Red Wings-Penguins and Red Wings-Sabres wrap-ups: pressure mounts after the Wings go 0-1-and-1 vs. Pittsburgh, in Buffalo

You don’t often lose twice in the same period of time, but the Red Wings managed to do just that on Monday night, with their “split squad” dropping a 5-1 decision to Pittsburgh at Little Caesars Arena, all while the “Wiffins” lost a 4-3 OT decision to the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo.

Things aren’t going to get any easier for the Red Wings as tomorrow night’s rematch in Pittsburgh will include a star-studded Penguins lineup, and, after a day off on Wednesday, the Wings host Ottawa on Thursday, host Toronto on Friday, and head to Toronto to battle the Leafs on Saturday.

That’s a whole lot of hockey to play over the course of the balance of this week, even if you’re able to dress two different rosters.

Anyway, the story at Little Caesars Arena was the one that the Wings’ media corps followed for the most part. As MLive’s Ansar Khan noted, the Wings kind of blew their special teams advantage, going 1-for-6 on the power play, surrendering a power play goal against, and surrendering a shorthanded marker as well:

Lucas Raymond’s second-period power-play goal, his second of the preseason, was all the offense Detroit mustered against former Red Wing Alex Nedeljkovic, who left at 13:04 of the first period due to an injury, and Joel Blomqvist, who’s never appeared in an NHL game.

The Red Wings had six power-play chances, all in the first two periods, but managed only five shots.

Raymond’s goal at 9:31 of the second cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 2-1.

Cam Talbot allowed two goals on 11 shots through two periods. Sebastian Cossa played the third period and yielded two goals, both by Noel Acciari, on nine shots.

The Penguins capped the scoring with an empty-net goal from Vasily Ponomarev.

Coach Derek Lalonde was circumspect about the loss, as he told the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan…

“Our power play was struggling (1-for-6),” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Their penalty kill played with a little more pace than our power play. I didn’t hate our five-on-five. Our inability to hit the net (on the power play) and give credit to them on the blocked shots, but that’s why you have exhibition games. Our guys need the reps.”

…

Lucas Raymond (power play) had the lone Wings goal. [Cam] Talbot stopped nine of 11 shots he faced.

“I’ve liked Talbot all through camp and he was sharp,” Lalonde said. “We kind of let him out to dry on the shorty (shorthanded goal). [Sebastian] Cossa, it was the first shot (he faced), through traffic and a perfect shot. He probably didn’t look as comfortable as the other night, even some of his saves he couldn’t find the puck, but that’s why you need these games. They are very important for our young players.”

Drew O’Connor (power play), Lars Eller (shorthanded) and Vasily Ponomarev also scored for the Penguins, who will monitor the status of goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, the former Wing who left after 13 minutes in the first period with an apparent injury after making two saves. In relief, goaltender Joel Blomqvist stopped 20 shots for Pittsburgh.

Raymond, wide open near the dot, converted a pass from Dylan Larkin at 9:31, as the Wings finally converted on their fifth power play opportunity of the game.

“We want to produce more,” Raymond said of the power play. “It got better as the game went on. It was the first game together as a unit, so we want to keep building on that and try to get more efficient.”

The good news was that–in both games–the Red Wings’ youngsters stepped up, as the Free Press’s Helene St. James noted…

In addition to [Nate] Danielson, the lineup featured 2022 first-round pick Marco Kasper and Albert Johansson, a second-round pick from 2019. Both made plays with the puck and played with energy. Kasper was on a line with Carter Mazur and Jonatan Berggren, and Johansson played with Jeff Petry.

“Some of our more impactful players were our young guys,” Lalonde said. “They were competing, they were winning battles. Very noticeable, which was good. They showed well tonight.”

Kasper said that, “there some good five-on-five moments that we had a good chance. I think we have to help our goalies a little bit more in the d-zone, trying to get it out quicker, and build on that – going in on forechecks, winning pucks and getting pucks down low and creating offense from down there.”

The power play was a mess, however…

“Obviously our power play was struggling,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “It needs its reps. Their penalty kill played with a little more pace than our power play. I didn’t hate our five-on-five – again, talk about reps, our inability to hit the net. It’s exactly why you have exhibition games. You need reps for the guys.”

The Penguins stuck it to Detroit again early in the second period during the Wings’ fourth power play, when O’Connor outmaneuvered Seider and fed the puck to Lars Eller, who made it 2-0. It took a fifth power play, during which one of the Penguins lost his stick, for the Wings to finally convert.

As Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff also noted…

“I don’t know how many power plays we had, but I felt like we had a lot and obviously we want to produce more,” said Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond. His second-period power-play tally would account for Detroit’s lone goal of the night.

“I think when we got the best chances tonight is from retrieval. It’s not always the prettiest, but retrieve the puck well in a quick attack, and I think that leads to a lot of good stuff.”

Some key elements of the power play were departing during the offseason. They include point man and power play quarterback Shayne Gostisbehere and forward David Perron. He was a dangerous element off the flank with his one timer.

Detroit wound up ninth in the NHL last season on the power play. The Red Wings were clicking at a 23.1% success rate during the 2023-24 season.

Raymond believes even with the departures, the club maintains more than enough weapons to be a dangerous power-play unit.

“I think we for sure want to take another step. I think we have a lot of skillful players who make good plays and can finish as well. So I think it’s about getting on the same page, moving the puck well and taking the shots and create opportunities from there.”

If you’re looking for something to freak out about, it’s probably the Red Wings’ goaltending, which I would deem to be OK thus far. As the Hockey News’s Connor Eargood noted, neither Cam Talbot nor Sebastian Cossa had their best efforts on Monday, though they were certainly “left out to dry” on multiple occasions:

Pittsburgh fired off 35 shot attempts and five — including an empty-netter — found the back of the net. The reason for such a high shooting percentage can be attributed to a number of reasons, including a lack of blocked shots and missed defensive assignments. But even considering these details, Monday’s performance from Detroit’s goaltenders was rather middling.

Free agent pickup Cam Talbot played the first two periods against the Penguins, letting in two goals on 11 shots on goal. 2021 first round pick Sebastian Cossa played the final frame and let in two goals on 10 shots on goal.

“I’ve liked Talbot all through camp. I thought he was sharp,” Lalonde said. “We kind of left him out to dry on the shorty, which was a little disappointing, hopefully a learning lesson for us. And then Cossa, obviously the first shot’s through traffic — perfect shot there. He probably didn’t look as comfortable as he did the other night. Even on some of his saves, he couldn’t find the puck. And again, that’s why these games are very important for young players.”

Lalonde’s assessment reflects the criticism to be taken from a preseason game, but Talbot’s performance was more uninspiring than his coach made it seem. Sure, his defense let a few Penguins skate unchecked near the crease. And yes, Talbot didn’t have much help when a streaking Lars Eller cashed that shorthanded chance against him. But Talbot’s details were also imperfect. He nearly let in routine pucks, like his first save on a five-hole shot he just barely closed his pads in time to stop. His rebound control was sloppy, even more so considering the quality of opponent. His details were also lacking, like when he dropped his stick while teeing up a puck behind the net for his defense. 

Put this all in its proper context. It’s hard to take true issue with Talbot’s performance considering the defensive miscues in front of him and the overall sleepy tone of the game, but the appearance wasn’t very inspiring for a goaltender expected to play a significant part in Detroit’s rotation this season.

For Cossa, inheriting a 2-1 deficit was a valuable game situation for him to experience. The way Lalonde sees it, Monday night’s 2-1 situation starting the third period was a way to give Cossa as close to intense stakes as he can get in a preseason bout. He had a chance to win the game, with Detroit controlling momentum in the second frame. 

Instead, the first shot Cossa faced went in top shelf. The rest of the night was so-so, but battling through this adversity is useful for a young netminder to experience.

“I know it’s the preseason, I know it’s exhibition. You can sit back and say you don’t really care about winning or losing, but the guys do,” Lalonde said. “… That’s a good battle for him. Now, it goes 3-1 on the first shot, and you want to see him fight through it. That’s why game situations are important for anyone, especially a young goalie like that.”

