The Chicago Blackhawks played their second game of the preseason Thursday night in Detroit against the Red Wings, and they are definitely still trying to get their legs back. There weren’t too many roster players that got into the lineup against Columbus but we saw a few tonight. The top six included Toews, Kunitz, DeBrincat, Kane, Schmaltz, and Saad who suited up for the tilt in Motown.
Before we get into the recap, we would like to acknowledge somebody special to the Blackhawks organization. During the first period of the broadcast, Eddie Olczyk spoke about Pat Foley’s father who passed away this week. Foley said during the game that his father was, “the best man I ever knew and the best man that I’ll ever know.” Our condolences go out to Pat and his family.
First Period
This game started out pretty sloppy even with more veteran players in the lineup. 2018 1st round pick Nicholas Beaudin drew into the lineup and looked a bit shaky to start the game, but so did Boqvist against the Blue Jackets. Boqvist, however, looked far more comfortable in this game. He saw opportunities to jump into rushes and even made some great defensive plays.
Anton Forsberg got his first action this season between the pipes and looked strong in his period and a half Thursday night. His positioning was solid even though he did let in a powerplay goal on a nice redirect from Thomas Vanek. Forsberg didn’t have much of a chance on the play, but otherwise held his own.
A player who really stood out to start the game was David Kampf. He seems to have a knack for making plays. Kampf had several quality chances to score, but he couldn’t convert. His possession along the boards and his ability to find his teammates in transition was impressive.
Second Period
The second is where the Blackhawks and the Red Wings started to find their stride. The Kane-Schmaltz-Saad line got the Hawks on the board with a tick-tack-toe play resulting in a beautiful Kane goal. This could be the line that really thrives this season. And with Schmaltz being in a contract year, he will be cashing in on plenty of potential points.
The Hawks didn’t wait long to score again when David Kampf got the puck to MacKenzie Entwistle who had a two-on-one in the Detroit zone. Entwistle snapped a top-shelf wrist shot that beat Jonathan Bernier. If Entwistle can become a productive power forward for the Blackhawks, the Marian Hossa trade would have done a lot more than just clear cap space.
Defenseman Lucas Carlsson took his second penalty of the game in the second, this time for hooking. Last game in Columbus, Henrik Samuelsson took two penalties as well that most likely puts him and Carlsson in Joel Quenneville‘s doghouse. Putting your team in short-handed situations is the worst thing you can do when you’re trying to gain attention.
One last thing to mention about this period is that new defenseman Brandon Manning got absolutely torched by Andreas Athanasiou who drove to the net hard and scored a layup goal on Kevin Lankinen.
Third Period
The third was pretty uneventful through the first half with the teams trading moderate chances. With five minutes to go in the period, Evgeny Svechnikov was left all alone in front and tapped in the go-ahead goal on a great pass from Givani Smith. Manning was the defenseman that got caught up in the play and left his man.
The Wings finished off the Hawks with an empty-net goal and handed Chicago their second loss of the preseason with a final score of 4-2.
What we learned
- Adam Boqvist and Nicholas Beaudin are adjusting to the speed of the NHL. Both players had turnovers, but they’re learning what they can and can’t do in the pros
- David Kampf is showing a lot of progress. If Hayden, Martinsen, and Krueger are going to make up the fourth line, Kampf is giving the Hawks coaches everything he’s got to get on the third line
- Anton Forsberg had a solid start and that’s extremely important. He was thrown to the wolves last season and his numbers aren’t representative of the player he is. He needs the confidence this season.
- Kane-Schmaltz-Saad could be a thing
- The Blackhawks are paying Brandon Manning a lot of money to get posterized
- We also found out the Adam Boqvist could get a cup of coffee with the Blackhawks this season before he returns to juniors
Adam Boqvist not going back to London right away. He will stay with #Blackhawks. Joel Quenneville even went as far as to say he wouldn’t rule out him starting the season in Chicago. They want to see more.
— Chris Wescott (@TheChrisWescott) September 21, 2018