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Feel So Close: Blackhawks vs. Wild Preseason Preview

It’s the final weekend of the preseason.

Posted on by L_B_R
Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images

The Blackhawks keep rolling through their preseason slate with another home game on Friday night, this time against the Minnesota Wild at the United Center.

For Minnesota, they’re currently 2-2-1 in the preseason, and this one’s basically their final tune-up before the real stuff starts, so expect them to ice a lineup that looks a lot like opening night. The Wild really haven’t done much to overhaul their roster this offseason — it’s more of a “run it back” approach with the core still intact. That means you’ll see the usual suspects tonight: Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy, Marcus Foligno, and Ryan Hartman up front, with Brock Faber and Jared Spurgeon holding things down on the blue line.

That said, there are still a few younger faces trying to carve out a spot before opening night. Keep an eye on Liam Öhgren, Danila Yurov, and David Jiricek — all three are looking to make a statement and show they belong in the mix.

As for the Blackhawks, they still have two more preseason games left: this one against the Wild and then a quick turnaround Saturday versus the Blues. They’re coming off a 3-1 loss to Detroit earlier in the week, where Colton Dach scored the lone Hawks goal, with Nick Foligno and Ethan Del Mastro grabbing the helpers. The Blackhawks did outshoot the Red Wings overall thanks to a really good power play, but the numbers at 5-on-5 were still a bit disappointing.

This is also the second time the Blackhawks will face the Wild this preseason. The two teams faced off last Sunday with the Blackhawks winning 4-1. Frank Nazar stole the show with a hat trick — including the game-winner — while Ryan Donato also chipped in a goal. Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, and Wyatt Kaiser each picked up a pair of assists, and Drew Commesso impressed between the pipes, stopping 28 of 29 shots for the win.

For tonight, head coach Jeff Blashill said the lineup will be an NHL-heavy group, though he also mentioned that Saturday’s preseason finale will feature more of an AHL look.

An interesting note from that lineup involves one player won’t see during the game in Ethan Del Mastro, who came into this camp basically penciled into the opening night roster. During Thursday’s practice and Friday’s morning skate, though, Del Mastro skated with Louis Crevier on the extra pairing, so he actually might be on the outside looking in when it comes to cracking the roster. Nolan Allan and Matt Grzelcyk are both in and they’re also battling for a final roster spot.

On the injury front, Alex Vlasic is still out after taking a skate cut last weekend. While the team’s hopeful he’ll be ready to go by Tuesday’s regular-season opener against the Panthers, he won’t be skating Friday or Saturday.

Although Blashill said he’s not going to reveal his full roster yet, the forwards above are likely as close to the opening roster as possible, with just a few left vying for the extra forward spot. Lucas Reichel, Oliver Moore and Ryan Greene are suiting up Friday: Reichel is possibly going to be moved while Moore and Greene still have cases to be made if they’re NHL-ready. Hopefully, if either of the latter two do make the Blackhawks opening roster, they’ll be in top-nine roles where they can potentially flourish rather than relegated to the fourth line.

Spencer Knight will be in net for the whole game against the Wild.

How to Watch

When: 7 p.m. CT
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: CHSN+ (For people in the Chicagoland area)
Webstream: ESPN+ (This is for people outside of the Chicagoland area)
Radio: WGN 720

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