_tRF
https://youtube.com/watch?v=xudjgkug9Qs%3Fsi%3DzCxa5WPrZPL1F0_G

And here’s Danielson’s first goal:

Post-game: The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a 7:45 clip of Michael Rasmussen and coach Derek Lalonde’s post-game remarks:

Bally Sports Detroit posted several Tweets of note, including the following…

Ken and Mickey Redmond said “hello” for their 27th season in the broadcast booth:

Alex DeBrincat gave a training camp interview to John Keating, which aired during the first period…

There was a bit of a highlight clip from the “Roast and Toast of Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom” during the second intermission…

Nate Danielson spoke with Keating after the first period…

Jeff Petry spoke with Keating after the 2nd period….

And Michael Rasmussen gave Keating a post-game interview:

Update: The Red Wings posted Rasmussen and Lalonde’s full remarks, a bit late in the evening/early morning:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=PxDZ-1VRpXw%3Fsi%3DKopRzTg22a3iN8mU

Photos: The Detroit News posted a 30-image photo gallery.

Stats: NHL.com does not post the Game Summary, Event Summary or Rosters any more, but I can still figure out the HTML

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!