Motor City Madness: Blackhawks at Red Wings preseason preview

The Chicago Blackhawks will travel to Detroit to face the Red Wings for the second time this preseason. It will be their third game total and the one with the most NHL player heavy roster yet.

The Blackhawks will be led by two lines that have already performed well together this preseason. Alex Debrincat, Tyler Johnson, and Patrick Kane look to be locked in as the top line going into the regular season while Philipp Kurashev is getting another look with the reunited duo of Dominik Kubalik and Jonathan Toews. In the bottom six, there’s a good mix of veterans and those battling for the final forward spots on the roster.

The defense is as close to the expected final group as it’s been this preseason. The top-four is set and Caleb Jones has been playing himself into a top-six role with his performance so far. Prospect Jakub Galvas rounds out the group headed to Detroit:

Speaking of roster competition, several young players looking to make the NHL this season impressed during the Blackhawks previous preseason game, defeating the St. Louis Blues 5-1. It was the first win for the Blackhawksthis preseason with goals coming from Henrik Borgstrom, Colton Dach, MacKenzie Entwistle, Mike Hardman, and Dominik Kubalik.

Borgstrom and Dylan Strome added goals in the shootout.

The Blackhawks also made some roster moves on Monday, assigning three AHL players to the Rockford IceHogs. The IceHogs open their own preseason against the Iowa Wild on Oct. 7, so we’ll likely see more cuts to the Blackhawks training camp roster in the coming days.

NHL opening night is Tuesday, October 12, so the Blackhawks have one more week of training camp to narrow down the final roster.

The Red Wings contingent will be their most NHL regular heavy roster to date as well, though several prospects will also be participating such as Joe Veleno, Lucas Raymond, and Moritz Seider.

Blackhawks lineup

DeBrincat — T. Johnson — Kane

Kubalik — Toews — Kurashev

Hardman — Borgstrom — Carpenter

Hagel — Gaudette — Entwistle

McCabe — S. Jones

de Haan — Murphy

C. Jones — Galvas

Fleury

Soderbloom

How to watch

When: 6:30 p.m., Monday

Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit

TV: NBC Sports Chicago

STREAM: ESPN+ (out of market only)