Red Wings-Penguins quick take: Detroit finds its own ‘GRIT’ in 4-2 victory over Pittsburgh

The Detroit Red Wings hoped to earn a modest 2-game winning streak as they closed out the 2024 part of their 24-25 season against the 17-16-and-5 Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

The 14-18-and-4 Red Wings were playing their third game under new coach Todd McLellan, and while a playoff push might not be in the cards, the Red Wings hope to salvage the remainder of their season.

On Tuesday night, the Red Wings won a difficult-to-play game against a difficult opponent in a surging Penguins team, trading 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 leads, ultimately winning 4-2 on an empty-netter for Dylan Larkin, whose goal was his first in 16 games.

The win was Todd McLellan’s 600th NHL victory, but he could not have done it without the superb goaltending of Alex Lyon, who stopped 22 shots, the great defense of players like Moritz “I made a kick save” Seider and Ben Chiarot, and the Wings dominated the special teams battle, killing 2 of 3 penalties and going 2-for-3 on their own power play, thanks to Patrick Kane and J.T. Compher goals.

The Pens didn’t give the Wings an inch without effort in what was, on occasion, a nasty, physical game between the rivals, but Detroit dug deep and came up with a gritty victory.

In pregame warmups, Alex Lyon and Alex Nedeljkovic led their teams out of the Red Wings and Penguins’ respective locker rooms…

The Wings faced some uphill odds, however…

The Pens listed their lines before 7:45 PM…

The Red Wings always release their roster just before the game begins, with the starters in bold…

And here were the starters and scratches for both teams:

In the 1st period, Larkin and Crosby dialed in for the opening faceoff, Pittsburgh chipped and chased, Crosby attained control and cycled back deep for Rakell, but Detroit pushed through center, with Raymond sending a drop pass to Chiarot for a boomer off Nedeljkovic’s pads;

Veleno then tipped down a Raymond shot from near the point, but Nedeljkovic made the save;

Tarasenko, Compher and Bergren came over the boards 55 seconds in, and Berggren sent a shot just wide of Nedeljkovic, before Pittsburgh iced the puck;

Detroit won a deep offensive zone faceoff, but the Pens were able to clear before Petry siphoned a puck in for DeBrincat, but the Penguins stood up, Petry had to hip-check Malkin sans penalty to stifle a goal-scoring opportunity, and the Red Wings’ Kane-DeBrincat line changed 2:00 in;

Finally, Motte, Kasper and Rasmussen took their first shift, forcing an icing against Pittsburgh at 2:23.

Pittsburgh was backchecking aggressively and working the transition game, and so the Wings had their hands full defensively, but Detroit was repelling Pittsburgh’s attacks…

And Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin got tagged for a slashing penalty at 4:15, giving Detroit a power play.

On the power play, Larkin tied up the faceoff to DeBrincat, Raymond was given the puck by Kane, but the Pens cleared the zone, so Detroit entered via a drop pass, Pittsburgh chipped the puck out and down to Lyon the second time, and Rasmussen, Gustafsson, Tarasenko and Compher worked with Berggren on the 2nd unit to at least get a screened shot on Nedeljkovic with 1:06 left on the PP.

5:10 into the 1st, Compher won a draw and Tarasenko fanned on the one-timer pass from Gustafsson, but Berggren retrieved, Gustafsson’s shot was blocked, and Tarasenko could not hold the right blueline, so Drew O’Connor battled the Wings down ice, back up they came, but the Pens cleared their zone with ease, and Kasper, Veleno and Motte came over the boards to check as Seider and Chiarot concluded the power play cycling the puck to the forwards, who couldn’t get anything going.

Karlsson sent the puck into the slot, but DeBrincat made a nice interception of the pass at one end, and fired a shot off Nedeljkovic’s stick shaft at the other;

As play continued, Detroit stifled a Penguins rush and they did so by Vladimir Tarasenko sending a needle-thin pass through Jonatan Berggren, who blazed up the ice on a breakaway, and he chipped the puck off Nedeljkovic’s wrist and in.

Jonatan Berggren scored at 7:52 from Tarasenko and Compher. 1-0 Detroit.

Seider nearly scored on the bump-up shift, but he was stifled by the Penguins’ defense;

And the Red Wings were denied a second goal in no small part because the referee blew play dead with the puck clearly visible in Nedeljkovic’s crease at 9:07.

When play resumed after a TV timeout, the Pens’ fourth line cycled quite well in Detroit’s zone, and Lyon made a strong stop;

Crosby was blocked off well by Seider, and a poor playmaking decision by Lyon yielded a cycle by the Crosby line, but Detroit mucked the puck out to center ice, and Crosby got the Pens’ first shot at 9:44 of the 1st…

The Pens were doing a lot of standing up and holding up of the Red Wings, but the refs seemed to let things slide…

As play continued, Detroit was battling a bouncing puck and a clutchy-grabby Penguins team full of confidence.

