Red Wings rookie Gustav Nyquist scored twice and added an assist Sunday night, helping Detroit to a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the team’s final exhibition match of the preseason.
Nyquist opened the game’s scoring just 1:03 in, when he pounced on a rebound given up by Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and slid the puck into the net.
He assisted on Detroit’s second goal, sending a pass from behind the net to Johan Franzen out in front. Franzen stepped around Fleury and wristed a shot in the open net, giving the Red Wings a 2-1 lead with 9:17 left in the first.
Nyquist’s power play goal with 3:53 left in the second made it 3-1. Nyquist took the puck in the left faceoff circle and dished it off to Franzen along the boards. Franzen sent it back to Nyquist for a quick one-timer past Fleury.
Paul Martin and Tyler Kennedy scored for Pittsburgh. Martin’s goal came at 5:48 when he pinched in to blast a loose puck past Jimmy Howard from the left circle. Kennedy knocked the puck home with 50 seconds remaining during a scramble in front of the net.
The Red Wings went one-for-three on the power play on the night. Pittsburgh was scoreless on four tries with the man-advantage.
Howard made 25 saves on 27 Penguins shots while Fleury stopped 15 of 18 Detroit chances.
The Red Wings are next in action on Friday when they host the Ottawa Senators to open the regular season.
Nyquist was among eight players sent down to the Grand Rapids Griffins after the game.