I’m not quite as worried about the goaltending as most folks are–in all honesty, the spotlight on preseason games has gone from “let’s see the team work out its kinks” to “HOW CAN WE OVER-ANALYZE EVERYTHING?” over the course of my blogging career, so I think that almost everything needs to be taken with a small serving of salt here…

But no, Talbot hasn’t been good in terms of his rebound control, Cossa did have to battle through some rough going, and I just don’t think that we’re really going to get a good assessment of where the goaltending picture is until we see Talbot, Lyon, Husso, et. al. play in some full games.

In all honesty, the second four exhibition games are really the ones where the team is supposed to “get its shit together,” and, starting tomorrow, that’s where the Red Wings are going to be–far enough along to have worked off rust, but not quite ready for a “dress rehearsal” until Friday’s game vs. Toronto.

If you’re looking for the Penguins’ perspective on the game, they are quite concerned about Alex Nedeljkovic leaving the game early with a “lower-body injury.”

PittsburghPenguins.com’s Michelle Crechiolo, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Matt Vensel, the Hockey News’s Kelsey Surmacz, Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s Dan Kingerski and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Seth Rorabaugh all posted Pens recaps.

Multimedia:

Highlights: No luck here, other than Raymond’s goal:

Photos: No photo galleries. I guess the photographers for the local newspapers and wire services were at the Lions’ “Monday Night Football” game.

Post-game: The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a post-game clip of comments from Marco Kasper, Lucas Raymond and coach Lalonde:

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

The news may have been better in Buffalo. NHL.com will tell the tale of the Red Wings’ 4-3 OT loss…

Sabres 4, Red Wings 3: Konsta Helenius scored on a power play with 13 seconds left in overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres the win against the Detroit Red Wings in a split-squad game at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

The Red Wings lost 5-1 in their other split-squad game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The rest of the Sabres are in Prague preparing for the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal.

Alex Lyon started and made 20 saves on 22 shots in two periods for Detroit (2-1-1). Jack Campbell made 20 saves in relief.

Graham Slaggert scored twice, and Felix Sandstrom made 18 saves for Buffalo (5-1-0).

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead 1:15 into the first period.

Slaggert tied it 1-1 at 5:29, and Viktor Neuchev put Buffalo ahead 2-1 at 19:06.

Elmer Soderblom tied it 2-2 with a short-handed goal at 2:05 of the third period.

William Lagesson gave the Red Wings a 3-2 lead at 8:07, but Slaggert scored his second of the game while short-handed to tie it 3-3 at 13:57.

As DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills noted, the Red Wings’ goals all came from Swedes who have stepped up of late in Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, a surprisingly physical Elmer Soderblom, and a defenseman who’s looking like a very solid pick-up in William Lagesson:

Getting Detroit on the board early in the first period, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard buried a feed from Joe Snively on a 2-on-1 rush make it 1-0 at 1:15. Antti Tuomisto earned the secondary assist on Brandsegg-Nygard’s first preseason goal.

“It was a really nice feeling to just get that first goal,” Brandsegg-Nygard said. “It was the first shift too, so that was a good way to start there.”

Selected No. 15 overall by Detroit in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Brandsegg-Nygard said he’s enjoying his first NHL Training Camp experience.

“It’s really competitive,” Brandsegg-Nygard said. “We play hard and practice hard, but we’re still good friends off the ice. I think we have a really good group.”

…

The game went to overtime, with Konsta Helenius finding the back of the net on a power play at 4:47 to help Buffalo earn the 4-3 victory.

“A lot of different emotions throughout the game,” Soderblom said. “We started pretty messy, but then we got into the game. Obviously the first time a lot of us played together. There’s still a lot to improve, but still some good things to take with us. It’s tough to lose.”

On the Sabres’ side of things, BuffaloSabres.com’s Andrew Mossbrooks, the Buffalo News’s Mike Harrington, WGR 550’s Paul Harrington and Pat Malacaro and Buffalo Hockey Now’s Jason Moser all weighed in.

Multimedia:

Highlights: The Griffins’ Twitter account was tasked with providing the Wings’ goals:

Post-game: No Wings video from Buffalo, sadly.

Photos: The Sabres posted a Buffalo-centric 93 images;

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

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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!