Red Wings-Penguins / Red Wings-Sabres quick takes: Wings go 0-1-and-1 on the night via a 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh, 4-3 OT loss to Buffalo

It was a weird sort of night in Detroit…and Buffalo…As the Red Wings’ “split squads” undertook games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres, respectively.

Neither team did particularly well, with the Red Wings’ “A Team” playing really solid hockey, but losing 5-1 to a harder-working and more efficient Pittsburgh Penguins team, and the “Wiffins” lost a 4-3 overtime decision to Buffalo due to their own mistakes and inexperience.

In Detroit, the teams lined up as follows…

And in Buffalo…

There are not two Georges, so I followed the Red Wings-Penguins game, and checked in on the other game from time to time.

Here are the starting lineups…of lineups…

In the 1st period, in Detroit, the Red Wings got underway just after 7:10 PM, and the Penguins had a good start, challenging Cam Talbot and the Red Wings’ “A Team,” but the Red Wings were able to get a 6-on-5 for a good 30 seconds before the Penguins took an interference penalty at 4:45, with John Ludvig sitting for the infraction.

On the power play, Kane, Larkin, DeBrincat, Raymond and Gustafsson worked out some kinks on the opening shift, and the second unit didn’t get much done, so the Penguins nearly scored when Rutger McGroaty and Jesse Pulujujarvi caught Albert Johansson and Jeff Petry on the same side of the ice, with Puljujarvi feeding McGroaty for a good shot that Talbot stopped…

Then DeBrincat had a good scoring chance on a pass from Gustafsson, and Detroit looked sharp…

But the Penguins’ counterattack was fast, and their “B Team” looked particularly ready to pounce upon the Wings, so the game was a tale of up-and-down action.

Jonatan Berggren drew a penalty against the Penguins at 10:19, and Drew O’Connor sat in the box, feeling shame.

The first PP unit worked the perimeter well, but they were a little too pass-happy and not shot-happy enough, so the second unit of Tarasenko, Danielson, Berggren, Seider and Mazur worked the boards and Seider took a one-timer that just missed the goal and almost bounced back out in front of the net, where Nedeljkovic was aware before he made a sharp stop…

His last stop of the game.

Pittsburgh took its 3rd penalty as Jesse Puljujarvi sat for tripping at 14:38…

The first unit was more efficient this time, and DeBrincat and Larkin tapped a puck on Blomqvist, but he made a stop;

Carter Mazur was then penalized at 16:05 for interference, giving the Pens a short power play after a 34-second 4-on-4.

Marco Kasper put on a clinic during the 4-on-4, dekeing and dangling with aplomb, and on the PK, Rasmussen worked with Fischer up front, with Seider and Chiarot on defense…

But the puck was redirected into the goal by the Penguins’ Drew O’Connor at 17:35, and there was nothing Talbot could do about it thanks to a slinky pass from Valtteri Puustinen.

Talbot had to make a couple more good stops, including on a giveaway by Moritz Seider to Acciari and then McGroaty, before the 1st period ended.

Shots in the 1st were 6-5 Pittsburgh;

Shot attempts 15-11 Detroit;

Hits 0-0;

Giveaways 1-0 Detroit;

Takeaways 0-0;

Blocked shots 3-2 Pittsburgh;

Faceoffs 7-5 Pittsburgh (42%).

In the 2nd period, in Detroit, the Penguins continued to out-skate the Wings by a narrow margin, but I can’t say that the Pens’ “B Team” was inspiring per se. They were just better than the Wings’ “A Team.”

Marco Kasper, Jonatan Berggren and Carter Mazur had an inspiring shift, however, some 2:30 into the 2nd, and Mazur nearly deked Blomqvist out of his skates. The Pens’ goaltender got his toe on the puck, and when Kasper recoiled and found Michael Rasmussen coming off the bench on a chance, Blomqvist had to make another big stop.

Puljujarvi got a great scoring chance off on Talbot off the rush, but Talbot made a smart glove stop.

