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Wings beat Pens 4-1; Group "B" up tonight in Chicago

September 17, 2013, 3:20 PM ET [8 Comments]
Mark Spizzirri
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The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Monday night in a contest most fans were unable to view on live TV.

The Wings did place highlights on their website today.




For their opening preseason game, it appeared to be a positive beginning to what they hope is a very lengthy campaign. The goaltending was solid with Jimmy Howard stopping 14 of 15 over 40 minutes of play, and Petr Mrazek stopping all 10 shots he faced in the 3rd (Detroit was out-shot 24-19 on the night).

Tomas Tatar registered a goal and an assist to help his efforts in receiving a decent amount of playing time in his first full season with the big club.

The standout on this evening was Red Wing rearguard Adam Almquist who scored two power-play goals in the middle frame. While he remains a work in progress defensively given his slight frame (5'10", 175 lbs.) he possesses excellent offensive upside from the backend. Last season in his first full year of professional hockey in North America, the 22 year-old garnered 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 68 games. He added 10 points in 21 games during Grand Rapids' Calder Cup run last spring.

Almquist also has luck on his good karma in that Swedish 7th round selections seem to work out well for the Red Wings. He was the 210th overall selection in the 2009 NHL Draft. It was the next-to-last pick in the draft.

Red Wings’ captain Henrik Zetterberg was also the 210th overall selection in his draft class (1999). Jonathan Ericsson, who has emerged as a solid defensive defenseman for Detroit, was the very last pick in his NHL Draft year (2002).

Despite being only 22, Almquist is entering his fifth season of professional hockey following three years in the Swedish Elite League (HV71 Jonkoping) and last season with the Griffins. With DeKeyser, Smith, Kindl and Lashoff already entrenched with the Wings and the likes of Xavier Ouellet, Ryan Sproul and Mattias Backman turning heads in the system as future NHL rearguards, the question is whether Almquist will ever be able to squeeze his way into a Red Wing jersey on a full-time basis.

However, it has to be comforting to know if you are Ken Holland that you have a minimum of eight defensemen aged 26 or younger that certainly appear to be capable of one day playing in the NHL. That's without even mentioning someone like Alexei Marchenko, who is making the jump to North America this season and could impress as a rugged rearguard in the AHL.

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As for tonight, Johan Franzen (sore hip flexor) will not play in tonight's game against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. (8:00 PM, no TV). Todd Bertuzzi is expected to take Franzen's place alongside Weiss and Alfredsson.

From the sounds of things, the Red Wings are being cautious to ensure Franzen does not make things worse. Brendan Smith also is dealing with a tender groin following last night's contest and will likely rest a couple days before returning to the ice.

Tonight's roster looks like this:


Forwards:

Bertuzzi-Weiss-Alfredsson
Nyquist-Sheahan-Jurco
Miller-Emmerton-Eaves
Pulkkinen-Athanasiou-Callahan


Defensemen:

Kronwall-Ericsson
Paetsch-Lashoff
Ouellet-Sproul

Nedomlel
Nicastro


Goalies:

Jonas Gustavsson (first 2 periods)
Jared Coreau (3rd period)


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