As the 2025-26 moves along Chicago Rinkcast Host Andy Campbell , Jimmy O’Malley ESQ, Sean Fitzgerald, and Andrew Bard discuss the Blackhawks’ first three games, the impact of their top two centers, thoughts about the rookies, a preview of the contest versus the Utah Mammoth, and the curious possibility of a second straight healthy scratch of defenseman, Artyom Levshunov.

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As the 2025-26 moves along Chicago Rinkcast Host Andy Campbell , Jimmy O’Malley ESQ, Sean Fitzgerald, and a late add of The Rink co-founder Jeff Osborn discuss the roster, predictions, and what to be hopeful for the coming season. After final roster moves, The Chicago Blackhawks open up their 2025-26 season in Miami against the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers on Tuesday!

Join via Youtube or Facebook and make a “hot take” prediction on the opener vs. #panthers on Tuesday to be eligible to win a free #blackhawks t-shirt from @500LEVEL

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 9 Episode 6 – The 2025-2026 Opening Week! appeared first on The Rink.

As the 2025-26 moves along Chicago Rinkcast Host Andy Campbell , Jimmy O’Malley ESQ, Sean Fitzgerald, and Andrew Bard discuss the Blackhawks recent roster moves, what may be coming and the what Kevin Korchinski’s recent demotion may or may not mean for his career..

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 9 Episode 5 – Preseason bubbles set to burst appeared first on The Rink.

Seattle was without quite a few players, as the injury hammer hit them hard Wednesday morning. Kraken captain Mark Giordano remained in COVID-19 protocol, while goalie Chris Driedger and Calle Jarnkrok were put on the injured reserve list. The Kraken’s leading goal scorer, Jordan Eberle, as well as forward Jaden Schwartz and defenseman William Borgen were listed as injured and scratched.

The first period was a rather timid one. Both teams felt each other out with little action. Detroit looked to have taken the lead on a Lucas Raymond goal, but the play was reviewed and deemed offside.  The Kraken held a slim 7–6 lead in shots while German-born starting goaltenders Thomas Greiss and Philipp Grubauer held the game scoreless. The fun was just around the corner, though.

The goals started just under five minutes into the second period, as Robby Fabbri broke the deadlock on the power play with his fifth goal of the season. Detroit held the slim 1–0 lead for six minutes when Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn scored a power play goal of his own.

Seattle took a brief 2–1 lead on Ryan Donato’s fourth goal of the season off a brutal Detroit turnover late in the second, but the Wings answered two minutes later on a Vladislav Namestnikov goal. This resulted in a 2–2 deadlock heading into a tense third period. Shots in second were 13–9 in favor of the Red Wings in the second, but Grubauer helped keep his team as close as possible.

The third period was a great example of tight, fun hockey, as both teams fought to take the lead. Raymond scored a seeing-eye goal that counted this time at the 6:30 mark to give the home team a 3–2 lead, which held for eight minutes. That was when Donato scored his second of the game and fifth of the season to knot the score at 3–3. As a result, the teams treated the Little Caesars Arena fans to some free extra hockey.

Grubauer with a big stop on Erne. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/6vracJfLwa

— Alison (@AlisonL) December 2, 2021

Overtime was not the usual run-and-gun that fans are used to and only yielded one Seattle shot on net. On to the first shootout in Seattle Kraken history, where Greiss stopped two of the three attempts he faced, only giving up a dribbler to Joonas Donskoi, to secure the extra standings point for Detroit.

Given the absence of significant offense in the lineup, Head Coach Dave Hakstol should have been fairly happy with a point after a long road trip against some tough competition.

Anchor points

The power play seems to be running smoothly, and Dunn looks to be heating up a bit. As long as the Kraken can continue to convert on at least one per game, they will have themselves in a good position to win every night.

  Not to rain on Grubauer’s parade but he still seems to be giving up loose chances on these weird shots that do not always end up in the net. His defensemen are there to bail him out much of the time, but he needs to tighten up his initial saves and keep them in front of him rather than trickling in behind him.

Riley Sheahan (Corsi 25%), Donskoi (Corsi 37.5%) and Dunn (Corsi 39.3%) had rough nights as far as 5-on-5 possession goes. The oddest stat of the night is that Detroit was credited with seven giveaways while the Kraken had none.

As has been the norm this season, the Kraken held the possession advantage, but still managed to lose the game. This team has been a bit of an anomaly.

  5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 52%–48%
  5-on-5 Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts) 54%–46%
  5-on-5 High-danger chances for 50%–50%
  5-on-5 Expected goals for 51%–49%
  Face-off percentage 53%–47%

The Kraken are off Thursday but head back home to face the Edmonton Oilers Friday night. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST.  Join us tonight as we have Darren Brown from Sound of Hockey on the Kraken Hostile Seattle Rinkcast to talk about the Kraken road trip and injuries.

The post RECAP: Red Wings out-pace Kraken in shootout appeared first on The Rink.

The Blackhawks were very shorthanded on the backend for Friday’s game. After news surfaced that Lucas Carlsson had entered concussion protocol after taking a puck to the head in Thursday’s game, Dennis Gilbert was recalled from Rockford. Initially, it seems like Gilbert was merely an insurance policy, as Nick Seeler was slotted to join the lineup instead of Gilbert. However, just before puck drop, it was announced that Adam Boqvist would not play due to a wrist injury, so Gilbert indeed drew into the lineup in place of the young Swede.

Another interesting note ahead of Friday’s game was Corey Crawford getting the start again in net. It is rare for a goalie to play both games of a back-to-back, but Chicago head coach Jeremy Colliton went with the veteran netminder over giving newly acquired Malcolm Subban a chance in net against the league’s worst team.

The first period began well for the Blackhawks, especially for hometown boy DeBrincat. Just over a minute into the game, DeBrincat and Drake Caggiula had a two-on-one opportunity and DeBrincat, who was ultimately the trigger man, was robbed by Red Wings goaltender Jonathan Bernier.

The first period would not yield much else for either side and both teams went into the dressing room with no scoring in the first.

Just 20 seconds into the middle frame, the home team struck. After the puck was being played on the left-wing boards, Dylan Larkin found the puck and dished it from the boards to Tyler Bertuzzi, who was sitting just off to Crawford’s opposite side in the slot. Bertuzzi wasted no time and fired the puck past Crawford for his 19th of the season and a 1–0 Red Wings advantage.

