After a sloppy first preseason game, the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Detroit Red Wings for the second time in three nights, though this time they’ll be on the road.
The Blackhawks opened their preseason in Chicago on Wednesday with a disorganized effort that ended in a 4-2 loss. Craig Smith and Teuvo Teräväinen both scored for the Blackhawks with a couple of backhand goals to gain a 2-1 lead midway through the second, but some miscues and mishandles — and some weak goaltending, let’s be honest — led to the Red Wings scoring three in a row to win the game. Petr Mrazek made 21 saves on 23 shots for a solid save percentage of .913, but Mitchell Weeks allowed two goals on only six shots.
The good news is we did see the beginning of what could be beautiful chemistry between Connor Bedard and Teräväinen:
The bad news is neither Bedard nor Teräväinen will play Friday night, so we’ll have to be patient as we wait to see them on the ice again.
As is usual for early away preseason games, the Blackhawks lines and pairs playing in Detroit consist primarily of younger players not guaranteed a spot on the final starting roster. This will be the first game for forwards Lukas Reichel, Colton Dach, Landon Slaggert, Gavin Hayes, Cole Guttman and Zach Sanford as well as defensemen Nolan Allan, Isaak Phillips, Louis Crevier, and Austin Strand.
In net, Arvid Söderblom will likely get the lion’s share of playing time with Ben Gaudreau possibly getting some time in net for the third period. With Laurent Brossoit injured, Söderblom seems likely to start the season in Chicago.
How this group might look on the powerplay:
Players like Frank Nazar and Kevin Korchinski will be looking to redeem themselves a bit tonight as they look to make a case to be in the NHL. Both had turnover-prone, inconsistent games on Wednesday, although each arguably finished the game well. Still, probably not the start either wanted. Reichel is another player looking for redemption, though his quest stems from his extremely disappointing prior season in the NHL.
There were no cuts to the Blackhawks training camp roster after the last game, so they still have 49 players (29 forwards, 14 defensemen, 6 goaltenders) in attendance. This includes Artyom Levshunov (out with a right foot injury) who has been skating apart from the rest of the group for a handful of days now.
As for Detroit, the lines for tonight are below, and it’s an bit interesting to see only one real headliner, Vladimir Tarasenko, in the group. Typically, preseason home games — especially openers — tend to be filled with at least a few more big name players, but some of them like Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin skated on Wednesday already. The group being iced consists of more NHL players than the one the Blackhawks will be running. Patrick Kane has not been practicing with the Red Wings, so he is not expected to play.
How to Watch
When: 6 p.m. CT
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
TV: N/A
Webstream: The only ways to watch this game are either at the official Blackhawks website or through the team’s official app. And it’s only available in the Chicagoland area, based on Wednesday’s game.
Radio: WGN 720