Last night the Red Wings were taken apart by the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-1 at Joe Louis Arena.  Many factors play into this happening and it not being worth freaking out completely, but it isn’t a good sign with the season starting only six days from now.

First, the Penguins had their studs in Crosby and Malkin playing, while Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Howard and Kronwall were all out of the lineup for Detroit as healthy scratches while Alfredsson and Ericsson missed due to injuries.  Last night was supposed to be the first game at the Joe as a member of the Wings for Alfie, but he is still bothered by a sore groin.

Alfredsson was a consistent presence on the ice in his time with Ottawa, he played in 70 or more games in nine of the past eleven seasons.  One of those seasons was last season, but he played in 47 of 48 during the lockout shortened season.  The Red Wings and Alfredsson hope that he is back on the ice for either Toronto game this weekend.

Coach Mike Babcock had this to say on Alfredsson’s injury, according to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press:

I don’t know. You get in there day-to-day — and I’ve been here a long time — they get in there, they have a hard time getting out.

That doesn’t sound like a real strong vote of confidence he will be ready to start the season.  The Wings need to get Alfredsson on the ice to mesh with his new linemates Stephen Weiss and Johan Franzen and to learn the Wings system.

Detroit hosts the Maple Leafs on Friday and then heads to Toronto on Saturday for the final preseason game.  The Wings open the regular season at home against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, October 2nd.  So will Alfredsson be in the lineup for the Wings or will he still be out due to this nagging injury?  Let us know at DetroitSportsBloggers.com or on Facebook and Twitter.