Bert getting the party started! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/wwCGBBt2uA

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 7, 2020

The Hawks had two two-on-one opportunities following the Detroit goal, however neither worked out after a bit of a missed pass from Brandon Saad to Jonathan Toews and a quality save on Dylan Strome by Bernier.

Around the midway point of the second period, the Red Wings found themselves on the power play. Just after the 10-minute mark, there was a huge board battle in the left wing corner of the ice, occupying most of the Blackhawks’ penalty killers. After the puck was freed by Frans Nielsen, Gustav Lindstrom found Robby Fabbri and, with the puck on a silver platter, Fabbri found the back of the net on the one-timer to give the Red Wings a 2–0 lead.

Robby Fabbri.

WHAT. A. LASER. pic.twitter.com/8kSBkkwZK2

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 7, 2020

Both goals were excellent one-time chances for the home club. It is safe to say Corey Crawford did not stand much of a chance on either play. However, on the second goal, Fabbri’s shot actually deflected off of Gilbert, who dove in front of the shot to block it. Gilbert’s attempt changed the angle of the shot on Crawford and made the shot increasingly more difficult to stop.

The Blackhawks almost beat Bernier with around eight minutes remaining, as Kirby Dach thought he put the puck behind the Red Wings goaltender on a DeBrincat shot rebound. However, the puck clanked the post and danced along the line, but never crossed, and play continued.

It took the remainder of the period and a bit of line blending before the Hawks could beat Bernier. With just over a minute left in the period, Colliton threw Toews and Saad out with Patrick Kane to get something going. On their rush up the ice, Saad initially found Toews, but he lost the puck and it dribbled behind Detroit’s net. Toews regained possession and found Saad in front of Bernier. Without missing a beat, Saad quickly moved the puck to Kane, who was backdoor, and he potted his 31st goal of the season to cut the Wings’ lead in half at 2–1.

Toews Saad Kane

That's more like it! pic.twitter.com/0h2oHf54Qg

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) March 7, 2020

However, despite some good chances in the third period, the Blackhawks could not crack Bernier the rest of the way and saw their winning streak come to a screeching halt, as the Blackhawks dropped Friday’s contest 2–1 in Detroit.

Along the Boards

It is sad when the worst team in the league handles you as if it is nothing. Yes, the Blackhawks had some quality chances throughout the game, such as DeBrincat’s two-on-one snipe, Dach’s rebound chance and Kane’s goal, but this team never sustained any meaningful pressure on the Red Wings for much of the game. It is tough to beat a team on a back-to-back, but this Blackhawks team had a lot of success in the second half of back-to-backs this season.

Now, a big reason for that success was the goaltending duo of Crawford and recently traded Robin Lehner. Lehner started the first half of most back-to-backs and a healthy, strong Crawford cleaned up the second half. It was a sensational combination. However, fast forward to now, Lehner is gone, Malcolm Subban is now the Blackhawks’ backup goalie to Crawford, and this coaching staff refuses to play the new netminder.

Subban may have struggled this season in his time with Vegas, but you would think the young goalie would get a chance against the league’s worst team, right? Wrong. Subban once again watched from the visitor’s bench in Detroit, as Crawford took his second game in two days after helping the Blackhawks defeat the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night at the United Center.

It is also worth mentioning that Boqvist’s wrist injury really hurt the Blackhawks defensively, as did Carlsson’s injury. The two young defensemen were playing very well, and Boqvist was finding his touch as the offensive playmaker fans hoped he would become when the Hawks drafted him eighth overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Due to the injuries, enter Seeler and Gilbert, who both played an average game at best. Gilbert turned the puck over quite a bit and there were a few chances where Crawford bailed out his young defenseman.

It would be easy to blame Friday’s loss on the lack of defensive depth, but it really seemed that this team just looked tired. Fortunately for the Hawks, Friday’s game was only one of four road contests in the entire month of March. The Blackhawks get plenty of home cooking in March, restarting that trend on Sunday night when they welcome the Western Conference leading St. Louis Blues to town.

The Blackhawks are still mathematically in the playoff picture. However, I am going to be the pin that pricks the balloon. This team is not making the playoffs. They do not have enough depth right now to make a meaningful push. If Lehner was still in Chicago, Calvin de Haan and Brent Seabrook were healthy and the Hawks were at full strength coming down the stretch, I’d say there is a chance. However, Lehner is now in Las Vegas, de Haan and Seabrook are done for the year, along with Andrew Shaw and Zack Smith, and this team looks tired because of that lack of depth. They may hang in there down the stretch, but they will likely be picking in the top 10 of June’s draft if the standings stay the way they are. Now, this could be a good thing if the Hawks add another piece such as Boqvist or Dach, who were both top-10 picks over the last two years, but that will be up to Stan Bowman, or whoever the general manager is come June, to make a very meaningful decision for this team’s future.

News

Just before the submission of this recap, the Blackhawks reassigned Gilbert back to the Rockford IceHogs. This may indicate that Boqvist is healthy and will play Sunday since it was confirmed that Carlsson has a concussion.

ROSTER MOVE: Defenseman Dennis Gilbert has been reassigned to Rockford. #Blackhawks https://t.co/qbB18HIbVW

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 7, 2020

The Blackhawks return to action on Sunday against the St. Louis Blues. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CDT at the United Center.

The post Along the Boards: Blackhawks fall 2–1 to lowly Red Wings appeared first on The Rink.

If Patrick Kane is good then Chicago has a chance to win on most nights. Chicago dressed 17 skaters that do not combine for Kane’s 991 career points.

https://twitter.com/jcgreenx/status/1213848881512845312

Kane’s 53 points tonight is also 23 more than Jonathan Toews this season. Rookie forward Dominik Kubalik has scored 11 goals, falling short of Kane’s 24 goals. The one man show continued tonight.

