RECAP: Four third-period goals help Red Wings propel Penguins, 7-4, for first 2026-27 preseason win

PITTSBURGH – Finding their stride with the puck en route to their first 2026-27 preseason victory, the Detroit Red Wings used four third-period goals to pull away from the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-4, at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday night.

"The offensive part of the game was satisfying," Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. "We haven't scored a lot, even in Training Camp, so the way we scored some of them - they weren't pretty. They were kind of grimy-type goals. Obviously, face-off wins, feeder shots to the net, tips, deflections - it's the way our team is going to have to score if we're going to have success. I don't see us being a cute team that's going to buzz around. We're going to have to play grinding hockey, and we played that way for the most part tonight."

John Gibson made 22 saves through two periods before Trey Augustine played the third and finished with six for the Red Wings. In the Penguins’ crease, Artūrs Šilovs stopped 16 of 23 shots.

"We talked a lot about getting pucks on net," said Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, who scored two goals. "As you saw today, we did. You see Anton (Johansson), he was just throwing it at the net and got four apples because of it. That was our focus and working on some new stuff with our system."

With 15 seconds left on Detroit’s first power play of the night, Nick Robertson raced down the right side and cut across the net front before he went top shelf to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 7:19 of the opening frame.

But at 18:23, not long after the Red Wings held off the Penguins’ power play for the first of what would be four times, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård scored on a one-timer from the left face-off circle off a cross-ice feed from Nate Danielson to even things up 1-1. Ben Chiarot picked up the secondary assist on Brandsegg-Nygård's first goal of the night — also Detroit’s first of this four-game exhibition slate.

"This year, I know the playbook more and how everything is supposed to work," Brandsegg-Nygård said. "I don’t have to use energy or focus on where I’m supposed to be, because I know what’s happening.”

Scoring twice within the first five minutes of the second period, the Red Wings capitalized at 4-on-4 to jump ahead 3-1.

Mason Appleton saw a bounce go in his favor at 4:26, as Chiarot’s shot from the point caromed off Silovs’ pads and in front of the crease for the 30-year-old forward to deposit. Anton Johansson, who finished with a team-high four assists, got the play started by sending the puck to Chiarot.

Just 31 seconds later, a long-range strike from Axel Sandin-Pellikka made it 3-1. The assists went to Viktor Arvidsson and Emmitt Finnie.

Before the two Eastern Conference clubs headed to their dressing rooms for the second intermission though, Rickard Rakell answered back for Pittsburgh. He converted a feed from Sam Girard, who connected with Rakell from the top of the left face-off circle, making it 3-2.

At 5:37 of the third period, Théo Rochette's face-off win sent the puck to Anton Johansson, who fired a shot on net that Brandsegg-Nygård jammed home on the rebound for his second tally of the night, extending Detroit’s lead to 4-2.

Kaedan Korczak’s wrister got Pittsburgh back within 4-3 at 6:55, but three unanswered goals by the Red Wings – Ondrej Becher at 9:24, Wilmer Skoog at 12:39 and Jesse Kiiskinen at 13:46 – put the game out of reach. Rutger McGroarty wrapped up the scoring at 17:47 for the 7-4 final.

"It's nice to have a couple of young guys and couple of older guys too," Brandsegg-Nygård said. "The younger guys are all trying to help each other and the older guys are trying to teach us. It's nice to have others in the same situation that are also trying to help everyone get better."

Now, just two exhibition games are left for the Red Wings, and Opening Night roster decisions are coming into focus for McLellan and his coaching staff.

"We don't have a lot of time left, so we have some decisions to make," McLellan said. "There are some guys that have caught our eye. They've elevated, and unfortunately, there's the other side of the coin too where maybe, I don't know if our expectations were too high for them, but there's some that I thought were going to perform better at this point. So, it's going to sort itself out over time."

NEXT UP: For their second-to-last exhibition game, the Red Wings will host the Buffalo Sabres at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night. 

POSTGAME QUOTES

McLellan on Pittsburgh's star power versus Detroit's up-and-comers

“I thought early that we had some players that were in awe and weren’t exactly sure if they belonged out there. Some of the younger players, we brought them in between periods and just told them how it was. Sid and Geno are really good players, but every team in the League has really good players. So, if you want to play here you must have the courage to get out there and do it. A lot of guys found their game after that.”

McLellan on Marco Kasper's strengths

"We need that type of player. We need the heavier, the harder, the grinding-type of player, and Marco does that. He does that for his linemates. It opens up some ice room and room for Fins to go. I thought Arvy had a good night, so we were happy with those three."

Brandsegg-Nygård on McLellan's message to the players at this stage of the preseason

"Focusing on ourselves and trying to make this team a better team. We've talked about trying to play harder, tougher and be more direct in that. I felt we did that today."