Red Wings-Penguins game #2 Tweetcap: Pens’ youngsters out-play a ‘stronger’ Detroit team, win 2-1 decision as a result

The Detroit Red Wings took on a fairly strong Pittsburgh Penguins team as the second “half” (read: four games) of the exhibition season began on Monday night.

Before heading to Chicago tomorrow (8 PM EDT start on ESPN+), Detroit wanted to assuage a bit of a stinker of a loss on Friday to Pittsburgh, and the Wings iced about half an NHL team’s worth of players vying for spots on the big club, and half a roster’s worth of players jockeying for AHL duties in Grand Rapids.

On Monday night, the Red Wings plain old played a weird hockey game, losing 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins despite a late goal from Dominik Shine via Ian Mitchell’s half-boards steal.

John Gibson was excellent in stopping 18 of 20 shots against, but he just didn’t get that much help in terms of stifling the Penguins’ possession and control in the offensive zone, and as both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play, the Wings’ “better lineup” got out-worked, out-hustled and out-executed by a “lesser” Penguins team.

Pittsburgh surged out to a 2-0 lead in the game’s first 24:38, leaned a bit on Tristan Jarry, who was both good and bailed out by a crossbar and goalpost, and the Pens just out-worked Detroit for about 55 of the game’s 60 minutes.

1ST PERIOD: The teams dressed the following rosters:

GOAL: Sadly, the Pittsburgh Penguins out-raced the Red Wings to a 3-on-2 in Detroit’s zone off the rush, and Pittsburgh’s Ben Kindel chipped a backhander from Ryan Shea and Avery Hayes through a slightly shocked Gibson’s glove–with neither Axel Sandin Pellikka or Alex DeBrincat taking the Pens’ sticks away. Pittsburgh 1, Detroit 0 at 3:40 1st: Kindel from Shea and Hayes. Even strength.

PENALTY: Alex DeBrincat was not out to a stellar start as he dumped Jack St. Ivany into the boards from behind, receiving a tripping call at 6:53 of the 1st as a result.

The Wings killed the penalty well, with a significant number of blocked shots never really testing Gibson until Ryan Graves’ boomer from the point as the penalty expired.

We also got a “flashback” to why Nate Danielson’s out–thanks to a cross-check by Matt Dumba on Friday:

The 1st period ended without much to write home about, unless Pittsburgh Penguins possession and control–and odd-man rushes–in the Detroit zone count.

2ND PERIOD: The 2nd period did not start well as William Wallinder got walked around, Moritz Seider missed a poke check on a 3-on-3, and Tommy Novak sent the puck in on John Gibson off a fine centering pass, but Gibson got a little lucky and a little good in stopping the shot.

GOAL: Again, Pittsburgh charged up the ice on an odd-man rush, and Filip Hallinder kicked the puck to Tommy Novak, who chipped the bouncer over Gibson and into the net. Pittsburgh 2, Detroit 0. Novak from Hallinder and Tomasino at 4:38.

Thankfully, John Gibson kept the game within reach…

Penalty: Valtteri Puustinen headed to the box for high-sticking at 7:18, and Detroit earned its first power play.

Detroit did not score on the power play. In fact, even Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat and Marco Kasper looked “off.”

Also:

PENALTY: Perhaps luckily, Pittsburgh’s Boko Imama was called for tripping J.T. Compher in front of John Gibson at 12:11, affording Detroit another power play.

The Wings at least revved up on the power play…

But Patrick Kane hit the crossbar behind Tristan Jarry…

J.T. Compher was pulled down in the slot trying to deke his way into a scoring chance, and other than a couple of perimeter chances, that was it for the PP.

The 2nd period would end with Pittsburgh up 2-0 and out-shooting Detroit 15-14.

3RD PERIOD: Detroit looked to salvage the game in the 3rd period, but their initial play suggested that Pittsburgh would continue to chip and chase and carry the puck into Detroit’s zone repeatedly.

In all honesty, the Red Wings did display more talent, grit and determination over the course of the first half of the 3rd period, but Detroit really was stuck in a coffin of their own making, and the Penguins were not letting up. Their roster may not have had the same kind of stars that the Red Wings did, but Pittsburgh was overwhelming the Wings with skill and work ethic–and execution.

“The kids” were doing their best…

PENALTY: Dominik Shine interfered with Valtteri Puustinen at 13:07 of the 3rd. PP Pittsburgh.

The Wings at least killed the penalty, with J.T. Compher and Carter Mazur looking really good in terms of both defending well and battling their way through some “almost” chances on defense.

GOAL: Dominik Shine snuck behind the Pens’ coverage and took a great pass by Ian Mitchell and jabbed the puck into the goal with 3:40 remaining in the 3rd. Pittsburgh 2, Detroit 1.

Detroit pulled Gibson with 3:12 left in the 3rd period, and took a 6-on-5 man advantage…And Detroit got a fair amount of puck possession and control in the Pens’ zone, but even down a stick, Pittsburgh defended well, and the game ended with a 2-1 victory for Pittsburgh.

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

Stats of note: Detroit finished at -5. Sandin Pellikka, Kane, Kasper and DeBrincat were all -2;

Seider led the Wings with 4 shots and 6 attempts; Kane had 1 shot and 6 attempts; Kasper had 2 shots and 5 attempts; Sandin Pellikka had 2 shots and 5 attempts; Holl had 1 shot and 5 attempts.

7 hits for Mazur, 4 hits for Dries and Seider, 3 hits for Shine, who had 3 shots;

No takeaways for Detroit;

4 blocks for Wallinder, 3 for Mitchell;

Compher 15-and-2 (88%) on faceoffs;

Seider played 22:17, leading the team; Gustafsson was close behind at 21:25, and Sandin Pellikka played 20:57.

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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!