#Blackhawks lines tonight for the third straight game:
Kubalik – Toews – Quenneville
DeBrincat – Dach – Strome
Sikura – Carpenter – Kane
Smith – Kampf – Highmore

Keith – Boqvist
Gustafsson – Murphy
Maatta – Gilbert

Crawford
Lankinen#CHIvsDET

— Carter Baum (@CarterBaum) January 6, 2020

Chicago’s last place penalty kill looked exactly like it should when forward Filip Zadina beat Corey Crawford to give the away team an early lead. Crawford looked to lose his post, giving the 20-year-old Czech sniper just enough room to bury his chance. Zadina’s shot is wicked and Chicago fans were able to see for themselves.

Filthy shot by Filip Zadina, who fires it past Corey Crawford’s left ear. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/RXbLXDiqlh

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 6, 2020

Detroit forward Luke Glendening scored to give the Red Wings a two goal lead before the first intermission. The 30-year-old forward found himself in front of the net and tipped home a defenseman Patrik Nemeth shot. Glendening made the play while being knocked to the ice by Duncan Keith. Chicago fans may not have known this but going to the front of the net is legal in the National Hockey League.

Luke Glendening doing his best Tyler Bertuzzi impression with the nice deflection. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/z2v7gM84fm

— Tom Mitsos (@tom_mitsos) January 6, 2020

Kane and rookie Kirby Dach generated some scoring opportunities, mostly from nice individual plays for both, but Chicago could not find the back of the net until Dylan Strome buried a shot with just under five minutes to play in the second period. The good news about playing Detroit this season is you can sleepwalk for two period and still be in the game. The goal gave Strome 10 on the season.

Dylan Sikura scored his first NHL goal, tying the game only 25 seconds after Strome’s marker. And just like that Chicago gained some momentum going into the third period of play.

Dylan Sikura (@Dsikky11) scores his first NHL to tie things up in Chicago!

And just like that it's 2-2 with 3:48 remaining in Period 2! #NHLFirsts #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/vw3Plckcl4

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 6, 2020

In between periods, Mike Milbury fed the natives the “anything can happen” when talking about Chicago making the playoffs. Milbury stated it all depends on the general manager getting the team a defenseman to help. One can only hope Stan Bowman would not mortgage any future assets as Chicago chases the ninth seed in the Western Conference. Chicago had a 16.6% chance of making the extra season coming into tonight’s contest.

https://twitter.com/FromTheFaceoff/status/1209257360675557376

Right on cue, Chicago’s youngest defenseman Adam Boqvist gave the home team the lead midway through the third period. The offensively gifted Boqvist fired a wrist shot by Howard after leaving Detroit’s forward Darren Helm in his dust after a nice play at the blue line. The Falun, Sweden native now has two goals this season.

Adam Boqvist’s second career NHL goal and first since Nov. 3. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/UDtCCSSX0j

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 6, 2020

Chicago managed a win with Kane only registering one assist in a 4–2 victory but here is a telling stat that probably says more about Detroit than it does Chicago.

The Blackhawks are allowing a league-worst 36.3 shots per game this season (an obscene number). Detroit has 16 with 7:30 to go in the third period.

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) January 6, 2020

With the victory, Chicago stands four points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the final playoff spot. Do fans lean toward the 16.6% chance of making the playoffs and have a major problem along the blue line or toward the “anything can happen” narrative that the St. Louis Blues made possible after last season? Make sure to comment below with your thoughts.

The post Along the Boards: Chicago wakes up to defeat Detroit 4–2. appeared first on The Rink.

The 6’4″, 205 lbs Regula was drafted the third round of the 2018 NHL entry draft by the Red Wings. He joined the London Knights that next season and is in his third season with the club. Last season, he played the entire year with current Blackhawks defenseman Adam Boqvist. In 14 games with the Knights this season, he has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists). Regula will be eligible to join either the Blackhawks or Rockford IceHogs when his season with the OHL London Knights is complete.

The Blackhawks will be back on the road Wednesday to face the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.  Puck drop is scheduled for 9:00 pm CST.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks sign Alec Regula to entry level deal appeared first on The Rink.

TRADE ALERT: The #Blackhawks have acquired defenseman Alec Regula from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for forward Brendan Perlini.

Regula will remain with the London Knights of the OHL. pic.twitter.com/hctyz1M1QZ

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 28, 2019

The 23-year-old Perlini was acquired by the Blackhawks last November with Dylan Strome from the Arizona Coyotes for former first-round pick Nick Schmaltz. Perlini was a very hot-and-cold player with the Coyotes and then with the Blackhawks, scoring three of his 12 goals with Chicago on March 11, 2019, against his former team.

Despite his scoring prowess, he could never win head coach Jeremy Colliton‘s favor. In a strange twist, Perlini and the Blackhawks had a long, drawn-out contract negotiation which led to a one-year, $874,125 deal getting signed on Sept. 6. He only played in one game this regular season and did not register a point.

Regula is a 6-foot-4, 205-pound right-handed defenseman and native of West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. The 19-year-old was drafted by the Red Wings in the third round (67th overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Chicago Steel fans may remember Regula as a member of the team that captured the 2017 Clark Cup, registering five points (one goal, four assists) in 53 regular season games and one assist in five playoff games.

Regula will be remaining in the OHL with the London Knights, where he is a co-captain and has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 10 games this season. He was also teammates with Blackhawks 2018 first-round pick Adam Boqvist for the 2018–19 season in London.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks trade Perlini to Detroit for prospect appeared first on The Rink.

A look at new #Blackhawks scoreboard with live in-game stats: pic.twitter.com/I0tdIPNEFP

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) September 19, 2019

In typical preseason fashion, more of the stars play in the home games than in the road games. Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat both played last night in Detroit, so they were off tonight. The lines were as follows:

Nylander – Toews – Kane

Saad – Kampf – Kubalik

D. Sikura – Highmore – Saarela

Hakkarainen – T. Sikura – Hagel

Keith – Boqvist

Maatta – Seabrook

Gilbert – Holm

Crawford

First period:

As fans settled into their seats and continually gazed at the brand new scoreboard, the Blackhawks trotted out the top line to start the game. Alexander Nylander won the lottery for the game, starting on the left wing with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. 

Roughly five minutes into the contest, Toews had the best opportunity of the early minutes with a partial breakaway. Unfortunately, after a spectacular forehand backhand move, Toews could not finish and the game remained deadlocked at 0–0.

Later in the period, with about five minutes remaining, the Red Wings earned a power play after a Dennis Gilbert hooking penalty. However, the Blackhawks were able to escape without any damage from the Red Wings’ man advantage. 

But, another power play chance for the Red Wings spelled trouble for the Blackhawks. With just under two minutes remaining in the period, Detroit forward Filip Zadina placed a shot toward the net from the right slot. The shot never made it to the net. Instead, after a Seabrook block, the shot bounced perfectly onto the stick of Taro Hirose at the left face off dot. Hirose finished the play and scored the opening goal of the game for the visitors. 

The Red Wings took their 1–0 lead, as well as a 10–6 shots on goal advantage, into the first intermission at 1901 W. Madison St. 

Second period:

Right out the gate, the Red Wings generated the first good opportunity of the period. Joe Veleno found himself wide open on Crawford’s right side. Valeno placed a shot up near Crawford’s shoulder, but the Chicago netminder was able to make a solid save and keep the young forward off the scoresheet.

Roughly two minutes after the Veleno chance, the Blackhawks finally took advantage of a Red Wings mistake. After Tyler Sikura dumped the puck in deep, Detroit goalie Jonathan Bernier mishandled the puck behind the net. Brandon Hagel was able to steal the puck below the goal line after an aggressive forecheck and jam the puck toward the net. The puck squeaked through Bernier, who was not completely set in his net, and tied the game at 1–1.

Cleanup crew cleans up!#CHIvsDET pic.twitter.com/56Cf5QWnhk

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 19, 2019

Just after the halfway point of the period, the Blackhawks struck again. A Toews outlet pass from the defensive zone found Nylander at the near blue line. Nylander gave the puck to Kane at the red line and Kane found some space in the offensive zone. The Red Wings were concentrating on the three Chicago forwards and completely forgot about Duncan Keith, who jumped into the play. Kane found Keith and the two time Norris Trophy winner found the back of the net with his shot to give the Blackhawks the 2–1 lead.

88 and 2… feels like these two are developing some chemistry.#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/UDSrcPM3hj

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 19, 2019

The Blackhawks entered intermission with the one goal lead over their Original Six foe.

Third period:

The best chance of the third period came at around the seven minute mark. Adam Boqvist danced around a defender in beautiful fashion—dragging the puck between his legs in the process—and placed a light shot toward Bernier’s glove side, but was unable to capitalize on the attempt.

Adam Boqvist is a defenseman: Part 2 pic.twitter.com/Tkv9sxTzlg

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 19, 2019

The Blackhawks continued to pepper Bernier with shots all night long. Detroit had a few quality chances, but each time Crawford stood tall and made the big save. 

The Red Wings tried to tie the game late in the third with the extra attacker but could not find a way past Crawford. The Blackhawks sealed the 2–1 lead and captured their first preseason win at the United Center.

Quick hits:

• The Crow’s nest: Corey Crawford looked really strong in his first preseason action. He is certainly still a question mark, given his recent injury history, but if he can sustain his top level of play for roughly 40 games, then he and Lehner will be the best goaltending duo in the league. After allowing only one goal on 24 shots, it is safe to say Crawford made an impact in his first preseason outing. 
• The lottery spot: Alexander Nylander hit the jackpot on Wednesday, flanking Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane on Chicago’s top line. The young Swede picked up this third point of the preseason on Duncan Keith’s goal and is continuing to make the front office’s decision very hard in about 10 days or so. He has played very well and will likely get a chance to prove himself on the opening day roster for the Blackhawks. Maybe a change of scenery is just what the doctor ordered for the younger Nylander brother.

The Blackhawks remain in Chicago and await the Boston Bruins on Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CST and can be seen on NBCSCH+.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks defeat Red Wings 2–1 in preseason home opener appeared first on The Rink.

Debricant-Strome-Shaw
Caggiula-Entwistle-Smith
Kubalik-Nilsson-Perlini
Fortin-Johnson-Wedin
Dahlstrom-Murphy
Holm-Koekkoek
Carlsson-Krys-Beaudin

First period:
The Wings dominated the first period with physicality and many shots. New Blackhawks goalie Robin Lehner was tested early and often. The defense did Lehner no favors early, allowing a three on one chance in the opening minutes of the game.

Detroit would get the lone tally on a shot from Matt Puempel that Lehner would have liked to have back. Aside from Lehner not allowing more goals, there was nothing really positive for the Blackhawks in the first. The score was 1–0 Red Wings and the shots were 12–5 in favor of Detroit.

Second period:
The second period was better for the Blackhawks. After their lackluster first period, up was the only direction to take for this team. The Blackhawks did face a huge scare to start the second. Alex DeBrincat had went knee to knee with a Wings players in the first period. He would return to bench later in the second period.

The Blackhawks would finally get on the board when Andrew Shaw won a board battle and fed Dylan Strome. Strome made a beautiful pass to Philip Holm, who sniped home the equalizer.

In our best Eddie voice, Philip Holm went “RIGHT DOWN MAIN STREET”! pic.twitter.com/hFcbSGHJai

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) September 18, 2019

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The good feelings from the Holm goal would be short lived. Matthew Ford would beat Lehner on a fluky goal to re-establish the lead for Detroit at 2–1.

Lehner would be removed close to the 30 minute mark. Kevin Lankinen replaced Lehner and was not eased into the game. He faced several high danger chance right off the bat. The Wings would increase their lead to 3–1 on goal late in the period from Chris Terry.

However, the Blackhawks answered back with a goal from Dominik Kubalik.

Consider us big Domink Kubalik fans pic.twitter.com/B16i72mhBb

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) September 18, 2019

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The second period ended with the Red Wings up 3–2.

Third period:
The Hawks would tie the game on a power play goal early in the period. Kubalik was assisted by Holm on the goal. The shot was a laser past Detroit goalie Calvin Pickard.

Dominik Kubalik is firing lasers tonight! Goal #2 ties the game at 3! pic.twitter.com/BDFYVbQQxu

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) September 18, 2019

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Lankien was tested a couple of times in the third. He looked very good in net, but allowed a late third period goal. To be fair, he had faced 20 shots in 29 minutes of play before allowing the power play goal from Michael Rasmussen.

An empty goal with less than one minute remaining left in intermission sealed it for the Red Wings. The goal was scored by Luke Glendening.

When the final seconds ticked off the clock, Detroit had earned a 5–3 victory.

Quick hits:

A defensive challenger: Philip Holm has been impressive during camp. After a disastrous first period, he responded with a better second period. He tallied the first Blackhawks goal. He also had the assist on the second Kubalik goal.

Dominik who?: Dominik Kubalik looks like he could be a useful player for the team this season. He had two goals on the night.

The Blackhawks’ next game will be on Wednesday, as they host the Red Wings in Chicago. It can be seen on NBCSCH+ and puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The post Chicago Blackhawks fall to the Detroit Red Wings 5–3 appeared first on The Rink.

After winning two of their last three games in the last week, the Blackhawks traveled to “Mo-town” to battle with the Red Wings for the final time of the season. Brendan Perlini was sick and missed morning skate, giving way to John Hayden on the fourth line. The Blackhawks were also without Brent Seabrook for the second straight game. The lineup was as follows:

Caggiula – Toews – Kane

DeBrincat – Strome – Kahun

Saad – Anisimov – Sikura

Kunitz – Kruger – Hayden

Keith – Gustafsson

Dahlstrom – Murphy

Koekkoek – Forsling

Ward

First Period:

The first period began with an abnormal set of events. Within the first two minutes of the game, there were three center-ice face-offs, quite the abnormal scene for such a short amount of time.

In a similar fashion, it only took a short amount of time for the Blackhawks to get on the board. Only 1:39 into the first, Jimmy Howard stopped a puck behind his net for Filip Hronek to pick up. When Hronek went to pick up the puck, Artem Anisimov stole the puck, wrapped around on his backhand, and squeaked the puck past Jimmy Howard to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead.

The Artful scorer#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/qSl2i4TDfl

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 21, 2019

The Blackhawks only enjoyed their lead for about five minutes before the Red Wings struck back. After winning a battle behind the Blackhawks net, Anthony Mantha threw the puck out to linemate Tyler Bertuzzi in front. The puck bounced away from Bertuzzi, as well as Slater Koekkoek, before landing on Dylan Larkin’s stick. Larkin set up and slipped a shot through Cam Ward’s five hole to tie the game. The goal marked number 25 for Larkin on the season.

Dylan Larkin nets his 25th #LGRW

Also shout-out to @MikeTirico making his NHL broadcasting debut! pic.twitter.com/r273nWOGOw

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 21, 2019

After play continued to pace, the offense would not stop. Cam Ward broke out the puck to Dylan Sikura in the Blackhawks own zone. Sikura, once corralling the puck, sent a cross ice pass all the way to Brandon Saad at the far right-wing blue line. The play sent Saad and Anisimov in on a pseudo 2-on-1. Saad made the Red Wings pay by firing a sweet wrister past Jimmy Howard’s blocker to give the Blackhawks the lead once again.

Brandon Saad's 21st goal of the season gives the #Blackhawks a 2-1 lead!

Coincidence? Yeah, probably. pic.twitter.com/0SVr3GHaFV

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) February 21, 2019

After Saad’s 21st of the season, the Blackhawks found a little life a few minutes later. With roughly three minutes remaining in the period, Patrick Kane carried the puck into the Detroit zone, dropping it back for Erik Gustafsson at the right-wing point. Gustafsson found Dylan Strome entering the zone with speed and after a split second, Strome dished the puck to fellow former Erie Otter, Alex DeBrincat. DeBrincat received the puck, took one stride and fired home a beautiful top shelf goal to extend the Blackhawks lead to 3-1. DeBrincat’s goal was his 33rd on the year.

Strome to DeBrincat

Where have we heard that before? #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/ocw9H9TBAB

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 21, 2019

The Red Wings did not go away quietly. A late power play for the Red Wings gave them some life before the first frame came to an end. The Red Wings drew iron on their best chance of the power play, and allowed the Blackhawks to squeak into the first intermission still up 3-1. Although the Blackhawks dominated on the scoreboard, they were out shot 15-7 in the first period.

Second Period:

The beginning of the second period had a sense of “deja vu” for Blackhawks fans. After a good defensive play in front of Cam Ward, Patrick Kane picked up the puck with a head of steam. Kane’s speed quickly turned the end-to-end rush into a 2-on-1 with Jonathan Toews. Although looking for Toews, Kane ultimately kept the puck and fired home a perfect wrist shot to once again extend the Blackhawks lead to three goals.

Kaner keeps on keeping on!

He extends his point streak to 19 games and the #Blackhawks lead to 4-1! pic.twitter.com/DeHGblQzoI

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) February 21, 2019

The Patrick Kane goal was the last shot goaltender Jimmy Howard saw for the rest of the night, as he was pulled for backup Jonathan Bernier after going down 4-1.

The rest of the period featured quality back and forth, but nothing to show for it on the scoreboard. Notably, Drake Caggiula was confirmed out for the remainder of the contest in the second period after taking an inadvertent Toews’ stick up high. The Blackhawks were down to eleven forwards for the rest of the game.

Third Period:

The Red Wings came out firing in the third period against the Blackhawks. Once again, one of Detroit’s most dangerous players would prove to be too much for the Blackhawks defense.

After about four minutes of play, Detroit skated into the Blackhawks zone with a chance to do some damage. The puck ended up on Trevor Daley’s stick, as he took the puck around the net on the left-wing side. Before skating behind the net, Daley dished the puck to Dylan Larkin out in front, who muscled through the Blackhawks defense and fired a shot under Ward’s glove to cut the Blackhawks lead to two.

WHAT A SHIFT! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/tolOrCgKFY

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 21, 2019

Following that goal, Detroit found momentum. After a possible botched call on the Gustafsson delay of game penalty, the Red Wings were sent to the power play. Anthony Mantha found the puck high in the zone and fired a shot toward the net. The shot ultimately missed wide right, but took a funny hop to the left-wing side of the ice. Sitting on the doorstep of the blue paint was Andreas Athanasiou, who quickly controlled the puck and lifted a shot off of Ward and in. The Red Wings were all of a sudden in striking distance down only one.

Double A has us within 1. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/cKhevan9aZ

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 21, 2019

Following the power play goal, the Red Wings were sent to yet another power play thanks to a Kane tripping penalty on Danny DeKeyser. Fortunately, the Blackhawks penalty kill came up strong and held the Red Wings off the board.

The Red Wings had no luck as the period wore on, but eventually found some luck with under two minutes remaining in the period. After Bernier was pulled for the extra attacker, the top line for Detroit came onto the ice. As Detroit set up in the zone, Mike Green whiffed on a slap shot attempt only for it to land right on Anthony Mantha’s stick. Mantha fired the puck from the left-wing side of the blue paint to the right-wing side with a no-look pass. The pass ended up landing perfectly on Athanasiou’s stick and he buried the wide-open chance to tie the game at four.

https://twitter.com/CMS_74_/status/1098419213851652096

The game would end up requiring extra time, as the Red Wings scored three in the third to send the game to overtime. Shots were 32-16 in favor of the Red Wings.

Overtime:

From the get go, overtime was full of entertainment. Numerous quality chances for both teams certainly made fans’ hearts skip a beat at least once. Arguably the best chance came via Brandon Saad narrowly missing Anisimov on the doorstep. The play resulted in a 2-on-1 that Cam Ward stopped as he lost his mask.

Just before the 2:42 mark in the extra frame, Jonathan Toews skated up ice looking to create a chance for himself. Toews was able to execute a nice move but could not finish coming from right to left on Bernier. Toews re-gained possession of the puck and found Gustafsson open in the low slot and, without hesitation, “Gus“ one-time a pass over to Kane who was wide open backside for the game-winning goal. Blackhawks win in overtime 5-4.

Did you expect anything else?

Patrick Kane GAME WINNER! pic.twitter.com/I6F0GBx7g0

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) February 21, 2019

Quick Hits:

• It wasn’t pretty: Early on it looked as if the Blackhawks were going to run away with this game. However, a strong comeback from Detroit certainly made things interesting late. Fortunately, Patrick Kane is playing like the MVP this year and had another outstanding night, netting the game-winning goal on a sweet feed from Gustafsson. However, in this case, a win is a win and the Blackhawks can take a wildcard position on Friday if they beat the Avalanche.
• A bunch of Otters: The Dylan Strome to Alex DeBrincat duo has been spectacular since Strome was acquired from Arizona. The play of the Strome line has allowed the Blackhawks to have balance throughout their offensive lineup. It’s safe to say that DeBrincat may have more than 33 goals this year had Strome been his center all season long.
• Playoffs?!: That’s right… the Blackhawks sit tied with the Avalanche for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Colorado has one less game played, so they hold the spot. The Blackhawks can leap into a playoff spot on Friday when they welcome the Avalanche to the United Center for a 6:30pm puck drop.

The Blackhawks will host the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night at the United Center. The battle for a playoff spot will begin at 6:30pm CST.  Also, look out for tonight’s pre-deadline Rinkcast.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks Win Overtime Thriller 5-4 appeared first on The Rink.

6:30pm CST
Little Caesars Arena
TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Cam Ward (13–9–4, SV%: .895, GAA: 3.69)
Detroit – Jimmy Howard (17–16–5, SV%: .913, GAA: 2.80)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (21.9%, 10th)
Detroit (16.1%, 25th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.4%, 31st)
Detroit (77.7%, 25th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.9, 15th; 35.4, 30th)
Detroit (29.8, 25th; 32.8, 24th)

Shooting %
Chicago (10.4%, 9th)
Detroit (9.3%, 19th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.8%, T17th)
Detroit (51.1%, 9th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs
Detroit 6’2” 201lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun

Brandon Saad–Artem Anisimov–Dylan Sikura

Chris Kunitz–Marcus Kruger–Brendan Perlini

Duncan Keith–Erik Gustafsson

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Slater Koekkoek–Gustav Forsling

Detroit Red Wings

Tyler Bertuzzi–Dylan Larkin–Anthony Mantha

Thomas Vanek–Frans Nielsen–Darren Helm

Christoffer Ehn–Luke Glendening–Andreas Athanasiou

Justin Abdelkader–Jacob de la Rose–Michael Rasmussen

Niklas Kronwall–Mike Green

Dan Dekeyser–Nick Jensen

Trevor Daley–Filip Hronek

Analysis

After a wild shootout win over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night at the United Center, the Blackhawks travel to Detroit to take on the Red Wings for the second and final time this season. Sadly, the rivalry has lost its luster since the Red Wings moved to the Eastern Conference, but Wednesday’s game has a lot of meaning for the Blackhawks as they push for a playoff spot.

The Blackhawks sit one point out of a playoff spot. A large part of that spot in the standings has to once again be credited to the excellent play of Patrick Kane. His now 18-game point streak and 17-game assist streak continue to roll on as the season closes in on the playoffs. Other notable performances come from Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat as both players are among the top point getters (along with Kane) in the month of February.

The Red Wings see the Blackhawks for the second time in ten days since their 5-2 loss at the United Center on February 10th. Since then, the Red Wings are 2-1-1 beating quality opponent Nashville and not so quality opponent Ottawa (beating both teams by a score of 3-2). Back to back losses to Philadelphia over the weekend bring the Red Wings into Wednesday night’s matchup looking to get back in the win column.

The last time the Red Wings and Blackhawks played, Dylan Larkin and Gustav Nyquist (who we noted in our preview as players to watch), both had a major impact on that game. The game was much closer late than the 5-2 score suggested to the box score scanner. Another notable player the Blackhawks need to watch is Andreas Athanasiou. “AA” has the speed to break the game open and get behind the Blackhawks defense, especially with the chance that Brent Seabrook once again misses the game due to injury.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com.

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks at Red Wings appeared first on The Rink.

In goal, the Blackhawks had veteran Cam Ward, while David Kampf remained out of the lineup with a foot injury and Gustav Forsling took the afternoon off.  The Red Wings started veteran backup Jonathan Bernier in goal.

This was your Blackhawks starting lineup:
Drake Caggiula – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Strome – Dominik Kahun
Brandon Saad – Artem Anisimov – Brendan Perlini
Chris Kunitz – Marcus Kruger – John Hayden

Duncan Keith – Brent Seabrook
Carl Dahlstrom – Connor Murphy
Slater Koekkoek – Erik Gustafsson

Period One
The Blackhawks and Wings traded chances early on but Wings were only able to get one puck to the net, while the Blackhawks already had five shots before they took their first power play attempt, three and a half minutes into the game.

