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And I Smoke: Red Wings 4, Blackhawks 0

A dismal night at the United Center.

Posted on by Dave Melton
Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Blackhawks didn’t do much of anything on offense while being shut out 4-0 by the Red Wings on Saturday night at the United Center.

On a night when the giveaway was a Chris Chelios bobblehead, perhaps there was no more fitting development early on than a pair of Hawks scoring the first two goals for Detroit. Alex DeBrincat was up first, tallying just 55 seconds into the game:

Detroit goal! Scored by Alex DeBrincat with 19:05 remaining in the 1st period. Assisted by Andrew Copp and Patrick Kane. Chicago: 0 Detroit: 1 #DETvsCHI #Blackhawks #LGRW

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— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) December 13, 2025 at 7:27 PM

Patrick Kane scored career goal No. 498 later in the period:

Detroit goal! Scored by Patrick Kane with 15:25 remaining in the 1st period. Assisted by Alex DeBrincat. Chicago: 0 Detroit: 2 #DETvsCHI #Blackhawks #LGRW

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— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) December 13, 2025 at 7:49 PM

Towards the end of the second period, Emmitt Finnie scored to make it a 3-0 Detroit lead:

Detroit goal! Scored by Emmitt Finnie with 05:37 remaining in the 2nd period. Assisted by Lucas Raymond and Axel Sandin-Pellikka. Chicago: 0 Detroit: 3 #DETvsCHI #Blackhawks #LGRW

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— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) December 13, 2025 at 8:44 PM

DeBrincat added an empty-netter for the final goal of the game.

Notes

This is probably as good of a way to summarize the game as any:

The Blackhawks haven't had many quality chances tonight. Lardis probably had two. Mikheyev had the breakaway go wrong and Nazar had a chance to start the period. Am I missing any?

— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) December 13, 2025 at 9:22 PM

No, Scott, you are not.

It was a completely punchless effort from the Blackhawks offense in this game, facing a goalie that had given up at least three goals in six of his last seven starts and has been pretty subpar all season long. But the Blackhawks didn’t make John Gibson work anywhere near hard enough in this game with the rarity of scoring chances exacerbated by how quickly Detroit snuffed all of them out.

First impression of Nick Lardis is that there is no angle on the ice from which he believes he is incapable of scoring. A few of the one-timers Lardis attempted in this game were from parts of the ice most players wouldn’t, which suggests the confidence of a goal scorer that could serve him well at the NHL level. He led the Hawks with eight shot attempts in this game but only two were on goal. Still, he should absolutely continue firing towards the net and hopefully he finds some goals soon, because this team is going to need them.

Going to continue suggesting this would be a wonderful time for Nazar to snap out of his slump until he does. The chances have been coming for the last few games but those chances need to start resulting in goals ASAP.

Here’s a Connor Bedard update from Elliotte Friedman:

Still awaiting the official word on how long Bedard is going to be out. But this team was never going to get back to prominence on the back of Connor Bedard alone. With him on the shelf, we could get a glimpse at some of the other players who’ll show that they can be counted during crucial moments in the future. This game offered zero evidence towards that case, though. Perhaps some exhibits will arrive on Tuesday.

Game Charts

Three Stars

  1. Alex DeBrincat (DET) — 2 goals, 1 assist
  2. Patrick Kane (DET) — 1 goal, 1 assist
  3. John Gibson (DET) — 26-save shutout

What’s Next

The Blackhawks have a few days off before they hit the road and face the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Tuesday at 6 p.m. And you can join us at the Second City Hockey watch party for it!

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