Penguins know they've 'got a long way to go' after loss to Red Wings

Bryan Rust's word of choice to describe the Penguins' performance in this one was "discombobulated."

That's a pretty good way to put it.

The Penguins had the closest thing they've had to a dress rehearsal so far on Tuesday, dressing most of their NHL regulars for their preseason matchup against the Red Wings.

It would perhaps be more accurate to call their opponent the Grand Rapids Griffins, though, given the heavy AHL and prospect presence in Detroit's roster.

Despite the clear disparity in talent among the teams' respective rosters, the Penguins took a 6-2 loss in Tuesday's game. The abysmal power play didn't help, with the Penguins going 0-for-9 on the man advantage.

It really wasn't the case that you could point to any individual player or players and say that they had a bad game or contributed to the loss more than others.

The group as a whole just wasn't cohesive, and at times looked lethargic. "Discombobulated" sums it up.

Though the Penguins opened training camp six days ago, this group of players really hasn't had any practice time together. The division of teams in camp focused on keeping pairs together, with prospects and depth players completing the different line combinations.

The first time this NHL group got to have a practice together was in Tuesday's morning skate before the game. There was brief five-on-five work and work on the end on special teams, but it wasn't much time together in the grand scheme of things.

It showed.

Brock McGinn did get the Penguins on the board in the first two minutes off the game with a shot from the slot off of a nice pass from Marcus Pettersson from along the boards:

Things just went downhill from there. There were turnovers, missed opportunities from plays that amounted to nothing, and shot attempts that couldn't find their target. A backhand goal from Rust cut the deficit in the second period, but it was far from sparking a rally.

"We've got a long way to go," Rust told me after the game. "I just think the details weren't quite there. The execution wasn't quite there. We've got to just focus on that moving forward. We aren't used to NHL hockey games, we're used to playing in the summer. We've got to flip that switch quick here."

Obviously, a four-goal loss isn't a great feeling, especially when you look at the players Detroit dressed tonight. But the mood in the locker room afterward wasn't as quiet or dejected as it would typically be after a regular-season loss. Players are looking to quickly turn the page and get back to work for when the games that count start coming.

"I think there's a lot to work on," McGinn said. "I think everybody takes pride in here on execution and holding the standard. I think we've just got to go home and focus on getting better in those specific areas and go from there."

One of those "specific areas" is undoubtedly the power play.

"Yeah, I think we need some work after playing and not executing very well," Rust said of the Penguins' work on the man advantage. "It's almost good that we got those (power plays), because we obviously need the practice. We've just got to get on the same page and jell a little bit better. Moving forward here we're going to work on that."

Mike Sullivan said afterward that he was "reluctant to overreact" to a preseason game like this. With a team that has as many experienced NHL players as the Penguins have, players have been through training camps and preseasons many times before. In the case of the core group of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are going through it for the 17th time together. Sullivan said that veteran players "try to get what they need" out of a preseason. They know what they need to do to get ready for a season.

Sullivan said that he was hopeful for a better effort in this game, but he didn't sound concerned about the loss being an indication of anything bigger than what it was.

"We know we've got a ways to go," he said. "What I said to the players after the game is. 'Let's not get discouraged. But if there's any takeaway, it's that we have a lot of work to do.' That's an important aspect of tonight's game. We won't get discouraged. We'll go back to practice tomorrow, we'll continue to work on our game plan."

They have 15 days to work on that plan before the puck drops (for real) on the 2022-23 season.

MORE FROM THE GAME

• McGinn was the Penguins' best player on Tuesday night, and it wasn't solely because he opened the scoring just 1:42 into the game. His goal was a really nice display of awareness to pop up and open up into a soft spot in the slot before ripping the puck upstairs. I was critical of his performance last season -- even more so during the latter stages -- but if he consistently performs the way he did on Tuesday, I'll keep my trap shut.

