Power-play struggles hurt Penguins again in preseason loss to Detroit
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Simon Edvinsson scored the winning goal with less than seven minutes left in the third period Wednesday as the Pittsburgh Penguins dropped their penultimate preseason game 2-1 to the Detroit Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena.
About 30 seconds prior, the Penguins were on their fifth power-play opportunity of the evening, but Sam Poulin’s delay of game penalty on a faceoff violation created the 4-on-4 situation that led to Edvinsson’s goal.
Earlier in the third, the Penguins had 1:17 worth of a 5-on-3 power-play but came up empty as they did on every other man-advantage opportunity Wednesday.
“It’s preseason, and we’re all trying to get chemistry,” said forward Rem Pitlick, who logged 3:41 of power-play time vs. Detroit. “… I don’t know if there’s always enough time to build that chemistry, so we’re all trying our best to learn they system and things like that.”
The Penguins’ lineup Wednesday was largely devoid of their mainstay NHLers.
With one preseason game remaining ahead of Oct. 10’s regular-season opener against Chicago, Wednesday night may have proven to be the final live-action opportunity to earn a roster spot for several players.
“I thought we had a group tonight — a lot of those guys in the lineup are the guys that are competing for spots,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought they played really hard. … We’re getting down to the time where we’re going to have to make decisions here fairly shortly, and we’re in that process right now.”
Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 22 of 24 shots in the loss, including all six the Penguins allowed short-handed.
Detroit deployed significantly more bonafide NHL talent, including former Penguins Daniel Sprong and Jeff Petry, netminder James Reimer, center/captain Dylan Larkin and blueliners Jake Walman, Moritz Seider and Edvinsson.
“(The Red Wings) had a pretty good lineup in tonight. They’ve got a lot of skill, a lot of skill on the back end and the play a fast game,” Sullivan said. “I thought our guys competed hard.”
The Penguins got on the board late in the first period at the 2:22 mark when defenseman Xavier Ouellet rocketed a close-range backhander over the shoulder of Reimer.
It was the first goal of the preseason for Ouellet, a 2011 draft pick of the Red Wings whom the Penguins recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Tuesday.
After a successful Penguins forecheck produced a turnover in the offensive zone, Ouellet managed to slip undetected into the left faceoff circle, where he collected a pass from newly acquired forward Jansen Harkins before burying the puck. Valtteri Puustinen earned the secondary assist.
The Penguins struggled to get much going offensively earlier in the period, failing to record a shot on goal until Alex Nylander sent a snap shot the way of Reimer with a bit less than eight minutes remaining.
Nedeljkovic made a number of solid saves on the Red Wings, including a denial of Nolan Stevens in front of the net with 8:12 to play.
Detroit had gained the zone and Stevens, breaking toward the net, was the beneficiary of a fortuitous puck deflection off the body of referee Kendrick Nicholson, which set up the attempt that Nedeljkovic fought off.
The Penguins began the second period on the power play and got another opportunity on the man-advantage shortly thereafter but were unable to convert in either instance.
Detroit tied the score at the 5:32 mark of the middle period when Sprong sent a slap shot from 55 feet past Nedeljkovic.
Sprong, a 2015 NHL Draft selection by the Penguins who played 42 games with the club from 2015-18, was assisted by Petry.
The Penguins had a solid chance to even things up near the seven-minute mark of the period after the club’s fourth line of Austin Wagner, Colin White and Vinnie Hinostroza created an odd-man rush that ended in Petry blocking a shot attempt by White in front of the crease.
“I thought Colin White’s line was really good,” Sullivan said. “They got some tough assignments against Larkin’s line. That’s a tough challenge, and we put them in that spot on purpose. I thought they did really well against some really good players out there.”
With the score tied 1-1 entering the third period and 12:32 to play, Detroit had a golden opportunity to take the lead following a defensive zone turnover by Poulin.
Sprong and Detroit’s Robby Fabbri attempted to set up a high-danger two-on-one chance near the net, but a diving Mark Friedman disrupted the play.
Detroit served 16 total penalty minutes Wednesday, compared to the Penguins’ eight.