The power play ended with little pressure and this battle of the bottom feeders trudged on.

Just as the clock hit the 9:00 mark, the trio of Strome/DeBrincat/Kahun weaved over the Wings’ blue line with an odd man break. Kahun was the trigger man but had his initial shot blocked by Danny DeKeyser. Luckily for Kahun, the puck ended right back on his stick and he was able to beat Bernier, who was leaning the wrong way.

With 4:30 remaining in the first period, Brandon Saad hounded Dennis Cholowski at the Detroit blue line and was able to pick his pocket. Saad took the puck hard to the net but Bernier held the Blackhawks lead to one goal.

The Blackhawks struck once again, though, with two minutes remaining in the first period. Dominik Kahun turned on the afterburners and blazed around the Wings defense. He spotted Dylan Strome driving hard to the net and was able to feed the big center for a 2-0 Blackhawks lead.

Shots on net favored Chicago 18-16.

Period Two
Once again, the teams traded chances for the opening five minutes of the second period but neither was able to add a goal on the scoreboard. Shortly after the five-minute mark, Brendan Perlini penalty gave the Wings their first power play opportunity, against the Blackhawks last ranked penalty kill, but the Wings were not able to convert.

With five minutes remaining in the second period, Patrick Kane got a little careless in his own end with the puck and Danny Dekeyser stripped the Hawks wing. Christoffer Ehn picked up a loose puck and raced towards Cam Ward. Ehn beat the Blackhawks goaltender over the glove with a nice snap shot, to cut the Blackhawks lead to one goal.

The Red Wings finished the period with a lot of pressure in the Blackhawks end, but time ran out before the they could tie the game. The visitors had a big period as far as shots on net go, taking a 31-29 lead with a 15-11 second.

Period Three
As the third period began, the Blackhawks came back out with some jump in their step but that jump also led to some loose defense in their own end.

At the eight-minute mark of the third period, a nice defensive play by Duncan Keith at the Blackhawks blue line turned into Dominik Kahun’s second goal and third point of the game. Keith was able to tap the puck up to DeBrincat, who led the rush and chipped it up to Strome. Strome quickly threw the puck to Kahun and the Blackhawks rookie forward beat Bernier with a nice backhand shot.

The defensive sloppiness in the Blackhawks end led to a Gustav Nyqvist goal, with Justin Abdelkader in Cam Ward’s lap, with under five minutes remaining in regulation. That would not last long, though.

Less than a minute after the Nyqvist goal, Patrick Kane snuck behind the Detroit defense and grabbed the Blackhawks back a two-goal lead. Jonathan Toews found Kane from his own end and Kane undressed Bernier. That would be all the Blackhawks needed to win, even though Toews added an empty net goal later.

As the final horn sounded, the Blackhawks won their seventh in a row with a 5-2 win.

Pluses

• Despite a miscue here or there, Cam Ward had an excellent game.  I questioned Colliton not playing Delia, but his decision certainly worked out.
• I was really impressed with the DeBrincat/Strome/Kahun line.  Strome makes that line go, and the wings have been very dangerous as of late.  The Blackhawks look like they have a top 6 locked in, now they need to work on that defense, bottom 6, and goalie situation for the long run.
• Dahlstrom and Koekkoek haven’t looked completely overwhelmed out on the ice despite their relative NHL inexperience.  It’s nice to see some more physical players on the back-end with Murphy.  It’s no coincidence that the Blackhawks have shown life with some of the “offensive” defensemen replaced by some physical guys.
• It’s pretty shocking that the Blackhawks were able to put up five goals without a single power play goal.
• They won a game against a team they should have, facing a goalie that was barely average.

Minuses

• The may have won, but the Blackhawks are still giving up way too many shots to terrible teams.  45 shots against is unacceptable.   Detroit also led in high danger scoring chances 18-15.  This will eventually be their downfall in this silly playoff nonsense.
• Not only did Detroit dominate in shots on net, but their possession number were dominating, as well, at around 57-58%.  This was an instance of the Blackhawks capitalizing on most of their chances and the Wings laying an egg.  These games happen.  Unfortunately, you don’t win playoff games that way.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks Beat the Red Wings for Seventh Win in a Row appeared first on The Rink.

2:00pm CST
United Center
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Collin Delia (6–2–3, SV%: .923, GAA: 2.98)
Detroit – Jonathan Bernier (6–12–2, SV%: .898, GAA: 3.34)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (21.8%, 10th)
Detroit (16.6%, 23rd)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.6%, 31st)
Detroit (77.3%, 25th)

Shots for/against
Chicago (31.5, 16th; 35.1, 30th)
Detroit (29.3, 25th; 32.8, 26th)

Shooting %
Chicago (10.2%, 11th)
Detroit (9.4%, 17th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.7%, 17th)
Detroit (51.2%, T8th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
Detroit 6’2” 203lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun
Brandon Saad–Artem Anisimov–Brendan Perlini
Chris Kunitz–Marcus Kruger–John Hayden
Duncan Keith–Brent Seabrook
Slater Koekkoek–Connor Murphy
Gustav Forsling–Erik Gustafsson

Detroit Red Wings

Justin Abdelkader–Dylan Larkin–Gustav Nyquist
Thomas Vanek–Frans Nielsen–Anthony Mantha
Darren Helm–Luke Glendening–Andreas Athanasiou
Michael Rasmussen–Jacob de la Rose–Christoffer Ehn
Niklas Kronwall–Mike Green
Dan Dekeyser–Nick Jensen
Jonathan Ericsson–Dennis Cholowski

Analysis

The Blackhawks have now won six-straight games thanks to their victory over the Vancouver Canucks in overtime on Thursday night. After two days off, the refreshed Blackhawks will welcome their old Western Conference foe, the Detroit Red Wings, to the United Center for Sunday matinée hockey.

The key thus far to the Blackhawks streak has been good goaltending mixed with quality offense. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are both outpacing their scoring totals from last season and huge seasons from former Erie teammates Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat have propelled the Blackhawks thus far. If the Blackhawks truly want to compete for a playoff spot, they will need better scoring from the bottom six. Currently, Brandon Saad is the only player playing in the bottom six who has more than 25 points.

