The Pittsburgh Penguins rolled into Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI, for a showdown with the Detroit Red Wings and prevailed 5-1 thanks to two goals from Noel Acciari and two points from Drew O’Connor.
Fresh off their win on Sunday night in Sudbury, ON, against the Ottawa Senators at the annual Kraft Hockeyville game, the Penguins lineup on Monday in the Motor City didn’t feature any future Hall of Famers.
Instead, head coach Mike Sullivan let some of the kids play, and the “veterans” in the group lit the lamp to improve Pittsburgh’s record to 2-2 in pre-season action.
Here are three things to take away from night one of the home-and-home against the Red Wings.
Special Teams Played a Significant Role in the Victory
After producing the 30th-worst power-play totals in the NHL last season, the Penguins improved their special team statistics by notching their fifth power-play goal of the pre-season in the first period.
O’Connor gave the visitors a lead late in the first period at 17:35, and by the end of the night, Pittsburgh finished 1-for-3 on the man advantage, improving to 5-for-13 on the power play, or 38.4% through four games.
Meanwhile, Lars Eller tallied a shorthanded goal less than five minutes into the second period, which stood as the game-winner. Thankfully, the Penguins penalty kill has been strong all pre-season because Detroit finished 1-for-6 on the man advantage in the contest.
Pittsburgh’s current success rate on the penalty kill is 80%, without any superstars. After building up a 2-1 lead, they let the Red Wings control play for the rest of the second period in a classic bend-don’t-break game plan.
However, Pittsburgh’s special team’s performance was why it returned home 2-0 on its recent mini-road trip without shutting down an NHL-ready Detroit lineup and scoring a power play goal.
Joel Blomqvist Will Be Ready When Called Upon
Alex Nedeljkovic started Monday night’s tilt against his former team but departed at 13:04, thrusting Joel Blomqvist into the net. The 22-year-old Swedish netminder played the final 46:44, surrendering one goal and finishing the evening with 20 saves and a .952 SV%.
Considering the Red Wings had Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, Vladimir Tarasenko, Patrick Kane, and Moritz Seider on the ice, the top goalie prospect for the Penguins held his own and was always in a position to make a save or smother a rebound.
Although Blomqvist has yet to skate in an NHL regular-season…