Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat came into their old stomping grounds on Saturday night and carried the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. The two former franchise icons combined for three of Detroit’s four goals and totaled five points in front of a full house at the United Center.
Similar to Friday night in St. Louis, the Blackhawks surrendered a pair of goals early in the first period and never could claw their way back into the game. Both DeBrincat and Kane found the back of the net in the first five minutes, giving Detroit a 2-0 advantage in the blink of an eye. DeBrincat’s goal came just 55 seconds into the contest, as fans were still chanting “DE-TROIT SUCKS” off the opening faceoff.
“When you get scored on right away, that’s a bit of a gut punch,” head coach Jeff Blashill said after the game. “I thought we had chances in the first that we didn’t convert on, and they converted, so then the score is what the score is, and we were chasing it.”
In their first game without Connor Bedard, offensive support proved to be a tricky task for the Blackhawks. They were shut out for the third time in 11 games since Nov. 23 and generated only seven high-danger chances at even strength. Chicago did give a valiant effort in the final frame, outshooting Detroit 12-4, but it was too little too late at that point. Not many of those shots came off quality opportunities, and John Gibson ended up stopping all 26 shots faced on the night to blank the Blackhawks.
“I was actually really proud of our guys in the third,” Blashill said. “What I was looking for more than anything else, I want guys who have great heart and great compete, and they showed that in the third… It’s a hard league, and we’ll just keep grinding.”
One of those players that kept pushing all the way until the final horn sounded was Nick Lardis, who made his NHL debut after getting recalled from the AHL earlier in the day. Lardis finished the game with a team-high eight shot attempts and was credited with five hits in 15:23 of ice time. The 2023 third-round pick nearly picked up his first NHL goal in the third period, beating Gibson clearly with a shot, but the puck rang off the crossbar.
“I thought Lardis played good,” Blashill said. “He played good on the power play. He had a couple of looks that had a chance to go in… He’s a talented young player.”
It’s been a chaotic past 24 hours for Lardis, as he mentioned after the game that he didn’t get into Chicago until the wee hours on Friday night. But despite the quick turnaround and not much sleep, he was one of the few standout players for the Blackhawks against Detroit.
“I got a call on the bus. We were heading to Grand Rapids yesterday night. We were about 15 minutes out, and I got a call, so we had to turn the buses back around,” Lardis said. “It was pretty crazy. Drove in here pretty late last night. I didn’t go to bed until three or four [in the morning]. It was hard to sleep, but it was a cool memory for sure.”
Lardis skated on the third line with Oliver Moore and Ryan Greene on Saturday, and the trio created two or three dangerous chances in the first period. Lardis also stepped into Bedard’s spot on the top power-play unit and looked the part, rifling several shots towards the net from the right circle. His shoot-first mentality was refreshing and will be needed without Bedard in the lineup, for however long that will be.
Speaking of Bedard, Blashill provided a small update on the star forward ahead of the upcoming three-game road trip. While Blashill said he won’t know the severity of the injury until Monday, he added that Bedard isn’t expected to play in either of the three games next week in Canada. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported earlier in the night that Bedard had an MRI on Saturday, and the Blackhawks are still collecting information.
Here are the highlights from the 4-0 loss to the Red Wings, which drops the Blackhawks record to 13-13-6 through 32 games this season.
FIRST PERIOD
It took less than a minute for Kane and DeBrincat to make their mark on Saturday’s game. Just 55 seconds into the contest, DeBrincat deflected a centering feed from Andrew Copp, and the puck just barely trickled through Arvid Soderblom. Kane registered the secondary assist on DeBrincat’s goal by keeping the play alive along the wall.
Just like last night against the Blues, Frank Nazar was caught playing soft defense in coverage, allowing the opponent to grab a 1-0 lead. DeBrincat was given just enough separation to redirect Copp’s pass into the net.
On his second NHL shift, Lardis showed off some of the skill that has many Blackhawks fans so excited for his future. He played the puck through his legs in transition, pulled up just past Detroit’s blue line, and then hit Oliver Moore on the tape for a quality chance in the slot. Moore barely missed the net with his shot.
After DeBrincat carded the opening goal, it was Kane’s turn to find the back of the net next. Connor Murphy turned the puck over in the neutral zone, which gave DeBrincat and Kane a 2-on-1 rush. “Showtime” took in a feed from his best buddy and beat Soderblom on the backhand, in vintage Kane fashion, to make it 2-0 Detroit less than five minutes in. That’s a save Soderblom needs to make early in the game.
Without Bedard, the Blackhawks struggled to create dangerous opportunities offensively, which isn’t too surprising. While they spent a fair amount of time in the offensive zone in the first period, Gibson wasn’t put to the test much through 20 minutes.
Detroit took a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission and led 10-8 in shots on goal.
SECOND PERIOD
Neither side had much going on for most of the middle frame, with the two teams combining for only 16 shots in the period. Detroit was responsible for ten of the 16, and one came from Emmitt Finnie near the crease to extend the visitors’ lead to 3-0. Simple math on the play — Detroit had two players out in front of Soderblom, while the Blackhawks only had one. Lardis couldn’t cover them both, leading to Finnie getting to the rebound first.
While the Wings added to the lead, Soderblom picked up his game in the period to prevent the score from getting even more lopsided. First, he stopped Dylan Larkin on a shorthanded breakaway attempt, and then made a point-blank save on Lucas Raymond in the final minute.
The Blackhawks didn’t create any threatening scoring chances on their power play — and they were credited with only two high-danger chance all situations during the period. Hence, no clips were shared from their side of things.
Detroit took their 3-0 lead into the intermission after a sleepy second stanza. The jam-packed crowd at the United Center was understandably getting restless, as the Blackhawks had only 14 shots through 40 minutes.
THIRD PERIOD
Chicago played its best hockey in the final frame but couldn’t find a way to get the puck past Gibson.
One of the best scoring chances of the night came from Lardis on the power play, but his wrister rang off the crossbar and popped in front of the net, leading to a clear by Detroit.
With Detroit still clinging to a 3-0 lead with just over five minutes to play, Blashill said the heck with it and pulled Soderblom to get the extra attacker on the ice. I mean, why not? Losing 4-0 counts just the same as a 3-0 defeat.
After failing to get set up in the offensive zone with a 6-on-5 advantage, DeBrincat skated through the neutral zone with the empty net in sight. Initially, DeBrincat tried to get the puck over to Kane for his 499th career NHL goal. But after seeing he was covered, the former Blackhawks second-round pick hit the yawning cage himself for his second tally of the night.
DeBrincat walked out of the United Center with three points, and he now has 11 in eight career games against the Blackhawks. Kane finished one goal, one assist, and a team-high five shots on goal. The future Hall of Famer was on a mission to pick up his 500th career goal in Chicago, but Soderblom prevent that from happening with a few stellar saves on No. 88.
Still, Kane and DeBrincat came away with the last laugh, leading the Red Wings to two points in the city where their friendship first began.
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