The Red Wings enter Sunday’s contest on the second leg of a back-to-back. The Red Wings lost in Buffalo on Saturday 3-1 to the Sabres. The Red Wings have now lost two-straight games after winning three-straight games dating back to January 22nd.

The Blackhawks need to take advantage of a tired Red Wings team. Detroit’s top-two scorers should pose some concern for the Blackhawks defense. Dylan Larkin leads the team with 52 points and is one of the fastest players in the NHL. He will certainly make the Blackhawks defense look foolish if he is given too much space. Gustav Nyquist can also prove to be dangerous if he is given space. In order for the Blackhawks to improve to seven-straight victories, they will need to nullify Detroit’s top-two forwards.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com.

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks vs Red Wings appeared first on The Rink.

First Period

From the opening puck drop, chants of “Detroit sucks” rained down from the Untied Center crowd Tuesday night. And as those same fans were just beginning to settle into their seats, Detroit forward Tomas Vanek scored on the first shot of the game to put the Red Wings ahead less than 20 seconds into regulation.

A couple shifts later, a huge face-off win from forward Matthew Highmore led to Brent Seabrook throwing a puck on net, only to be tipped in by Highmore, tying the game at 1-1 at the 1:51 mark of the first period.

Blackhawks goalie Cam Ward did not look strong early (or at all), as he let in the second goal of the game for the Red Wings on only their second shot of the contest.

After numerous strong chances were created by Chicago throughout the first period, rookie forward Dominik Kahun batted a puck out of mid-air off a Duncan Keith shot to even the game at 2-2 with around four minutes of play remaining.

Late in the period, forward Alexander Fortin was presented with a partial breakaway, although he was not able to convert. The game entered the first intermission tied at two-a-piece with the Blackhawks out shooting Detroit 14-8.

Second Period

Action paced back and forth early in the second period before Patrick Kane drove the net hard creating a strong scoring chance. Forward David Kampf missed on the rebound opportunity immediately following Kane’s chance. After that sequence, Detroit forward Anthony Mantha came down the left wing boards putting a shot off of Ward’s pads. The shot took a perfect bounce onto the stick of Detroit center Darren Helm, who capitalized on the opportunity and put Detroit ahead 3-2.

Following a Detroit bench minor penalty, the Blackhawks took to the power-play at roughly the 7-minute mark. After playing catch, Patrick Kane put a puck on net that missed just wide left. The puck trickled behind the net and Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews banked a shot off the back of goalie Jimmy Howard’s leg and tied the game at 3-3.

As Chicago looked to have some new life, Mantha jumped on a loose puck at the top of the offensive zone. After a slight move off to the left wing side of the zone, Mantha riffled home his shot top shelf on Cam Ward giving Detroit the lead once again, 4-3, around the 11-minute mark.

As Detroit continued their dominance, forward Wade Megan threw a shot toward the net, only for the puck to take a crazy bounce and end up in the back of the net off of Givani Smith’s stick.  Not too long after, Detroit continued their dominance with forward Andreas Athanasiou netting his second goal of the game on the power-play, giving Detroit the 6-3 lead.

As time ran down, Chicago set up in the zone with just under two minutes remaining. Defenseman Jan Rutta gained possession at the point and quickly fired the puck on net. Toews set up in front of the net and tipped home the Rutta shot to cut the deficit down and make the score 6-4 Detroit.

After Detroit dominated play for most of the second period, Chicago would make a last minute push. the Hawks drew a penalty and went into intermission with a fresh power-play on the other side of the break.

Although Chicago was outplayed by Detroit, the Blackhawks out shot the Red Wings 12-8 in the second period.

Third Period

Chicago began the third period with a full two minutes of power-play time. After needing more than one rush to set up in the offensive zone, Kane skated in on the left wing side of the slot and threw a pass across to Forward Nick Schmaltz. Schmaltz tapped the puck past Goalie Jimmy Howard and cut further into Detroit’s lead.

After making it a 6-5 game, Chicago immediately returned to the power-play after forward Brandon Saad was tripped. After failing to convert on their fourth power-play of the game, the Hawks once again returned to the power-play, moments later, for a fifth chance with the man advantage. However, the power-play streak for Chicago would be ruined by Detroit Forward Dylan Larkin, who took a soft pass from Athanasiou in the Hawk zone and put it top shelf to widen the gap to two, and make the score 7-5.

With about eight and a half minutes remaining, the Blackhawks were able to set up and create some offensive zone pressure. Defenseman Adam Boqvist set up Duncan Keith at the left wing point and Keith wired the puck glove side, past Howard, to make it a one goal game.

The hope didn’t remain for long. Detroit regained their two goal lead on a breakaway by Tomas Vanek for his second goal of the game. This all coming after a near miss at the other end by Jonathan Toews.

Chicago pulled the goaltender with two minutes remaining but nothing came of the time with the extra attacker. Final score: 8-6.

Final Thoughts

Dominik Kahun looked at home on Jonathan Toews’ right wing. This could be a good spot for him to start at the beginning of the regular season. The line of Alex DeBrincat, Toews and Kahun looked like they gelled well together for most of the game.

Boqvist wasn’t awful, but wasn’t great. He ended the evening with two assists. He looked good at times on the power-play as the quarterback of the Blackhawks first unit. Head Coach Joel Quenneville noted that Boqvist will likely play in the remaining two preseason games, so it is worth keeping an eye out for any improvements made by the young defenseman.

Chicago’s new power-play system proved well in this game. The Blackhawks converted on two of their five power plays, using the Washington Capitals-like 1-3-1 system. The top unit looked especially strong with Toews and DeBrincat on the half walls, Kane down low, Schmaltz in the slot and Boqvist at the point.

Ward and Anton Forsberg both did not look great in the game. Ward was supposed to play the entire game but was lifted for Forsberg after the conclusion of the second period. One major concern for this team is goaltending, so these final two preseason games could help determine who the number two goaltender will be behind Cam Ward to begin the regular season.

Chicago returns to the Untied Center on Thursday, September 27th, taking on the Ottawa Senators at 7:30pm CST.

The post Preseason Recap: Blackhawks Fall to Red Wings 8-6 appeared first on The Rink.

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

The post Blackhawks Fall to the Red Wings 4-2 in Second Preseason Game appeared first on The Rink.