Lucas Raymond got pulled down in his own zone by Vasily Ponomarev, and at 4:37 of the 2nd, Detroit headed to its 4th power play.

Regrettably, Lars Eller scored the 2-0 goal shorthanded despite good back-checking by Vladimir Tarasenko and Moritz Seider. Drew O’Connor found Eller and he roofed it over Talbot at 4:53.

The power play just looked…off…and the Penguins escaped yet again without paying for their penalty.

Marco Kasper drew a 5th power play as John Ludvig couldn’t contain Kasper on a 1-on-1 play, and the Penguins defenseman had to grab at Kasper to stifle a scoring chance at 7:48 of the 2nd.

Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond connected on a lateral slot pass and shot into the goal by Raymond on the one-timer to make it 2-1 at 9:31 of the 2nd. Kane had the secondary assist.

The Wings’ bump-up shift was great, too, as Christian Fischer ripped a shot off Blomqvist’s mask while working hard alongside Andrew Copp and Michael Rasmussen.

Pittsburgh was getting good chances still, however, and the Red Wings were getting out-skated, still…

Though Seider and DeBrincat ripped hard shots at Blomqvist via turnovers 13:00 into the 2nd period.

The Red Wings appeared to be warming to the task just over halfway through regulation time, and Tarasenko, Danielson and Kane afforded a gorgeous back-door pass to Albert Johansson, who deked, dangled and drew a power play.

Detroit took its sixth power play at 14:51 of the 2nd period, with Jesse Pulujujarvi sitting for hooking.

The Wings tweaked their power play a bit, using Raymond as a net-front screen with DeBrincat the shooter on the left side, Kane the passer on the right side, and Gustafsson on D with Larkin as the “bumper.”

They had a good power play shift, but Detroit took a high-sticking minor at 15:54 as Lucas Raymond accidentally clipped Ryan Graves.

Kasper gave the Wings a “wow” moment when he deked through 2 Penguins defenders, but he could not convert through Blomqvist, who kicked out the puck on the 4-on-4.

Detroit killed the penalty, and Seider and Raymond worked the puck deep as Raymond came out of the box, Fischer and Larkin worked the puck around the side boards, and Petry got a good shot off that Raymond swept wide…

Detroit was pressing hard, but they couldn’t quite tie the game.

Tarasenko, Danielson and Kane looked very good together, and Gustafsson began to play alongside Johansson, which worked quite well.

Again, Detroit couldn’t tie the game in the late 2nd, but they possessed all the momentum.

Shots in the 2nd period were 15-5 Detroit for a 2-period total of 20-11 Detroit;

Detroit was 1-for-6 on the PP in 10:13 of PP time; the Pens were 1-for-2 in 2:00, with a shorthanded goal as well;

The shot attempts were 42-18 Detroit;

Hits 9-3 Pittsburgh;

Giveaways 5-2 Detroit;

Takeaways 4-1 Detroit;

Blocked shots 12-3 Pittsburgh;

Faceoffs 12-12 (50%).

In the 3rd period, in Detroit, Sebastian Cossa took over for Cam Talbot, who was very good, to start the period.

Sadly, the Red Wings’ top line got cycled by Noel Acciari, who ripped a roofer over Cossa’s right shoulder to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead at 41 seconds of the 3rd (from McGroaty).

In all honesty, the fans were getting a little grumpy given that they were missing a Lions game to “make up” Saturday’s cancelled game, and Detroit’s players could hear some grumbling from the sparse crowd as the Penguins continued to get the bounces–if not earn them.

Honestly, the McGroaty line and Blomqvist were really stifling Detroit’s momentum as the 3rd period progressed, and Detroit looked destined to lose by at least a 3-1 tally as the Wings accumulated 3 icings in a row…

But the Wings survived, persisted, and the Copp line and Larkin line had 2 good shifts back-to-back around 9:00 into the 3rd to reestablish some momentum.

Albert Johansson and Jeff Petry were together again in the 3rd, with Maatta back with Gustafsson, and Johansson was great, and Petry was pretty mediocre.

