Dominik Kubalik scored two goals in the Blackhawks 5-3 preseason loss to the Red Wings in the first game of a home-and-home Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Philip Holm had a goal and assisted on Kubalik’s second goal on the power play in the second period.
Michael Rasmussen scored the game-winning goal for Detroit on the power play with less than five minutes remaining in the game. Luke Glendening added an empty-net goal with one minute remaining.
Matt Puempel, Matthew Ford, Chris Terry also scored for the Red Wings. Calvin Pickard made 15 saves in the second half of the game. Jimmy Howard, who started for Detroit, stopped seven of eight shots.
Robin Lehner allowed two goals on 17 shots before AHL goaltender Kevin Lankinen entered at the midway point. Lankinen was 19 of 21 the rest of the way.
Puempel put Detroit up 1-0 at 10:39 when he blasted a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle to beat an unscreened Lehner glove side.
The Blackhawks had a chance to tie it late in the period when Kubalik’s shot on the power play from the left faceoff circle was denied by Howard.
DeBrincat took a knee-to-knee hit in the closing seconds of the first and did not return for the start of the second period. In DeBrincat’s first shift back, Holm put the Blackhawks on the scoreboard 5:32 into the middle frame. Andrew Shaw won a puck battle and slipped the puck to Dylan Strome, who sent a feed to Holm to fired a wrist shot from the slot by Howard to tie the game 1-1.
Ford put Detroit back up 2-1 at 6:27 when he bodied his way past Chad Krys in front to get his stick on the loose puck and send it past Lehner.
Lankinen then entered midway through the game and made three great pad stops right away on the penalty kill, showcasing his lateral movement.
Dennis Cholowski fired a shot from the point and Terry maneuvered around Lucas Carlsson to find the loose puck in front of the crease and put it by Lankinen’s glove side to extend the Red Wings lead to 3-1 at 15:26.
Less than two minutes later Kubalik scored when he went to his backhand to sweep up Carl Dahlstrom’s rebound and trim Chicago’s deficit to 3-2.
With the Blackhawks on the power play early in the third, Kubalik set up shop at the left dot again but this time his shot went past Pickard to tie it at 3.
Lankinen showed off his glove when he denied Rasmussen’s attempt to clean up a rebound on the backhand with 6:15 left, but Jacob Nilsson was sent off for holding Turner Elson’s stick.
Rasmussen would get his revenge on the man advantage when he ricocheted the puck off Dahlstrom and into the net for the game winner.
Game charts
Three thoughts
1. The Blackhawks acquired Kubalik’s rights from the Kings in January for a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft and signed him after his breakout performance at the World Championship in May. The 24-year-old Czech winger showed why general manager Stan Bowman believes Kubalik could be a solid top-nine option in the NHL this season.
2. Chicago’s first line against Detroit could be the team’s second line heading into the regular season. DeBrincat, Strome and Shaw had three scoring chances at 5-on-5, and recorded eight shot attempts — half of which were on goal — according to Natural Stat Trick. In a limited sample size, however, neither Shaw or Strome were effective on faceoffs. Shaw was 1 of 3 with all of his draws in the defensive zone, while Strome was 2 for 8 overall.
3. Against a heavy AHL lineup from Detroit, Holm shined with a goal, an assist and logged game highs in shot attempts (11) and ice time (21:58). It’ll be tough task for him to crack the opening night roster, but he made a good case for himself in Detroit.
Three stars
1. Kubalik (CHI) — 2 goals, 5 SOG
2. Holm (CHI) — 1 goal, 1 primary assist, 6 SOG
3. Rasmussen (DET) — 1 goal, 3 SOG
What’s next?
The Blackhawks and Red Wings will play the second game of a home-and-home Wednesday at the United Center in Chicago.