In their fifth preseason game, the Pittsburgh Penguins took to the road on Monday night (Sept. 29) for a matchup against the Detroit Red Wings. The Penguins moved to 3-1-1 following a 2-1 win. Detroit made a valiant effort in the dying minutes to tie the game, but ultimately fell just short.
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Tristan Jarry made 21 saves in the win, which management hopes will give him a boost of confidence heading into the season. John Gibson made 18 saves in the loss, but came up with timely saves to keep the game close.
Game Recap
The first three minutes of the opening period saw the Red Wings come out with a fast start, getting the game’s first three shots. However, Jarry turned them all away, including a couple of good chances that could have seen Detroit take an early lead. In a situation the Penguins are far too familiar with, having been on the opposite end of it, they opened the scoring on just their first shot. After winning a faceoff, Ben Kindel scored his first of the preseason at 3:40 off a perfect pass from Ryan Shea. After giving up the early goal, Gibson turned things around. He came up with a huge save on Philip Tomasino to keep Detroit’s deficit to just one heading into intermission. Detroit led in shots 7-6.
The Penguins came out hot to begin the second period. They had a few early chances to extend their lead on a couple of occasions, but Gibson was up to the task. At 4:38, the Penguins found a way to extend their lead. Tommy Novak found the loose puck on the back door, tapping it into the empty net for a 2-0 lead at 4:38. A little over a minute later, Gibson kept the game within reach thanks to a big cross-crease save on Avery Hayes. On their second power play of the period, Patrick Kane had a phenomenal chance to bring the game to within one. Staying quiet behind the four Penguins’ defenders who were puck watching, he received a pass from down low. The puck rang off the crossbar and stayed out. Pittsburgh took its 2-0 lead into the final period. Shots in the period were 9-7 in favor of the Penguins.
The third period began sloppily for both sides. Neither team could make consecutive tape-to-tape passes, resulting in a lot of back-and-forth play with few chances. The best chance for either team came just over four minutes into the third period when Kindel received a pass back door. However, Gibson quickly took the net away to keep the game 2-0. With 3:40 to go, the Red Wings finally broke through. A backhand pass from near the blue line by Ian Mitchell found the tape of Dominik Shine in front of the net. Shine pulled the puck to his forehand and beat a sprawling Jarry to the glove side to make it 2-1. Detroit pulled Gibson with just over three minutes left, but the Penguins held onto their lead and took the game 2-1.
The Penguins will play their penultimate preseason game on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. when they take on the Buffalo Sabres on the road. The Red Wings will take to the road tomorrow night (Sept. 30) to face the Chicago Blackhawks at 8 p.m.