Sadly, Noel Acciari scored another marker by tapping in the rebound of a Jesse Puljujarvi shot at 10:32 to make it 4-1 Pittsburgh. Mac Hollowell had the other assist.

The Red Wings were resilient in terms of their overall effort, but Emil Bemstrom drew a bad penalty against Olli Maatta with 6:01 left in the 3rd, yielding a slashing minor…

So the game was pretty much sewn up.

Seider, Chiarot, Kasper and company killed the penalty, and Maatta threatened going toward the goal…

Detroit pulled Cossa with 3:45 left in the 3rd as well, but the Wings’ top unit was held against the boards for the most part, and while the Wings’ perimeter play was excellent, they could not generate an in-tight chances.

Instead, Pittsburgh took a 5-1 lead as Vasily Ponomarev scored at 18:11 into an empty net.

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

In the 1st period, in Buffalo, things got underway in a hurry:

With Michael Brandsegg-Nygard scoring his first professional goal, from Joe Snively and Antti Tuomisto:

But Buffalo got back on the board in a hurry as Graham Slaggert scored at 5:29 to tie the game at 1-1, on assists from Brett Murray and Zach Metsa.

Victor Neuchev scored the 2-1 goal at 19:06, unassisted, to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead, and the Sabres nursed their 2-1 lead into the 1st intermission.

Shots in the 1st were 15-8 Buffalo;

Shot attempts were 23-11 Buffalo;

Hits 7-4 Detroit;

Giveaways 7-4 Detroit;

Takeaways 2-0 Buffalo;

Blocked shots 4-3 Detroit;

Faceoffs 8-6 Detroit (57%).

In the 2nd period, in Buffalo, it took until 6:55 of the 2nd for Vsevolod Komarov to take a penalty, but Detroit could not convert…

And William Lagesson evened up the penalty parade at 10:10, affording Buffalo a power play.

After 2 periods of play, the shots were 6-6 in the 2nd and 22-14 Buffalo overall;

Detroit was 0-for-2 in 4:00 of PP time; Buffalo was 0-for-1 in 2:00;

Shot attempts were 38-34 Buffalo;

Hits 14-9 Detroit;

Giveaways 12-9 Detroit;

Takeaways 4-3 Detroit;

Blocked shots 12-7 Buffalo;

Faceoffs 18-17 Buffalo (49%).

In the 3rd period, in Buffalo, Amadeus Lombardi took a penalty only 1:54 in, but 11 seconds later, Elmer Soderblom used his size and strength to charge through 2 Sabres defenders on a shorthanded break and he tied the game 2-2.

Things continued to go well in Buffalo as William Lagesson floated a shot from the very high slot in past Sandstrom to give Detroit a 3-2 lead at 8:07 of the 3rd:

Lagesson also drew Tyler Tullio into a not-quite-fighting-scrap in the Wings’ crease at 12:07 of the 3rd, yielding a 4-on-4.

When Jack Rathbone took a hooking minor at 13:01, the Wings got a power play, but instead, the Sabres broke away on a 2-on-0 shorthanded, and Graham Slaggert scored at 13:57 through Jack Campbell’s legs. It was a goal that shouldn’t have gone in.

The Red Wings managed to hold out until overtime, however…

And in overtime, Detroit started with Lombardi, Snively and Rafferty on D, and they cycled in the slot, but were denied by Sandstrom;

Mostly, the teams played “keep-away” while time ticked away, and in all honesty, it wasn’t an exciting overtime period…

Until Noah Ostlund deked and dangled through Emmitt Finnie and Brogan Rafferty, and drew a penalty very late in OT, affording the Sabres a 4-on-3 in which Campbell made a big stop and Emmitt Finnie sat at 4:17 of OT.

And Konsta Helenius ripped a nasty roof job over Campbell at 4:47 from Isak Rosen and Mason Jobst to win a 4-3 overtime affair.

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

Published by

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!