Pittsburgh Penguins Vs Detroit Red Wings Preseason Game Day And Preview

As the start of the NHL regular season draws closer, the Pittsburgh Penguins conclude the preseason on the road tonight as they visit Joe Louis Arena in Detroit to take on the Red Wings at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The Black and Gold are 2-3 in exhibition action while Detroit would like to continue their winning ways. They are at 3-2, including a victory already over Pittsburgh. This may be last chance for players to make an impression on their respective coaching staffs as the rosters must be at 23 before the NHL season opens on Thursday, Oct 9.

The Captain is in the house as Sidney Crosby will make his preseason debut tonight. He was unable to play in the first three preseason games as he waited for an injury to heal, and missed the last two contests due to the death of his grandmother.

The 5-foot-11, 200-pound center will skate this evening with Chris Kunitz and new Pens acquistion Patric Hornqvist.

Crosby told penguins.nhl.com, “It doesn’t change anything. Our roles and what we do on a line is pretty similar. You just try to get to know tendencies. I don’t think anyone does anything different. Be aware of the guys’ strengths that you’re playing with and play your own game. Usually they put guys together that they think will compliment each other.”

Between the pipes, head coach Mike Johnston has elected to go with Marc-Andre Fleury for the entire game tonight. Thomas Greiss is expected to be the back up.

Here is rest of the lineup for the Pens: Forwards – Chris Kunitz, Blake Comeau, Steve Downie, Brandon Sutter, Craig Adams, Zach Sill, Marcel Goc, Oskar Sundqvist, Patric Hornqvist, Nick Spaling, Daniel Carcillo, Pascal Dupuis and Crosby; Defensemen – Scott Harrington, Paul Martin, Rob Scuderi, Christian Ehrhoff, Simon Despres and Kris Letang; Goaltenders – Fleury, Greiss, and Jeff Zatkoff.

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For the opposition, expectations are that Detroit is going with Jimmy Howard between the pipes for the entire contest, according to Bill Roose at redwins.nhl.com

Jonathan Ericsson is recovering from a sore hip flexor that has kept the defenseman out of the preseason lineup since last Thursday.

Here is rest of the lineup for the Red Wings: Forwards – Gustav Nyquist, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan, Tomas Jurco, Andrej Nestrasil, Stephen Weiss, Mitch Callahan, Justin Abdelkader, Luke Glendening and Landon Ferraro; Defensemen – Niklas Kronwall, Danny DeKeyser, Kyle Quincey, Jakub Kindl, Brian Lashoff, Nick Jensen; and Goaltender – Howard.

This evening’s match-up will be broadcast by ROOT Sports Pittsburgh with Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey behind the microphones.

You will also be able ot listen to the contest on the Penguins’ flagship radio station, 105.9 FM – The X with Mike Lange and Phil Bourque.

The Black and Gold open the regular season on Thursday, Oct 9 at Consol Energy Center as they host the Anaheim Ducks at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh.