After falling behind early, the Pittsburgh Penguins came from behind to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in their third preseason game. The turning point occurred in the second period when Connor Dewar scored, reducing Detroit’s lead to one goal. Early in the third period, Dewar engaged in a fight that energized his teammates.
“Anytime a guy gets hit like that and stands up for himself, it pulls everyone into the fight,” said Robby Fabbri. “At that point, we’re doing it for him as well.”
Following this momentum shift, Fabbri, who is attending camp on a professional tryout contract after previously playing for Detroit, scored to tie the game. Phil Tomasino then added a power-play goal to put Pittsburgh ahead.
“They did a great job. It’s not easy to climb the mountain, especially when it’s 2-1,” said goaltender Arturs Silovs about overcoming the deficit. “We managed to get the win, that’s what matters.”
Tristan Jarry started in net for Pittsburgh before Silovs took over midway through the game and stopped all seven shots he faced.
Fabbri commented on how the team responded after a difficult first period: “Tonight was a great example of everyone coming together, the coaches coming together, and us following it,” he said. “We didn’t help [Jarry] out as much as we would’ve liked. It wasn’t a great first period by us, we knew that right away, and we answered the bell.”
The lineup for head coach Dan Muse included Danton Heinen–Tommy Novak–Phil Tomasino; Connor Dewar–Blake Lizotte–Filip Hallander; Robby Fabbri–Aaron Huglen–Valtteri Puustinen; Sam Poulin–Nolan Renwick–Aidan McDonough at forward positions. On defense were Ryan Graves–Connor Clifton; Ryan Shea–Matt Dumba; Alexander Alexeyev–Jack St. Ivany. Jarry and Silovs handled goaltending duties.
Muse discussed his evaluation of both goaltenders: “I think what the goalies saw was two kind of different games. Like, the beginning of the first period, we weren’t very good. We were very loose. I think they got a lot of their opportunities there in the first. I thought we tightened things up, we were better in the second and the third… But for me to make a comment right now, probably go back and watch the film.”
On Tomasino’s performance Muse said: “I think him and his line, starting in the second period… were getting chances… Then obviously, it was good for him too, to get rewarded there with that power-play goal… So, a credit to Phil but also to that power play group with sticking with it and then executing in a really important time in the game.”
Regarding Dewar’s influence Muse noted: “He and Lizotte have gotten a lot of time on penalty kill… He’s a guy who gets in on forecheck—a big goal there… then a fight there to follow it up… Those are types of things he’s shown in his ability to impact game and maybe swing momentum.”
When asked about Jack St. Ivany’s contributions Muse highlighted his two-way play: “I think it’s both ends of ice… Sometimes it’s just being able create space for other guys… He’s been doing that on pretty consistent basis offensively… On defensive side he’s had some really good moments tonight.”