McGinn attempted six shots, three of which were scoring chances. He nearly picked up a second goal later on with his patented outside-inside move that he likes to utilize coming down the right wing.

After the game, McGinn said he's feeling better coming into this season thanks to a higher level of comfortability and familiarity with his teammates and the organization. -- Danny Shirey

• Jeff Petry's unofficial debut in black and gold probably didn't go the way he had hoped. His smooth skating ability was apparent on numerous occasions as he went heel-to-heel to protect the puck under pressure and used his long skating stride to try and kill plays early in the sequence. He threw his body around and landed a couple of eye-catching hits, and even rang a shot off the crossbar from the goal line on the power play in the first period. It's pretty clear he'll be able to help this team in several aspects once he becomes more comfortable.

That said, he was directly responsible for the Red Wings' third goal when he got caught puck-watching, allowing a pass to slip through his legs to an unmarked Elmer Söderblom on the doorstep. Almost immediately after, Petry was sent to the penalty box for taking an unnecessary roughing penalty. The Red Wings struck twine on the subsequent power play.

For what it's worth, Petry was on the ice for both of the Penguins' goals, and the only goal against he was on the ice for during all situations was the one I referenced above. -- Shirey

• Rust scored the Penguins' second goal on a nifty backhand tally in tight:

It wasn't his greatest performance, but he was one of the Penguins' better skaters and seemed to have a bit more pep in his step than most of the team who seemed to be going through the motions -- almost as if they showed up for an insignificant drop-in game at their local rink.

Rust recorded seven shot attempts and three scoring chances in 17:37 of ice-time. -- Shirey

• Perhaps the best part of Rust's goal was the quick pass from Jason Zucker to find him breaking in behind the defense. I can't stress enough how important it will be for him to get going if he can stay healthy, and preseason or not, it's nice to see him get on the scoresheet in back-to-back games.

Zucker and Rust very well could start the season flanking Evgeni Malkin, and Rust believes they can find success as his wingers because they are two guys who "work hard together."

Sullivan shared a similar belief following the game.

"If Zuck plays with Geno and Rusty, I think potentially that line could be very good for us," Sullivan said. "Rusty and Zuck both bring a lot of speed. I think Zuck’s a straight-ahead guy, he’s good on the forecheck, he goes to the net-front, he’s good in the battle areas, and he’s got some scoring touch." -- Shirey

• The Penguins' power play flat out stunk. No swagger, no mojo, no purpose. It obviously wasn't the case, but it legitimately looked like they had no plan of attack whatsoever when they were out there. And they were out there a lot.

Get this: During 16:52 of power play time, the Penguins merely broke even in high-danger chances with the Red Wings at four apiece. -- Shirey

• I'm willing to reserve judgment a little longer than a single preseason game, but man, Brian Dumoulin's skating looked like a problem. Dumoulin's overall impact has diminished in recent seasons, most likely due to several significant lower-body injuries that hampered his mobility.

After suffering another significant lower-body injury in the Penguins' first-round playoff series against the Rangers last season, things don't appear to be getting any better for the 31-year-old. His transitions are slower and clunkier than they used to be. Because of that, he's at a much higher risk of getting beat one-on-one. Shutting the opposition down one-on-one used to be his bread and butter.

This isn't meant to instill doom and gloom, but the Penguins don't really have another viable candidate to play with Letang. They're going to need Dumoulin to correct the ship here as they ride out the last season of his contract.

Over the offseason I was told the Penguins had concerns about his game, but were reluctant to move him for the exact reason I just mentioned. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. -- Shirey

• It wasn't a banner night for the return of the Jake Guentzel - Crosby - Rickard Rakell line. In 8:22 of ice-time, the Penguins' top line mustered just four shot attempts while allowing 10 as they were out-chanced 5-1. They were also on the ice for two goals against, which is one more than they allowed across their 91:10 of ice-time together last season.

