Goaltender Casey DeSmith made 33 saves on 36 shots as the Pittsburgh Penguins fell to the Detroit Red Wings in a preseason contest Thursday, 4-2, at Little Caesars Arena.
The Red Wings claimed a 2-0 lead thanks to forward Pius Suter getting his second goal of the preseason at 17 minutes, 22 seconds of the first period and defenseman Filip Hronek scoring his first 6:06 into the second frame.
The Penguins’ first offense came at 10:20 of the second when forward Drew O’Connor collected his third goal of the preseason on a power-play opportunity. Controlling the puck at the right point of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Valtteri Puustinen slipped a pass to O’Connor in the slot. Turning towards the cage, O’Connor lifted a wrister that glanced off of former Penguins goaltender Thomas Greiss’ right pad and into the net for his third goal.
A rare breakaway goal by Penguins forward Dominik Simon tied the score 4:02 into the third period. After an offensive-zone turnover by Red Wings forward Joe Veleno sailed back into the neutral zone, Simon claimed the puck and motored in on net. Upon arrival, he deked from his backhand to his forehand and pushed a wrister past Greiss’ right skate for his second goal.
Veleno made amends for his miscue by scoring his second goal at 15:28 of the third period. Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzo capped the scoring with an empty-net goal — his first — at the 19:31 mark.
