Chicago Blackhawks lose preseason opener to Detroit Red Wings. Discover key moments and player performances from the game.
The Chicago Blackhawks dropped their first home game of the preseason, 3-1, against the Detroit Red Wings. Colton Dach scored the first Blackhawks goal, Ethan Del Mastro had a rough game, and we got a look at head coach Jeff Blashill’s tactics.
Box Score: Red Wings 3 – Blackhawks 1
Game Notes
Ethan Del Mastro
I was pretty hopeful about Ethan Del Mastro last season. Not that I thought he could be anything more than a bottom-pairing defenseman. Last night wasn’t great—I counted two bonehead giveaways. One of Del Mastro’s giveaways was a breakout pass directly towards the opposition. That’s not a preseason “bust some rust” mistake—that’s a mistake that gets you sent down to Rockford. Surprisingly, Del Mastro had a 47.62 expected goals share, which is far from the worst on the team.
Defending the Red Line
One of Jeff Blashill’s tactical changes is the defensemen defending the red line. Last night, I observed the defensemen actively deciding to defend the red line. Two keys have to be implemented for this to be successful: support and mid-ice positioning.
If a defenseman pressures the puck carrier in the neutral zone, the F3 has to be in a position to support the defenseman in the middle of the ice. That support must stay between the dot lane to ensure there isn’t open space should the puck carrier evade the pressuring defenseman. Connor Murphy’s mistake was an example of this. Murphy pinched without support, and the F3 wasn’t fast enough on the backcheck to kill the play.
Story continues below.
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The Powerplay
The Blackhawks had six power-play opportunities but couldn’t capitalize on any of them. Partly because Cam Talbot had the Hawks’ number that night, and the other part was because the Hawks just had bad luck. Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar had opportunities, Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov both quarterbacked their respective units, and we saw some sustained pressure on most power plays. The Hawks had three power plays in the second period that had a total of 19 shot attempts, 14 of which were unblocked.
Sam Rinzel, in particular, had a lot of good looks. Rinzel led the Hawks in shot attempts with seven and had five scoring chances.
Bonus Notes
The Blackhawks were lousy at 5-on-5. They owned 45% of shot attempts and had a 35.68 xG%.
Connor Bedard had five shots on goal and 10 shot attempts in all situations.
Wyatt Kaiser played a solid defensive game. Kaiser had a 71 Corsi. At the beginning of the third period, Kaiser made a great carry through the neutral zone. While he’ll be Levshunov’s safety, Kaiser has the ability to move the puck. Similar to what Alex Valsic should be able to do for Sam Rinzel on the first pair.
Tyler Bertuzzi absolutely wiffed on a wide-open shot on the power play at the end of the second period.
All three lines (except the Oliver Moore-Jason Dickinson-Ilya Mikheyev line) were above 50% in Corsi. The only line above 50% in expected goals share was Nick Foligno, Ryan Greene, and Colton Dach—who carried that line with one goal.
Oliver Moore had a 28 Corsi and a 13.67 xG%. Moore played 12:34 minutes.
Spencer Knight made 16 of 19 saves. His high danger save percentage tanked with a .667, but it’s preseason.
What’s On Tap Next?
The Chicago Blackhawks have two preseason games left. Both are at home in the United Center. They host the Minnesota Wild on Friday at 7 pm CT and the St. Louis Blues on Saturday at 6 pm CT.
Let’s Go Hawks!