Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Detroit Red Wings Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 4/23/2022

Time: 12:30 p.m. ET

Venue: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI

Where to watch: Bally Sports Detroit, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, NHL Network

DraftKings: Check back later

BetMGM: Check back later

Caesars: Check back later

Penguins: 44-23-11

Red Wings: 30-36-10

This is the year of Jake Guentzel for the Pittsburgh Penguins. We knew it was time for him to make the plans necessary to become the next best scoring savant in the line of Penguins that have played, including the two that he currently plays with.

And probably his best game came at a time when the Penguins needed him most, and they'll need another performance like that again when they visit the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena.

Guentzel came through at the right time with a hat trick, giving him 40 goals this season, in a much-needed 4-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday. It was a much-needed win because the Penguins were just 3-6-1 in their last 10 coming in. But thanks to Guentzel and his big-time performance to cap off the young scorer's best season of his career to date.

"I just think he's a great player," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "I think he's quietly emerged as one of the superstars of the League. I think he's one of the best goal-scorers in the League. He shows it year in and year out."

But funny enough, we can't be talking about Guentzel on this night because he didn't even have the most impressive game on his own team. Casey DeSmith, who is the starter for the time being with Tristan Jarry out with a broken foot, came through with a 52-save shutout (WHAT), the third time this season Pittsburgh's backup netminder blanked the other opponent.

"I felt like I'm up to the task," DeSmith said. "Obviously, a 52-save shutout always builds the confidence a little bit. Coming into this game, I felt like I was prepared. I've been working for this moment for a long time."

Look, how in the world did we get to the point where DeSmith is shutting out teams like this. Especially given the fact that he's had to come in and fill in for the All-Star goalie that's had such a rough road to rebound and get back to the playoffs. If they want to go far, it might be DeSmith that needs to go the way.

And I would venture to guess that this doesn't bode well for the Red Wings coming off yet another loss to the Florida Panthers for the second time this week because that's to be expected for this group. Because Detroit can't wait for this season to end soon enough.

Sam Gagner and Tyler Bertuzzi scored for Detroit in the 5-2 loss to the now top-seeded Panthers. That's pretty much the story; they scored two and gave up five and had no chance in making this formidable.

"We're under-manned right now," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I thought we had to play the right way and played a good first period, and then it's 3-1 and that's unfortunate. We have to be perfect in our game and we weren't."

It honestly feels like the Red Wings have been under-manned for the past few years with no real sign of life. At least they have that win over Tampa to hang their hats on for to enjoy this season. Whatever that might mean going forward remains to be seen, but the young group is learning its lesson every time they get out there.

Don't think you need to be thinking too hard on this one. While the Red Wings have played hard, I can't imagine DeSmith falling hard after that 52-save onslaught that he just folds against Detroit. Penguins win 5-1

Check back later for betting trends

Penguins:

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Rickard Rakell

Jason Zucker -- Jeff Carter -- Bryan Rust

Danton Heinen -- Teddy Blueger -- Brock McGinn

Evan Rodrigues -- Brian Boyle -- Kasperi Kapanen

Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson -- John Marino

Mike Matheson -- Chad Ruhwedel

Casey DeSmith

Red Wings:

Filip Zadina -- Pius Suter -- Jakub Vrana

Tyler Bertuzzi -- Joe Veleno -- Lucas Raymond

Adam Erne -- Michael Rasmussen -- Oskar Sundqvist

Riley Barber -- Mitchell Stephens -- Sam Gagner

Danny DeKeyser -- Moritz Seider

Marc Staal -- Filip Hronek

Gustav Lindstrom -- Jake Walman

Alex Nedeljkovic

Points: Jake Guentzel -- 81

Goals: Jake Guentzel -- 40

Assists: Kris Letang -- 56

Goalie: Tristan Jarry -- 34-18-6, 2.42 GAA, .919 SV%

Points: Dylan Larkin -- 69

Goals: Dylan Larkin -- 31

Assists: Moritz Seider -- 42

Goalie: Alex Nedeljkovic -- 19-23-9, 3.33 GAA, .900 SV%