CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks made their return to the United Center on Tuesday for the fourth preseason game. Their first three all came on the road, and now they will close out the exhibition season with some home cooking.
The Detroit Red Wings were the first team to visit, and they dressed a lineup that included some of their regular-season players in addition to some roster hopefuls.
The Blackhawks dressed a group that will mostly make up their group on opening night against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise. There are a few positional battles to sort out, which were a part of Tuesday’s evaluation, but most of their lines from this game will be how things look next week.
It wasn’t necessarily due to terrible overall play, but some bad mistakes led to the Blackhawks being down 3-0 after two periods. Whether it was them pressing too hard offensively or not being strong on the puck after failing to score on a power play, they weren’t good enough.
Early in the third period, however, the Blackhawks finally got on the board. Colton Dach drove the net all on his own and put one away.
That would be all they were able to muster up, as the 3-1 score stood up as the final. Shots on goal favored the Blackhawks, 28-19.
Part of the issue for Chicago in this one was the power play. The Blackhawks went 0/6, despite having double-digit chances with the man advantage. Even one goal in that situation could have turned the tide of the whole game. They got their looks, and now it’s just about executing.
Spencer Knight, who played the whole game, gave up three goals on 19 Detroit shots. It wasn’t his best performance, but all three goals had more problems with skaters in front of him making errors that are hard to recover from.
Although goalies making tough saves can be the difference in winning and losing, none of these three goals against can be viewed as his fault alone.
Dach’s goal showed that he will bring some offense in addition to the physicality that he has brought in other preseason games so far. Other Blackhawks players had their chances, but they weren’t able to bury on Cam Talbot, who had a great game in his own right.
There are two more preseason games to go for Chicago. The Minnesota Wild will be at the United Center on Friday night, followed by the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. Both of those games, in addition to the film that came from this one, will provide clarity on the roster that will eventually exist come Tuesday.
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