In Pittsburgh, the visiting Detroit Red Wings downed the Penguins, 3-2, after the skills competition.
Lucas Raymond was the lone striker on skills to get the winner for Detroit.
Calvin Pickard made 36 saves in the Red Wings win.
“Wanted to get out there tonight and have a good start,” Pickard said. “Guys played really well in front of me. Some timely goals. We had the puck a lot tonight. Limited their time and space. It was nice to get the shootout win. … Any game in the NHL you win, it’s a really good feeling. I obviously want to build off it.”
Jake Guentzel hit for a double for the Penguins. His second goal came 27 seconds into the third period to tie the game, 2-2.
“We have capable guys on every line right now,” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said. “We just have to find a way to finish. I thought we played a better game tonight. We knew this was going to be a tough game, playing back-to-back.”
It was the second straight skills by the Pens.
Pittsburgh dropped to 27-10-7.
“We knew we needed to take another step in the second period there,” Guentzel said. “I thought we did that. I thought we controlled the play and got to the front of the net, which we needed to do to try to disrupt their goaltender.”
Givani Smith and Filip Zadina were the Detroit goal scorers.
“I’m not saying we outplayed them,” Detroit head coach Jeff Blashill said. “They certainly had their chances. But I think we did a lot of things that you have to do in order to beat good teams, have a chance to beat good teams and to win on the road. I thought we did a much better job of managing the puck. Much, much, much better.
“Certainly, weren’t perfect. They had a lot of chances. They’re a good team. But I thought we did a real good job of that.”
The Red Wings improved to 19-19-6.
Casey DeSmith made 30 saves in the Pens loss.
“It felt good to be in the game until the end and make some good saves and hold the team in it,” DeSmith said. “Obviously, I hate losing, so it hurts. Would have loved to have that one.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.