The Pittsburgh Penguins gave up a pair of goals 31 seconds apart, with both their captain, Sidney Crosby, and the Detroit Red Wings’ top center for the evening, Marco Kasper, in the penalty box, though it didn’t rile the Penguins veteran squad, at least not for a while.
The Penguins never recovered from that 3-1 deficit and eventually, defenseman Declan Carlile snapped on career minor-leaguer Wilmer Skoog in the third period. Carlile threw punches, earning a double minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct, and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard scored a power-play goal, his second tally of the game, for the 7-4 Detroit win at PPG Paints Arena Tuesday.
Nay, the Penguins veteran stars played in the second preseason game not so much to get any sort of needed victory but to get their work in before the regular season begins in eight days. Though later in the second period the scoreboard started to matter before the team collapsed in the third.
The Penguins scored first Tuesday when defenseman Ilya Solovyov sprang Nick Robertson for a breakaway goal at 7:19 of the first period. In fact, the Penguins outshot Detroit 12-8 and kept the lesser Detroit squad from gaining any momentum, but the first period still ended tied 1-1.
Late in the first, the Penguins had a few breakdowns in the defensive zone before Brandsegg-Nygard stuffed a close shot through Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs at 18:23.
The quick goals early in the second period were at 4v4. First, Mason Appleton outmuscled Penguins prospect defenseman Tommy Galvas, pushing past Galvas for a net-front goal at 4:26.
Then a Penguins turnover halted their transition, and Tommy Novak didn’t get back to Axel Sandin-Pellikka before the young Detroit defenseman blasted a 35-foot shot past Silovs. The Penguins muddled through the next several minutes before the young players lit a spark with blue-collar play.
The Penguins began to attack midway through the period when a botched play almost became a big moment. Center Bill Zonnon’s cross-ice pass skipped over Rutger McGroarty’s stick at the offensive blue line. Then McGroarty fanned on his attempted dump-in, but Zonnon had raced across the ice to snare the uncooperative puck and bolted to the net for a Grade A chance.
Detroit goalie John Gibson, whom you might have heard ad naseum is from Whitehall, made the save, but the chance brought the Penguins a jolt of energy. In fact, it was the young players, such as Atley Calverty and Zonnon, who did some of the heavy lifting before defenseman Sam Girard dazzled at the top of the zone, then slipped a pass behind everyone to Rickard Rakell for an easy wrist shot into a yawning net at 12:22.
Ondrej Beecher scored Detroit’s fifth goal on a wrister from the wing at 9:24 of the third.
Skoog also scored a late third-period goal, past a sprawled Silovs at 12:39, to make it 6-3.
However, Detroit wasn’t done padding stats, and Jesse Kiiskinen tallied a goal off the faceoff at 13:46.
In the waning moments, Liam Ruck raced up the ice, dishing to Markus Ruck at the side of the net. Ruck fooled Gibson and fed a trailing Rutger McGroarty for the Penguins’ fourth goal.
Penguins Report Card
Team: B
It is preseason, and to expect the star players to raise their intensity to mid-season form isn’t how this process works. The goal is to get their timing, build cohesion, and build chemistry.
On that front, they got through the game with some moments and left unscathed. Though the paying public might have wanted a little more. Of course, Crosby almost dropped the mitts with Kasper and had a little heat headed to the box.
Ilya Solovyov: A
Take note of this one.
The big defenseman (6-foot-3, 229 pounds) has been the forgotten man in training camp. So, let’s rectify that. He’s slimmer than the beefy 250 pounds or so that he carried last season. He’s moving quicker to pucks. He played good gaps Tuesday, was physical in the D-zone, and he was the one to rush to Crosby’s aid twice in the game when Detroit pluggers got their moment of fame by poking at Crosby. And he launched Nick Robertson on the breakaway goal.
“I feel way better than I was last year. I don’t know, you guys maybe saw it from the side a little bit better than me,” Solovyov told PHN postgame. “I feel really good. Yeah, I worked a lot in the gym, working a lot on the ice.”
Solovyov moved the puck quite well Tuesday, which coach Dan Muse noticed.
The Penguins blue line is an awkard puzzle with only a few pairings that make sense. Solovyov has been notable in camp, but he’s probably a numbers casaulty. If scouts have seen him in camp, he would be a prime candidate to be claimed off waivers. He could also snag that third-pairing role–he showed that well.
Evgeni Malkin: When he wanted to be, he was the best player on the ice. He had some standout shifts in which he stickhandled around everyone and controlled the offensive zone.
Sam Girard: The Penguins’ best lefty defenseman will probably settle on the third pairing, but he can open up the game with his skating and puck movement. He did so on the team’s second goal, but moved quickly to the puck in the defensive zone.
Markus Ruck: Yep, the 2026 second-round pick showed some hop. In the first period, he got on the forecheck and forced a turnover, then backhanded a pass behind the defensemen to Liam Ruck, who cut to the net. When he was on the ice, he was noticeable. For an 18-year-old in that position, it was a good showing. However, coach Dan Muse played the minor leaguers and the Rucks in sheltered minutes, and Ruck played only 5:13 over the first 40 minutes.
Midway through the third period, Ruck had his best shift of the game, with some help from his brother. The pair connected on a couple of chances for Markus within feet of the net.
The Rucks and Mikhail Ilyin had a few good third-period shifts. However, the rest of the team had collapsed by then.
Declan Carlile: His game is not to light up the scoreboard but to quietly handle defensive responsibilities. He was perfectly solid and nullified a few would-be scoring chances with quick closes in the defensive zone. He also stuck up for Crosby.
Carlile also told colleague Shelly Anderson that if players are going after Crosby, he’ll not back down. It is about time the Penguins had players who rush to Crosby’s defense.
Atley Calvert: Mission accomplished. Calvert earned a promotion to an NHL contract last season. He’s a speedy, scrappy fourth-line type,e and he brought some energy to the job Tuesday.
The Apology: Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs ultimately surrendered seven goals on 21 shots. The total number of Detroit shots grew to 23 before the end of the game, but a clearly downtrodden Silovs didn’t sugarcoat his performance.
“I offered an apology. There were a lot of shots that I allowed big rebounds,” Silovs said as he proceded to dismantle his performance Tuesday.
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