Only those in attendance at the United Center were able to actually see it but trust me, the Blackhawks beat the Red Wings 2-0 tonight. Tonight was a night for former, and hopefully future former, Rockford IceHogs to shine. Corey Crawford blanked the Wings by stopping all 19 shots he saw tonight. Long time IceHogs Jeremy Morin, Jimmy Hayes and Ben Smith all got their names on the score sheet as well.
The Blackhawks scored both of their goals in the 2nd period off of starting goaltender Jonas Gustavsson. The first came from a Patrick Sharp snap shot at 16:37 with Morin and Brent Seabrook picking up the assists. Just 1:09 later, Smith found himself in front of the net where he was able to deflect a slap shot from Hayes in for a 2-0 Blackhawks lead. Marcus Kruger picked up the secondary assist on the final goal of the game. Jared Coreau came in to play goal in the 3rd period and stopped all 11 Hawks shots he saw. As expected, Crawford played the entire game in net for the Blackhawks.
* Defenseman Michael Kostka only got 41 seconds of ice time after being boarded by Red Wings’ prospect Teemu Plukkinen. Kostka was able to leave on his own power but never returned to the ice. Plukkinen was given a game misconduct and was credited with 15 PIM in only 6 seconds on the ice. What is with the Wings being jerks during the preseason?? We all remember the Smith on Smith crime from 2 years ago.
* Speaking of penalty minutes, the penalty box operators got a work out on their return to the ice tonight. The game was marred with a total of 44 PIM, 36 of those assessed to the Wings.
* The Hawks lost 30 of 49 faceoffs tonight. I know it is just a preseason game and Jonathan Toews did not play, but this has to be a bit of a concern going forward. Teuvo Teravainen took the most draws, with 15, and won 6 of them. Brandon Saad, in his first game at center, was a dismal 4 of 14. Marcus Kruger was just 4 of 10 at the dot.
* Again, I know its preseason, but the power play stunk again. The Hawks went 0 for 6 with 9 shots on goal with the man advantage. Trust me, if the Hawks go 0 for 6 in a regular season game I will go ballistic!
* Patrick Sharp and Duncan Keith lead the team with 5 shots apiece. Despite his bad night at the circle, Saad had 4 shots on goal. Patrick Kane and Seabrook each had 3 shots.
* Both teams only had two giveaways apiece, but the Hawks lead in the takeaway category 14-7. Marcus Kruger had a game high 4 takeaways.
* I don’t get to mention Sheldon Brookbank too much in the recaps, so I will give him some props for coming up with 4 of the Blackhawks 9 blocked shots.
* For those of you who love the hits statistic, the Wings outhit the Hawks 26 to 25. Brandon Bollig was credited with 5 of the Hawks’s hits tonight.
The Blackhawks are back in action at the United Center on Thursday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins come to down.