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Pens Lose 5-2; Cut 3 More Players

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost for the second night in a row on Saturday to “Mr Papa’s” Detroit Red Wings on the home end of a home-and-home pre-season series.  The Penguins were edged by a score of 5-2 in this, their fourth of 6 pre-season games.   

The Penguins had a strong first period with Marc Eaton scoring the lone goal of the frame with assists going to Sidney Crosby and Brooks Orpik.  The goal came on the power play, one of 5 power plays for the Penguins in the first period. 

Detroit answered back in the second period with even strength goals from Draper and Zetterberg at 10:22 and 19:59.  The second goal came with just 0.6 seconds left on the clock for the second period, sending the Penguins into the third period with a one goal defecit. 

In the third, the Red Wings struck first with an even strength goal by Kronvall at 17:00.  The Penguins responded quickly at 18:08 with a power play goal by Evgeni Malkin with assists by Crosby and Gonchar, closing the gap to one goal again.  With the Red Wings Hudler in the box for holding, the Penguins pulled the goaltender to try and tie the game in the last 2-minutes of play.  Henrik Zetterberg was able to take advantage of the Penguins empty net and scored a short-handed goal at 18:54, his second goal of the night.  With the Penguins now down by 2-goals and less than a minute to play, the Red Wings Mikael Samuelsson scored the last tally for the night at 19:23, to finalize the score at 5-2.    

The Pittsburgh Penguins were outshot 33-22 by the Red Wings and were man-handled on the face-offs.  Detroit won 62% of the face-offs.  On the power play, the Penguins won a dismal 18% of the face-offs.  Red Wings Henrik Zetterberg was an impressive force on the ice, finishing the night with 4-points (2G, 2A) and was named the first star of the game.  Mikael Samuelsson had a goal and three assists for the Red Wings, who have won 3 of their 4 pre-season games to date.  The two teams are not scheduled to play against each other during the regular season.

Click HERE for the Pittsburgh Penguins Post-Game Rink Rat Report with Phil Bourque and Mike Lange (2:54). 

Training Camp Update:  The Penguins hit the road for West Point today for pre-season team-building and specialized training.  General Manager Ray Shero announced 3 additional cuts to the roster in advance of the trip to West Point.  Most notable, the Penguins first round draft pick Angelo Esposito (C) was assigned to the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL.  Nathan Smith (C) and Joe Rullier (D) have been assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.  This brings the team down to 27 players (16 Forwards, 9 Defensemen, and 2 Goaltenders).  The Penguins will have to cut 4 more players prior to the start of the season.   The Penguins will be at West Point Monday through Wednesday, and then come back for the last two pre-season games on the 28th and 29th against the Buffalo Sabres.