Karlsson sprung Matt Nieto, but Lyon made a good stop;

Kane centered the puck for Copp in the slot about 13:45 into the 1st, but Copp was covered well;

As the period progressed, Detroit began to get away with a few interference penalties of their own, but Pittsburgh was standing up again and standing in shooting lanes to keep the Wings’ shot total stuck on “7”;

Lyon made a superb short-side stop on Crosby and a better stop on Rakell in the slot at 16:40;

Lucas Raymond made a bad drop pass that Acciari could have turned into something bad, but Gustafsson and Holl were there to stifle the rush;

Sadly, off a terrible turnover at the Red Wings’ blueline, Drew O’Connor took a one-timed pass from Tanner Glass, and the puck bounced off Alex Lyon’s toe and into the goal at 18:29.

O’Connor made it 1-1 at 18:29 from Glass.

The 1st period ended on even terms.

In the 2nd period, Larkin drew in vs. Crosby, who won the opening faceoff, Pittsburgh chipped, Seider chased, kicked away a shot toward Lyon, battled hard vs. Rakell, and Chiarot sent the puck up for Raymond, who dumped deep and got support from Seider, who was all over the ice for his 40-second shift.

Raymond got the Wings’ 8th shot on goal 40 seconds into the 2nd;

DeBrincat, Gustafsson and Holl tried to cycle through to Kane in the offensive zone, but the Pens did a good job of mucking the puck into Detroit’s zone and simply pinning it against the boards…

Tarasenko set up Compher and Edvinsson also got a good chance as the Wings took their 9th shot on Nedeljkovic 2:30 into the 2nd period;

And the Penguins were upset as Cody Glass was called for tripping Marco Kasper at 2:50 of the 2nd, affording Detroit a power play.

DeBrincat, Raymond and Larkin tried to cycle after winning the opening faceoff, but the Pens held Detroit to teh perimeter, Kane was unable to get a shot through Nedejkovic, Detroit then set up and cycled, Seider blasted a shot off the glass, DeBrincat and Raymond cycled to Kane, and Kane’s shot went off the back bar of the net and out as he scored the 2-1 goal.

Kane scored the 2-1 goal from DeBrincat and Raymond at 3:41. PPG.

Berggren tried to break away on the bump-up shift, but he was impeded by the Penguins semi-legally;

Pittsburgh had a very strong counter-attack offense, however, so Detroit had to be careful with the Penguins’ speed when plays were broken up, regardless of how they were broken up.

As play resumed after a TV timeout, Alex Lyon got very lucky as Matt Rust wrapped around the goal and past Moritz Seider to tap a puck off the goalpost and off Lyon’s pads, remaining out of the goal behind Lyon;

7:05 into the 2nd, Ken Daniels informed us that J.T. Compher was not on the Wings’ bench, yielding an 11-forward situation for the Wings. Compher soon returned, however…

The Pens pushed pretty hard after getting out-shot 7-0 over the first 7:00 of the 2nd, but Marco Kasper responded with a fine slot shot of his own on a cycle with Rasmussen and Motte some 8:50 in…

Lyon made a big stop on Tomassino at the other end…

Matt rust then wrapped the puck around Lyon’s glove side, but was stopped, and Dylan Larkin took a penalty at 9:46 and gave a jawing to Crosby for embellishing the holding penalty for which Larkin was forced to sit.

On the PK, Pittsburgh worked vs. Seider, whose stick was slashed by Matt Rust, and Rust was furious that he was slashed by Seider, and Seider’s stick broke…

So Detroit got a little lucky that it wasn’t a 5-on-3 for the Penguins.

Copp, Compher, Seider and Chiarot worked together on the first unit;

Kasper, Motte, Seider and Chiarot worked on the 2nd unit, and they faced a Penguins team that moved the puck around the ice particularly well, but Kasper made a good block;

Rasmussen and Raymond worked on a “third unit” with Petry and Edvinsson, and Malkin joined Crosby, Edvinsson’s stick was slashed out of his hands sans call…

Lyon made a nice stop off Karlsson chipping the puck in front of the net, and then he weas snowed heavily by O’Connor…

Chiarot and Holl then worked with Copp and Compher for the final few seconds of the PK, and Malkin made a masterful steal to set up a Pens point shot, but Larkin was able to exit the penalty box and skate deep into the Pens’ zone, where the whistle was blown because goaltender Alex Lyon lost a skate blade.

Detroit really began to play in a defensive shell some 13:00 into the 2nd period, despite being up by 1 goal, so the McLellan trap was in full effect…

And when Dylan Larkin sent a shot toward the opposing goal, he hit Erik Karlsson in the face, damaging Karlsson’s moustache and face…

Detroit almost made it 3-1 as Berggren sent a lateral pass to Compher, but Nedeljkovic made a huge stop to keep the game at 2-1 Detroit:

DeBrincat, Kane and Copp nearly banked a shot in off Nedeljkovic, but it did not go in;

Rasmussen stood up Grzelcyk very heavily at center ice some 18:00 into the 2nd;

Raymond and Larkin raced up on a 2-on-1, Raymond passed to Larkin, and he blasted a shot wide of Nedeljkovic;

Veleno also fed Larkin, who was stifled by Nedeljkovic on another one-timer.

