After spending the last couple of games away, the Blackhawks are back at the United Center on Tuesday night to take on the Detroit Red Wings for their fourth preseason game.
Tuesday is also the one-week mark from the start of the regular season, so let the countdown begin.
The preseason hasn’t been particularly entertaining for Blackhawks fans so far, outside of the Blues game last Thursday. In that game, not only did the Blackhawks win 2-1, but top prospect Connor Bedard put on a show by assisting on both goals. Some other prospects — like Lukas Reichel, Wyatt Kaiser, Kevin Korchinski, Marcel Marcel and more — had their moments, too. It was a typical preseason game where the young players looked the best as they battle for roster spots.
The other two games were a little less fun, though the young guns were still the main attraction, even if they didn’t really show up on the scorecard. The Blackhawks fell 3-2 to the Minnesota Wild in overtime on Friday, a decent performance despite the loss. The Blackhawks goals were by MacKenzie Entwistle and Tyler Johnson — the former is competing for a roster spot despite being a regular the last two seasons — and Arvid Soderblom made 29 saves for the night.
Soderblom had the best rookie performance of the night, looking big and poised in net. In terms of other standout prospects, Korchinski had a mixed bag of a game: he was pretty electrifying offensively, but his defensive game remains a work in progress. He’s made impressive strides to become more well-rounded in juniors, but the NHL is a completely different beast obviously.
Colton Dach also had some strong moments throughout the game, especially physically. He had a team high eight shot attempts, four of which were on goal and most of them came from high-danger areas as he crashed the net often. Dach also helped prevent at least one goal against. He’ll likely be sent to the IceHogs sooner rather than later, but he’s made a good impression between the prospect tournament and training camp so far.
Cole Guttman is another younger player who’s been having a strong training camp. He didn’t score against Minnesota either, but he pinged the pipes a few times, including twice in the same shift. Prior to the game, coach Luke Richardson had only positives to say about Guttman:
The most major event from the game was Samual Savoie’s injury, which looked horrific as he crashed into the boards Thursday. He stayed behind in Minnesota to be evaluated and had surgery on Sunday on his right femur:
The Blackhawks played in one other preseason game last weekend, when they fell 6-1 against the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. It was pretty much a team effort in the loss, although Jaxson Stauber did allow five goals on just 23 shots, which isn’t ideal. Drew Commesso came in during the second period and made 10 saves on 11 shots to finish the game. Louis Crevier, the Blackhawks tallest prospect perhaps ever, scored the lone goal for the Blackhawks. He’d been having a quiet but effective preseason, but he’s already been sent back to Rockford.
There weren’t as many positives in this game as the last, but that’s not surprising considering the Blackhawks had one of their youngest rosters yet. Bedard still looked dangerous every shift — and he had 18 of them, with most shifts lasting over a minute. Kaiser continued to be a standout and well-rounded defensemen, while Reichel had a strong performance as well. The only other thing of note was that Alex Vlasic was ejected from the game after kneeing an opposing player.
In case you’ve missed it, below is a quick recap of the players who’ve been sent to their respective leagues, leaving the Blackhawks roster as of Tuesday morning at 31 players.
- Sept. 28: Forwards Nick Lardis, Martin Misiak and Alex Pharand were sent to their junior clubs.
- Sept. 29: Forward Jalen Luypen was sent to the Rockford IceHogs
- Oct. 1: Forwards Antti Saarela, Marcel Marcel and Michal Teply, and defenseman Nolan Allan were sent to Rockford.
- Oct. 2: Forwards Gavin Hayes and Paul Ludwinski were sent to their junior clubs.
- Oct. 2: Forwards David Gust, Mike Hardman and Brett Seney, and Ryder Rolston; defensemen Louis Crevier, Ethan Del Mastro and Filip Roos; and goaltender Drew Commesso were sent to Rockford.
Looking ahead to Tuesday night, the Blackhawks will take on the Red Wings again, but this time, their roster will be close to what they roll with to start the season. Only a handful of prospects will be playing, but it’s all the notable ones who’ll make the opening roster or have a strong shot at it: Bedard, Reichel, Guttman for the forwards and Kaiser, Korchinski, Isaak Phillips, and Vlasic for the defensemen. Petr Mrazek will likely play the whole game in goal.
How to watch
When: 7:30 p.m. CT
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Webstream: ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720