Lake Fong, Post-Gazette photos Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek deflects a shot as Mark Recchi tries to steer it in last night at Mellon Arena. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Penguins Notebook: Time up with main camp invaluable for Staal, Letang

Detroit doesn't intimidate anyone with owner Mike Illitch's checkbook anymore.

The Red Wings' offense is a lot less imposing since guys such as Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan and Sergei Fedorov moved on, too.

But Detroit still has an experienced lineup, a solid system and, even more important, a commitment to executing it.

All of which combined to limit the Penguins to 13 shots on goal in a 2-0 loss to the Red Wings at Mellon Arena last night.

The Penguins (1-1) blamed themselves, at least in part, for their failure to manufacture a goal -- "Some of our guys could have been better, and didn't give the effort we need to win a hockey game," coach Michel Therrien said -- but the outcome was shaped mostly by Detroit's defensive work.

The Red Wings seemed to always have a body or stick in the way when the Penguins wanted to carry or pass or shoot the puck, and backchecked like they could earn a bonus for it.

"They're smart," Penguins right winger Colby Armstrong said. "They tightened up in their own end, had guys coming back hard and made it tough on us to make things happen."

Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek turned in a fairly spectacular performance. Not because of any save he made -- those were all pretty pedestrian -- but because he never once gave in to the temptation to curl up and take a nap in the crease.

That alone makes the guy a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

"I had to stay sharp, because you never know," Hasek said. "I don't want to say it was an easy game."

He didn't have to. Anyone who watched would have come to that conclusion, because the most strenuous thing Hasek had to do all evening was his pregame stretching routine.

"They play the system very well, and I don't think we had our best energy tonight," Penguins right winger Mark Recchi said.

Hasek suggested that the Penguins' approach played a significant role in limiting the scoring chances they created.

"They never opened the game up," he said. "They stayed with the same system the whole 60 minutes. They played a very conservative game, and that's why they didn't have many shots."

Sidney Crosby countered that the Penguins' style was well-suited to their opponent.

"Against a solid defensive team like that, you're going to have to play a slower, tight, more system-based game," he said.

True enough, but there was nothing in the game plan about not getting the puck on goal when they had a man-advantage, something the Penguins were unable to do even once during four power plays.

Detroit's penalty-killers were aggressive, and the Penguins couldn't force them to play more cautiously.

"They were forcing a lot," Crosby said. "They had two and three guys pressing hard. Anytime you get that, if you're not getting shots on net, you're in trouble. We weren't shooting enough to back them off, and when we did shoot, they got a stick on it or we missed the net."

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who stopped all 40 shots Philadelphia launched at him in the season opener Thursday, turned aside only two before Detroit put a puck past him.

Johan Franzen got the only goal Detroit needed six minutes into the opening period when he shoveled in a Jason Williams rebound from the crease.

The Penguins threw just six shots at Hasek in the first period, and things went downhill considerably during the second, when they got just one puck on goal.

That wasn't a record -- the Penguins actually went without a shot during the third period of a 4-1 victory against San Jose at Mellon Arena on Nov. 23, 2002 -- but was just the 14th time in franchise history they've managed only one in a period.

Kris Draper snuffed any chance of a Penguins comeback by scoring from the right dot at 18:39 of the third.

And while the Red Wings left town with a couple of points, coach Mike Babcock insisted that he also departed with a favorable impression of the team he had just defeated.

"I was real impressed with Crosby," he said. "I was real impressed with Armstrong. I was real impressed with their goaltending. They're going to contend for a playoff spot."