Raymond and Veleno also tried to feed Larkin on their next shift with 1:45 left in the 2nd, but they could not find #71 due to Penguins defenders’ blocks.

In the final minute of play, Detroit could not clear the zone, and Evgeni Malkin got a TREMENDOUS chance that Moritz Seider stopped, and then Ben Chiarot sent Malkin into the goalpost face-first, yielding no penalty on the play.

That was the end of the 2nd.

In the 3rd period, Alex Lyon had both blades on his skates changed prior to puck-drop…

And when the puck was dropped, the Larkin line opposed Crosby’s, with Erik Karlsson back from his stitches…

Vladimir Tarasenko got an actually good scoring chance off the rush, but Nedeljkovic shut him down;

Berggren got a look or two as well…

Before Malkin rapped a shot off Lyon in the Wings’ end, Malkin got tripped by Petry, and the Red Wings headed to the PK at 1:45.

On the PK, Detroit lost the opening faceoff, and the Pens put a puck off the outside of the post as Motte, Copp, Seider and Chiarot worked together, with the Pens’ D sending bombs wide of Lyon…But the Wings escaped the first minute of the PK…

Edvinsson, Holl, Rasmussen and Kasper worked the second unit, and the Penguins tied the game by hacking and whacking the puck into the goal at 3:18. Drew O’Connor sent the rebound of a Karlsson shot and Crosby pass.

O’Connor scored the 2-2 goal at 3:18 from Karlsson and Crosby.

The Wings pushed back as DeBrincat, Kane and Copp worked hard to generate shots and pressure in the Pens’ zone, but Nedeljkovic was able to stop them a couple of times;

Lyon nearly put the puck into his own net off a weird spin of a dump-in;

Simon Edvinsson was blocked walking into a shot in the slot;

Malkin fed Beauvillier in the Wings’ slot, and Lyon was there;

Then Raymond and Larkin nearly converted on a gorgeous end-to-end rush.

As Mickey Redmond noted, the Penguins were pressing damn hard on their forecheck with 13:00 left in regulation, but Lyon and the Wings’ defenders were up to the task as the game got mean and nasty…

Pittsburgh had an 8-4 shot lead by the 7-minute mark, and it was not for a lack of trying by the Red Wings, who got a gorgeous little tap-tap play from Kane to Copp in the corner…

But Simon Edvinsson took a high-sticking penalty against Bunting at 7:53.

On the PK, Detroit won the initial faceoff and cleared the zone, and Motte and Rasmussen did a nice job of helping Seider and Chiarot kill off 30 seconds of PK time…

Larkin, Raymond, Petry (with a block), and Holl worked well together on the next shift;

Again, Detroit killed a 30-second segment of PK time as Kasper and Motte worked together with Seider and Chiarot;

And Seider’s flip-down killed the penalty without a shot against.

Thereafter:

Berggren found Tarasenko for a slot shot, but he was blocked, and Detroit had to battle a Pens 3-on-2…

Detroit was matching the Pens’ physicality, and that was good to see…

There were “almosts” for both sides, with Nedeljkovic making the harder stops…

And Erik Karlsson was called at 12:55 for a dump of Andrew Copp via a tripping penalty.

On the PP, Detroit lost the initial draw and surrendered a long shot that Lyon set up for Seider;

Larkin, Seider, Raymond, DeBrincat and Kane were called offside as Seider slithered along the blueline, regrettably, and Rust nearly beat Seider on a race for the puck after another no-keep-in…

Kane fed Raymond for a one-timer that #23 shanked with the heel of his stick 1:07 into the the PP;

Berggren, Rasmussen, Compher, Tarasenko and Gustafsson came out for the 2nd unit, and the Red Wings worked the puck back off a Compher faceoff loss, Berggren fed Gustafsson, the puck went off the post and the back of Nedeljkovic, and Compher tapped the puck over the red goal line.

Compher scored from Gustafsson and Berggren to make it 3-2 on the power play. 14:26 gone in the 3rd.

Seider, Chiarot, Larkin, Raymond and Veleno were hemmed in on the bump-up shift, but they did not break, preventing the Penguins from getting a shot on goal;

Bunting and Edvinsson were hacking and whacking and cross-checking each other without penalties to either player for their exchanges;

With 3:13 left, the Pens iced the puck, and they dodged a bullet by winning the defensive zone draw;

Pittsburgh really, really pushed the Wings into their own zone, but Detroit’s defense was smarter and more sound, and Nedeljkovic exited with about 1:40 left;

Compher iced the puck with 1:04 remaining, but it was a good icing as the Pens were dekeing, dangling and passing all over the Wings’ end…

Compher won the draw, Edvinsson and Berggren tapped the puck out of trouble, all after a Pens timeout, and the Larkin line came out for the final 40 seconds of ice time;

And Veleno was sealed to the boards, Raymond deferred to the captain and Dylan Larkin scored his first goal in 16 games, giving Detroit a 4-2 empty-netter.

Larkin scored from Raymond and Veleno to make it 4-2 at 19:46, empty net.

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!

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