Penguins at Red Wings Preview: Crunch Time
The playoffs are on the line as the Pens' season comes down to less than 10 games.
The clock is ticking down on the Penguins' 2022-23 season. There are nine games remaining on the schedule and the Pens are fighting to keep ahold of the final playoff position in the Eastern Conference. Hot on their heels are the Florida Panthers who sit three points back, and even the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators who both sit five points behind the Penguins. All three teams are attempting to make a last-minute push into the post-season and gunning for the Pittsburgh Penguins' spot.
Every game remaining will be part of the race to keep their post-season bid and to keep the Pens' 17-season playoff streak alive. Tonight that race is being held vs. the Red Wings. The Penguins have three straight wins against the Wings in Detroit. They need a fourth to continue to put space between themselves and the Panthers on this quest to get into Stanley Cup playoffs.
Game Info:
Pens Game #74: Pittsburgh Penguins at Detroit Red Wings
Date: March 28, 2023
Time: 7 PM (ET)
Place: Detroit, MI
Venue: Little Caesars Arena
Social Media Hashtags #: #LetsGoPens #LGRW
Broadcast Info:
Penguins Broadcast: AT&T Sportsnet
Red Wings Broadcast: Bally Sports Detroit
Online Stream: ESPN+
Penguins Radio: 105.9 The X/Penguins Radio Network
Red Wings Radio: WXYT-FM 97.1
Team Matchup:
Records- PIT: 36-27-10, DET: 31-32-9
Last 10- PIT: 4-5-1, DET: 3-7-0
Streaks- PIT: 1 Win, DET: 2 Losses
Standings- PIT: 16th, DET: 25th
Points- PIT: 82, DET: 71
Playoff Positions-
PIT: Eastern Conference #8, 2nd Wildcard playoff spot.
DET: Eastern Conference #13, Out of contention.
Season Series- 1-0 DET
Series Goals For- PIT: 4, DET: 5
Team Analytics Comparison:
Goalie Matchup:
Projected starting goalies:
-Casey DeSmith- #1
[Pittsburgh Penguins]
Bio Info: 6' 0", 181 lbs. DOB: 8/13/1991 (31). From: Rochester, NH.
Drafted: Undrafted; Experience: 5th Season.
Record: 14-15-4, 3.11 GAA, .907 SV%
Career vs. DET: 1-0-2, 2.89 GAA, .913 SV%
🆚
-Alex Nedeljkovic- #39
[Detroit Red Wings]
Bio Info: 6' 0", 208 lbs. DOB: 1/7/1996 (27). From: Parma, OH.
Drafted: 2014- Rd 2, Pk 37 (CAR). Experience: 3rd Season.
Record: 2-6-0, 3.83 GAA, .882 SV%
Career vs. PIT: 1-1-0, 5.61 GAA, .836 SV%
Penguins Update:
Jeff Petry (D) may potentially return from an upper-body injury tonight, he's been ruled a game-time decision. Petry has practiced two straight days at full contact and skated on the second defense pair with Brian Dumoulin in line rushes in the last non-voluntary team practice.
Taylor Fedun will be the defenseman bumped off of the roster with Petry's return. Fedun will likely be returned to the minor leagues as soon as another reserve d-man is available.
Jeff Carter missed practice due to personal reasons yesterday but is apparently fully healthy and available for tonight's game.
NEXT UP: The Predators visit the Penguins on Thursday, March 30th. Then the league-leading Bruins come to town in the first game of the month on Saturday, April 1st.
-Injury Report-
-Nick Bonino (F): LTIR, lacerated kidney, out until 4/4.
-Dmitry Kulikov (D): LTIR, lower body, out until 4/6.
-Jeff Petry (D): upper body, game-time decision.
-Marcus Pettersson (D): LTIR, lower body, week-to-week.
-Jan Rutta (D): lower body, week-to-week.
-Pens Lines-
The projected Penguins lines for Tuesday, March 28, 2023, at the Detroit Red Wings:
(Forwards)
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Danton Heinen - Ryan Poehling - Mikael Granlund
Drew O’Connor - Jeff Carter - Josh Archibald
(Defense)
P.O. Joseph - Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin - Jeff Petry
Mark Friedman - Chad Ruhwedel
(Special Teams)
PP1: Letang, Malkin, Crosby, Rakell, Guentzel
PP2: Petry, Zucker, Rust, Granlund, Carter
PK1: Poehling, Rust, Dumoulin, Ruhwedel
PK2: Granlund, Archibald, Friedman, Joseph
Red Wings Update:
The next meeting of these teams is on April 8th. The Pens will surely want to pick up both of these wins over the struggling Wings as they try to keep a hold of their final wildcard playoff spot. Detroit won the first meeting of this season series in December after an abysmal performance by Pittsburgh. But in the time since the Red Wings have tumbled down the standings and were sellers at the deadline. They off-loaded a significant amount of talent including Tyler Bertuzzi, Jakub Vrana, and former Pen Oskar Sundqvist. The opportunity for the Penguins' to increase their playoff lead with a pair of wins against the Red Wings in the next two weeks is prime for the taking.
-Trade Deadline Movements-
Key players added: Forwards- Dylan McLaughlin, Danny O’Regan, Jasper Weatherby.
Key players lost: Forwards- Tyler Bertuzzi, Kyle Criscuolo, Oskar Sundqvist, Jakub Vrana. Defensemen- Michael Del Zotto, Filip Hronek.
-Injury Report-
-Ben Chiarot (D): upper body, week-to-week.
-Alex Chiasson (F): undisclosed, day-to-day.
-Robby Fabbri (F): lower body, out for 2022-23.
-Ville Husso (G): lower body, undisclosed.
-Mark Pysyk (D): IR, achilles, out for 2022-23.
-Michael Rasmussen (F): IR, lower body, out indefinitely.
-Filip Zadina (F): lower body, day-to-day.
For The Penguins: Jake Guentzel. This is precisely the kind of game where Jake Guentzel could run wild. The Pens are making a crucial playoff push, the opponent is out of contention and struggling, and their goaltending is shakey: enter Guentzel. Jake's on a three-game point streak as is, with goals in two of those three. He has four points total in those three games. What I'm saying is to be prepared to get some half-off Jake Shakes tomorrow.
For The Red Wings: Dylan Larkin. The Detroit Captain recently re-upped with his hometown team on an eight-year mega deal to guarantee he'll continue to lead the way on and off the ice for Detroit for the better part of the next decade. In turn, Larkin has scored four points in his last five games played with most of those coming as the set-up man. Dylan has undoubtedly taken well to his newfound long-term job security.
