Red Wings’ Unbeaten Run Shattered: Penguins’ Stunning Comeback Leaves Fans Speechless
It’s a bit of a shocker to see the Detroit Red Wings come up short in pre-season action for the very first time this year. Down 2-0 early on, the Penguins rallied with sheer grit and a trio of unanswered goals—including two crucial strikes in the third—to snatch a 3-2 comeback victory right on home ice at PPG Paints Arena. You’ve gotta admire Pittsburgh’s resilience, especially with former Wing Robby Fabbri leveling the score just moments into the final frame, before Philip Tomasino’s power-play goal sealed the deal. Detroit, still leaning heavily on their youthful squad largely destined for the minors this season, showed flashes but couldn’t hold on this time around. One standout was 27-year-old John Leonard, carving out his space with a pair of quickfire goals and reminding us all why he’s dangerous on the ice. It’s preseason, sure, but that defeat is a reminder: the road ahead is anything but smooth for the Wings. LEARN MORE.
For the first time in pre-season play, the Detroit Red Wings didn’t come away victorious.
The Pittsburgh Penguins responded from what was a 2-0 first period deficit with three unanswered goals, including a pair of third period tallies, to earn a comeback 3-2 win at PPG Paints Arena in downtown Pittsburgh.
Former Red Wings forward Robby Fabbri, who agreed to a professional tryout agreement with the Penguins, knotted the score with an early third period goal, followed by a power-play tally from Philip Tomasino that ultimately stood up as the game-winner.
As they did during their first pre-season contest earlier this week against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Red Wings iced a lineup mostly comprised of young players, most of whom will be playing in the minors this season.
One player who will likely spend time with the Grand Rapids Griffins, but doesn’t quite fit the “young prospect” label at 27 years old, is John Leonard, a former San Jose Sharks draft pick signed to a one-year, $775K contract this offseason.
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Leonard scored twice for the Red Wings during the opening 20 minutes of play, which included skating in down the right wing on a partial breakaway and sniping a shot blocker side past goaltender Tristan Jarry for the night’s opening goal.
Leonard knows how to score goals, as he did 36 times last season while playing in 72 games for the Charlotte Checkers, the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers.
His second tally was a floater from just inside the blue line that somehow eluded Jarry, who may have been partially screened.
Red Wings goaltender John Gibson, who was born in Pittsburgh, was given the start and stopped 13 of the 14 shots that he faced before giving way to Michal Postava midway through the contest.
Postava, making his second appearance in 24 hours for the Red Wings, was beaten twice on the six shots he faced.
The Red Wings will now move on to play the Buffalo Sabres as they did on Thursday night, but this time at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Saturday afternoon (3:00 p.m. ET).
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