It was an especially pedestrian showing for Crosby, who did attempt seven shots, but six of them came on the power play. After nearly two decades of preseason games, it's hard to blame him for not being at his best against a lineup largely filled with non-NHL players. -- Shirey

• Tristan Jarry got the start in between the pipes and allowed four goals on 14 shots before Casey DeSmith took over just before the halfway point of the game. DeSmith allowed two goals on seven shots.

I'm not going to point fingers at either of the netminders due to the discombobulated mess in front of them for most of the night, but neither played particularly well or came up with timely saves, aside from a pair of shorthanded saves from Jarry early on. 

DeSmith made an especially egregious error on Dominik Kubalik's second goal of the game, allowing the big winger to hunt him down behind his own net and swipe the puck right off his stick before depositing it into the empty cage:

Very fitting final goal of the game. -- Shirey

• Ryan Poehling had a pretty quiet night, but he did sneak into the slot for a semi-dangerous redirect attempt. He continues to show an ability to play in the traffic areas and around the net. I am, however, starting to suspect his ceiling as a play-driver is a bit limited.

Following the game, Sullivan said he believes Poehling is best suited as a center.

"I think his natural position is a center," he said. "We’ll have to wait and see how it all shakes out depending on what the needs of the team are. But I think his natural position is a center. So we’re trying to become more familiar with Ryan’s game, and that’s one of the reasons why we played him early on here in a couple of games right away. We’ll continue to try to watch his game and make evaluations accordingly, but I think his natural position is the center position." -- Shirey

• The many scratches during training camp sit in the press box during games. I saw forward prospect Jordan Frasca, a free agent signing this spring, wearing a boot on his right foot and using crutches. It's unclear how he may have sustained the injury. He played in Sunday's 5-1 loss in Columbus and scored the only goal near the midway point of the third period, then the Penguins had an off day on Monday. -- Haase

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file

THE THREE STARS

As selected at PPG Paints Arena:

1. Dominik Kubalik, Red Wings F
2. Filip Zadina, Red Wings F
3. Bryan Rust, Penguins F

THE INJURIES

• Defenseman Owen Pickering was injured prior to rookie camp. I saw him skating with the team for the first time on Sunday morning, working in a non-contact jersey with the non-game group of players, and he participated in Tuesday's morning skate in a non-contact capacity as well. I believe his injury is a wrist injury, I've seen him around the rink with some sort of brace on his right wrist.

• Defenseman Colin Swoyer left Day 1 of training camp with a lower-body injury. He also skated with the non-game group Sunday morning in a regular jersey.

• Defenseman Nolan Collins was injured in his OHL team's training camp prior to the start of rookie camp. He told me it is a shoulder injury. He's been practicing with the team since rookie camp in a non-contact jersey, and was still non-contact on Sunday morning.

• Forward Jeff Carter left Saturday's training camp scrimmage early with an upper-body injury. Sullivan said Tuesday he was day-to-day.

• Forward Jordan Frasca is dealing with an injury to his right foot and is wearing a boot. it's unclear how he sustained it.

THE LINEUPS

Sullivani’s lines and pairings:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Radim Zohorna - Teddy Blueger - Brock McGinn
Drew O'Connor - Ryan Poehling - Drake Caggiula

Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Jeff Petry
Ty Smith - Jan Rutta

And for Derek Lalonde's Red Wings

Dominik Kubalik - Michael Rasmussen - Filip Zadina
Tyler Spezia - Austin Czarnik - Jonathan Berggren
Cross Hanas - Dominik Shine - Taro Hirose
Elmer Soderblom - Drew Worrad - Kirill Tyutyayev

Olli Maatta - Filip Hronek
Eemil Viro - Steven Kampfer
Jared McIsaac - Jordan Oesterle

THE SCHEDULE

The Penguins have two practice sessions on Wednesday. One team of players will practice from 10:10-11:30 a.m., and the second group will practice from 12:40-2 p.m. The next game is Saturday at 1 p.m. in Buffalo.

THE CONTENT

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