Daniel Sprong, Simon Edvinsson give Detroit Red Wings 2-1 preseason win over Penguins
Rookie defenseman Simon Edvinsson snapped a shot over the glove hand of former Detroit Red Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic with less than seven minutes remaining on Wednesday night to give the Wings their second preseason win in nine days over the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1-.
Edvinsson, the Wings’ top pick in 2021 who’s pushing for a spot on the roster after playing in nine games last season, made up for a delay-of-game penalty in the third that left the Wings on a five-on-three penalty kill for more than a minute.
It was a solid performance for several other Wings newcomers at PPG Paints Arena, as goalie James Reimer, who should be the backup netminder, stopped 21 of 22 shots, and forward Daniel Sprong scored his third goal of the preseason to get the Wings on the board.
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The Wings’ win overwrote a stellar game from Nedeljkovic, who had 22 saves on 24 shots, keeping the Penguins in the game with several key stops in the third period.
The Wings (4-2-0) finish up the preseason with a home-and-home against Original Six rival Toronto, with the Maple Leafs hosting on Thursday night and the Wings hosting Saturday (7 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit).
Alex the great?
The Wings’ penalty killers were pressed into heavy-duty work midway through the third period, ramping up a frame that had seen the Penguins muster just two shots on net. With 10:50 remaining, Lucas Raymond took a roughing penalty on a hit behind the play. Just 43 seconds later, Edvinsson was whistled for a delay of game as his puck clear went over the glass — his second period of the night. But the Wings were able to kill off the two-man deficit thanks to several blocked shots.
The five-on-three turned into two shorthanded scoring chances for the Wings. As the Wings cleared the puck at the end of Raymond’s penalty, it found its way to the third-year forward’s stick at mid-ice and he raced toward Nedeljkovic on a breakaway. But the ex-Wings goalie stayed with Raymond when he broke to his left and attempted to backhand the puck, getting a pad in front of Raymond’s shot. Moments later, Austin Czarnik attempted to go five-hole on Nedeljkovic as he came out to play the loose puck; it wasn’t pretty, but Nedeljkovic managed to get just enough of the puck to knock it down and collect it.
Nedeljkovic was also sharp at even strength, stopping a sharp scoring chance from the Wings’ top line with 11:33 remaining in the game. Offseason trade acquisition Alex DeBrincat fired a pass from behind the Pittsburgh net to Dylan Larkin near the left wall, and Larkin one-timed it to Raymond who immediately sent it on net. But Nedeljkovic was following the play and was in position to stop Raymond’s shot.
First blood
The Penguins opened the scoring as Xavier Ouellet backhanded a shot past projected Wings backup goalie James Reimer with 2:22 remaining in the first period. It was just the fifth shot faced by Reimer, who signed a one-year deal with the Wings in the offseason to back up No. 1 netminder Ville Husso.
Detroit mostly controlled the play in the first period, winning 55.6% of the faceoffs and blocking seven of the Pens’ shots before they even reached the net. But Nedeljkovic kept the scoresheet clean, making seven shots over the first 20 minutes.
He was helped by a Wings power play, on a hook from Chad Ruhwedel against Edvinsson about five minutes into the game, that struggled to put together an attack, with two shots on net and another wide — all by DeBrincat.
Even through two
Sprong evened the score 5:32 into the second period on a slapshot past Nedeljkovic, off assists from defenseman Jeff Petry — playing in the arena where he spent 31 games as a member of the Penguins last season — and forward J.T. Compher. Sprong took the feed from Petry near the blueline and fired a shot toward Nedeljkovic’s stick side; the puck zipped past a couple of Penguins and into the net over Nedeljkovic’s shoulder.
The goal was the third of the preseason for Sprong, who signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Wings in July after setting a career high with 21 goals for Seattle last season; he scored Sunday night at Little Caesars Arena against the Chicago Blackhawks as well as last Thursday against the Washington Capitals in D.C.
The goal backed a solid effort by Reimer, who stopped 15 of 16 shots overall (.938 save percentage) through the first two periods, including all five power play shots by the Penguins. The Wings helped out Reimer with nine blocked shots in the second period.
Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings' score late vs. Pens' Alex Nedeljkovic in 2-1 win
