The Chicago Blackhawks lost their second preseason game in a row to the Red Wings, falling 2-0 in Detroit on Friday night. The Blackhawks roster was filled primarily with prospects, and while it wasn’t quite as messy as the Wednesday game back in Chicago, it very much looked like what you’d expect from a bunch of kids facing off against a more NHL-quality lineup.
After a scoreless first period, Christian Fischer scored about four minutes into the second period to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead. TJ Brodie turned himself into a pretzel following the puck after it went between his skates and then fell right before the goal against.
While on a 5-on-3 power play, Vladimir Tarasenko made it 2-0 Red Wings with 7:28 left in the second after he found himself alone in the slot.
No goals were scored in the third, so that’s how the game would end. Womp womp. Below are more highlights from the game courtesey of ChiblackhawksC:
Notes
The first period was both scoreless and torturous with the music playing over the action. Though to be fair, I’m using the work action kind of liberally — there wasn’t much to really be excited about for either team beyond a few breakaways.
One such breakaway resulted in a nice pad save by Arvid Soderblom near the end of the first. He honestly looked good in this game: neither goal was totally on him, and he had to face a pretty heavy workload of 31 shots with about half of them being scoring chances. That’s a .935 save percentage without much help by the team in front outside of some individually decent efforts.
After a messy first game, Frank Nazar came out looking closer to how he did at the end of last season, and he was easily one of the best players on the ice. He played a much more controlled game tonight: no real turnovers and was dictating the play on offense. He even led the team with 5 shots on goal and was rewarded with the most ice time among forwards at 19:54. Beyond the offensive flashes, it’s actually been on the penalty kill when Nazar’s played his best this preseason: he’s typically quite adept along the walls for a smaller player, he plays angles smartly to prevent passes and shots, and he’s dogged on puck. And he’s obviously willing to lay his body on the line, as he was tied for team lead in blocked shots with three.
That’s why it was sad to see Nazar take a completely unnecessary penalty while on the PK to cause the 5-on-3 that led to the Tarasenko goal against. He also won just 22 percent of his faceoffs, something he’ll need to improve on if the Blackhawks want to try him at center (even though playing on the wing would arguably suit him better).
Cole Guttman and Colton Dach both also played noticeable games, in my opinion: the former put up six shot attempts, four of which were scoring chances, while the latter had two high-danger scoring chances and five hits. For a small guy, Guttman has always had a nose for the net and has been willing to be physical, so he seemed to click very well with Dach in that regard. Dach also had two takeaways: one due to him knocking a guy off the puck and the other a good read to intercept a puck. Dach doesn’t have as high-end of skill as some other Blackhawks prospects, but he has a style that could easily translate to NHL success.
If Lukas Reichel is hoping to make the Chicago roster to start the season, he really needs to pick it up. Tonight’s game reminded me a lot of what he did last year with flashes of obvious skill but not enough consistency overall. He was too easily moved off of the puck a few times. He doesn’t need to be physical himself, he just needs to learn how to be smart in how he handles and protects the puck. Reichel’s transition skills are still quite good, at least.
AJ Spellacy also showed off his physicality in this game, but he was less effective as he was on Wednesday. It’s pretty easy to see why fans are excited about him as a player considering his tools, but tonight showed how young he really is in comparison to some legit NHL-quality forwards. The good news is that Spellacy still showed flashes and seemed to improve as the game — there’s not much else you can ask from a recently drafted prospect.
While the team defense as a whole was iffy, Kevin Korchinski looked calm and did an admirable job as the de facto No. 1 defensemen tonight. He had some smart stick plays in traffic that cut off opposing offensive lanes. Korchinski got caved in a bit in terms of possession, but I wouldn’t hold that against him, considering the Blackhawks collectively struggled to sustain offensive zone time in this game.
There were two other players I’ll note as having quiet, but effective games: Landon Slaggert and Nolan Allan. Neither of these guys are ever going to be flashy or stand out, yet their reliability to make smart, simple plays may get them noticed by coaches.
Neither Isaak Phillips nor Louis Crevier stood out. Phillips had three shot attempts and I couldn’t tell you when any of them happened. The Crevier pairing with Austin Strand was given the softest minutes, and while neither AHL quality defenseman did anything too wrong, they also didn’t do anything really of merit.
One final note at the team level: the game was a little closer at 5-on-5, though still with an obvious edge to the clearly more experienced Red Wings group. Shot attempts were 48-38, scoring chances 22-21, and high-danger chances 10-7, all in favor of the Red Wings. Now, Detroit was better at getting their shots through on net, hence the 24-16 shots on goal, but it’s possible with less penalties the Blackhawks kids could have gotten at least a goal.
P.S. I want to give a shoutout to BHF for the clips used above.
Game Charts


Three Stars
- Christian Fischer (DET) — 1 goal
- Andrew Copp (DET) — 2 assists (both primary)
- Vladimir Tarasenko (DET) — 1 goal
What’s Next
The Blackhawks play their second game in as many nights as they take on the St. Louis Blues at the Enterprise Center for a 6 p.m. puck drop.