Red Wings top Pens in preseason opener at Joe Louis Arena

Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey
Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey

 

By @StefanKubus –

DETROIT – It may have been a preseason tilt, but there was plenty to play for in the Wings’ final preseason home opener at Joe Louis Arena.

With rust to shake and jobs at stake, the Red Wings were able to take a 4-2 decision over the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday night. Jimmy Howard and Northern Michigan alum Jared Coreau combined for the win in net, each allowing a goal on a total of 33 shots. Evgeny Svechnikov and Riley Sheahan scored for Detroit, while Mitch Callahan delivered a pair.

“It’s always nice winning and I think top to bottom, everybody in this room played a role, both goalies, all four lines, six D, so that’s the best you can as for right now,” Callahan said.

Wings coach Jeff Blashill said he thought the line of Eric Tangradi, Matt Lorito and Callahan was the best the first half of the game.

“I thought Mitch played well the whole night,” Blashill said. “Sometimes guys score and it’s indicative of the game, and I thought that was the case for him tonight. I thought that line of Lorito, Tangradi and Callahan was arguably – certainly the first half of the game – our best line… He’s a bit of a hockey player. By that I mean he just finds a way to do the right thing. He doesn’t always look the skill-set part, but he finds a way to do the right thing.”

While the Pens had first crack at the man-advantage, it was the Wings who made their first opportunity count.

Callahan was able to jam a loose puck past Marc-Andre Fleury with six seconds left on the power play. Louis-Marc Aubry and Dan Renouf drew the helpers on Callahan’s first of the preseason.

Callahan wasn’t done there, as he found the twine again, this time just 1:45 into the second stanza. Eric Tangradi and Matt Lorito drew the helpers.

“Lorito made a nice pick in the middle, gave it to Tanger wide, he beat the D and it was a 2-on-1. The D committed to him and I was wide open in front and just had to tap it in,” Callahan said of the goal.

If Tuesday night’s game was an audition, the trio very well could form one of the Griffins’ top lines this season.

“Tangradi’s a real load, Callahan is a hockey player and knows how to grind it out and get to the greasy areas and Lorito has got some speed and transporting abilities, so it was a good line,” Blashill said. “I thought a lot of the night they were one of our best lines.”

Nine seconds later, Red Wings defenseman Dan Renouf dropped the gloves with Pittsburgh’s Garrett Wilson to a virtual draw, but nevertheless fired up the Hockeytown faithful.

That fight seemingly fired up Wilson, as well, as he answered for Pittsburgh with 9:44 remaining in the period. Wilson was able to walk out in front with the puck from the side of the goal and tuck a shot through Howard’s five hole to cut the deficit to one.

That would be the only goal Howard allowed on 15 shots, as Coreau replaced him for the rest of the game.

With 5:19 remaining and the Wings on a 5-on-3 advantage, Svechnikov took a pass in the neutral zone and rushed down the left wing, brought the puck to his backhand and beautifully tucked a shot past Fleury on the far side. That marker gave the Wings back their two-goal lead.

“I was flying on the side, just went in, had open space and just went in on the goalie and tried a shot on net and it went in,” Svechnikov said. “Real happy.”

Callahan said that’s the type of ability Wings fans can expect from Svechnikov in the future.

“Even last year in Grand Rapids when he played, he did really well,” Callahan said. “He’s a very powerful player. He’s fast, he has good skill, he’s fast, so he’s the real deal. He’s gonna be a real good player and a future NHLer for sure.”

Wilson added his second of the game with 11:44 to play of the third period, tipping home a Kevin Porter pass in the high slot to pull the Pens to within one again.

Sheahan added one in the closing minutes to make it a 4-2 Detroit lead off a feed from Gustav Nyquist.