PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Sidney Crosby got in a brief fight after getting slashed, not what you would expect to see in the second preseason game that Detroit won 7-4 Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
Crosby got into it with Marco Kasper after the fourth-year Red Wings center slashed the 22-year Pens center in the second period. Crosby started with a couple of shoves and then a punch before the ref stepped in and moved Kasper away. Kasper got a slashing penalty and Crosby two minutes also for slashing back, but roughing could have been the call.
Earlier Crosby got a high-stick behind the net from third-line defenseman Anton Johansson, which led to some pushing and extra bodies getting involved and it settled down quickly.
More stuff
First shift of the third period, Detroit defenseman Albert Johansson tripped Rickard Rakell and as the whistle blew, the guilty party slowed up and Pens first-year defenseman Kaedan Korczak flattened him from behind. Korczak and Kasper each got roughing penalties.
Defenseman Declan Carlile (another Pens first-year) got kicked out of the game after a double minor for roughing and 10-minute misconduct after mixing it up with Red Wings fourth-liner Wilmer Skoog.
“I kind of had enough of it throughout the game,” Carlile said.
“You want to be making sure you are sticking up for your teammates, you are protecting your teammates,” said head coach Dan Muse. “All teammates, definitely your captain. You want to be hard to play against.”
Scoring
- 1st goal of the game was shorthanded, new Pens forward Nick Robertson on the PK breaks out and Ilya Solovyov finds him just back center ice, it’s a one-on-one and he moves the puck to his shooting hand and beats John Gibson for a 1-0 lead.
- “I think you saw a lot of what he’s shown throughout training camp-the speed, the tenacity, the ability to hunt pucks,” Muse said. “He makes good defensive reads. Defensively we know he’s going to work.”
- After considerable zone time and pressure from the second line, Rickard Rakell finds a puck at the side of the net, spins and scores to make it 3-2 Detroit in the second period.
- Midway through the third period, defenseman Kaeden Korczak stepped into one inside the blue line to cut the Red Wings lead to 4-3. Mikhail Ilyin and Liam Ruck with assists.
- Rutger McGroarty with a pass down low to Markus Ruck and as McGroarty broke to the net, Markus found him and McGroarty scored, 7-4 Detroit
- “I saw he had speed coming down the middle, he got the puck to me, he got speed coming with him, so I knew he’s be jumping into that hole,” Markus Ruck said. “Their D-man was kind of flat-footed. I just had to put it to an area and he was there.”
Top 2 lines
The top two lines for the second preseason game might be the top to lines for the start of the season, although hard to think of the first line without Bryan Rust.
- Nick Robertson-Sidney Crosby-Rickard Rakell
- Egor Chinakhov-Tommy Novak-Evgeni Malkin
Twins
Pens first-and-second round picks, twins Liam and Markus Ruck were on the fourth line with Mikhail Ilyin. All three finished with an assist.
“I thought they made some plays,” Muse said of the twins. “I thought they were working at both ends of the ice. They have good energy to them. I t was a really good experience for them to get, I thought they did a good job of it.”
“It’s really special, getting to be out there with those guys, they are some of the best to ever do it,” said Markus Ruck. “Sitting next to Geno and having Crosby over there. It’s obviously crazy, but they are both great people and great leaders. It was really surreal.”
Silovs struggled
While saying everyone is competing in camp, Muse didn’t seem to concerned about goalie Arturs Silovs giving up seven goals on 23 shots.
“He’s coming off a strong year for us last year,” Muse said. “You don’t forget about that. It’s an exhibition game. You look at the chances that were given up, it’s a lot of probably high-quality chances. That’s what he was dealt tonight.”
Muse said you could also limit rebound chances, that’s where Silovs pointed to as well.
“There were a lot of high-chance rebounds,” Silovs said. “You can’t leave a rebound right in front of the net. They capitalized.”
Muse didn’t seem like he was going to let one preseason game change his regular-season thoughts in net.
“Artie showed last year what he can do in this league. It’s not like you are suddenly forgetting about that,” Muse said. “I think his game came a long way just last year and I believe it’s going to continue to come a long way moving forward.”
Long way home
Pens won’t be home again until October, first home regular season game is Saturday, October 3 against Montreal.
Postgame reaction from the 2nd preseason game
Postgame reaction from the 2nd preseason game
