The Chicago Blackhawks played an AHL-heavy lineup for their final preseason contest on Saturday night, and it certainly showed. The St. Louis Blues, who iced NHL regulars like Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, and Jimmy Snuggerud, among others, cruised to a 4-0 victory at the United Center. Joel Hofer, expected to be Jordan Binnington\u2019s backup again this season, stopped all 18 shots faced to record the shutout in net.<\/p>\n
Despite the disparity in talent between the two teams, the Blackhawks\/IceHogs managed to keep the game close in the early going before the visitors took control around the halfway mark. The Blues outshot the home squad 22-12 over the final 40 minutes on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s dive into the recap, highlights, and the best & worst players from a forgettable preseason finale.<\/p>\n
FIRST PERIOD<\/p>\n
Neither team found the back of the net in the opening 20 minutes, but there were chances to get on the board for both sides. The Blackhawks held a 10-8 advantage in scoring chances in the first period.<\/p>\n
One of the Blackhawks\u2019 best scoring opportunities came off a tremendous play by Lukas Reichel, who forced a turnover in the offensive zone and set up Sam Lafferty in the slot. Reichel, by the way, despite all the recent trade rumors, wore an \u201cA\u201d as an alternate captain on Saturday. That\u2019s a little peculiar, given his current situation.<\/p>\n
The Blues had two power-play chances in the first period, but Soderblom made four quality saves with his team shorthanded to keep the game scoreless.<\/p>\n
SECOND PERIOD<\/p>\n
Following a scoreless first frame, the Blues took control early on in the second and never looked back. <\/p>\n
St. Louis potted the game\u2019s opening goal just over four minutes into the second period. Otto Stenberg found Aleksanteri Kaskimaki crashing the net, and he was able to deflect a centering feed past Soderblom to put the visitors ahead 1-0. That\u2019s probably one Soderblom would like to have back.<\/p>\n
The Blues seemed to have all the momentum after beating Soderblom for the first time, as the majority of the second period was spent in the Blackhawks\u2019 end. After a few more strong saves from Soderblom, Milan Lucic eventually doubled the Blues\u2019 lead by getting a piece of defenseman Logan Mailloux\u2019s shot from the left point.<\/p>\n
With just under three minutes remaining in the period, the Blues struck again to add to their lead. A beautiful redirect from Robert Thomas off a shot from Hunter Skinner put the Blues ahead 3-0 going into the second intermission.<\/p>\n
St. Louis completely dominated Chicago in the period, leading 11-2 in shots on goal and 27-4 in shot attempts.<\/p>\n
THIRD PERIOD<\/p>\n
The Blackhawks failed to convert on an early power-play chance in the opening minutes of the third period, and that basically sealed their fate for the evening.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Blues capitalized on their lone man advantage in the final period to put another goal on the board. Otto Stenberg knocked home a loose puck to make it 4-0.<\/p>\n
To make matters worse, forward Landon Slaggert was forced to exit the game early in the third period. Slaggert has been dealing with a back injury during training camp, which forced him to miss the team\u2019s first four preseason contests. Here\u2019s a look at Slaggert\u2019s final shift in the third period.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, head coach Jeff Blashill told the media after the game that he thinks it\u2019s only a day-to-day issue for Slaggert. Blashill said the Blackhawks will know more about Slaggert\u2019s injury timeline on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Blackhawks Studs<\/p>\n
Ryan Greene<\/p>\n
Greene might not crack the Blackhawks\u2019 opening-night roster, but he sure gave it one heck of a run. The 2022 second-round pick was one of the few standouts for Chicago in the preseason finale, tallying two hits, one shot on goal, and winning 14 of 25 faceoffs. Greene\u2019s 19:30 of ice time led all Blackhawks forwards on the night.<\/p>\n
Still only 21 years old, Greene displayed a sturdy two-way game and fared well at the faceoff dot throughout the preseason. There\u2019s still a chance he makes the NHL club, but the more likely outcome is starting the season in Rockford. Regardless of where he ends up to begin the 2025-26 campaign, Greene proved why he\u2019s another promising prospect in the Blackhawks\u2019 pipelines with his performances over the last few weeks.<\/p>\n
Nolan Allan<\/p>\n
While it wasn\u2019t a great night for anyone on the Blackhawks\u2019 blue line, I thought Nolan Allan provided the steadiest play of the group on Saturday. Allan had a great scoring chance early in the first period and finished with three hits in 20:19 TOI. The Blackhawks also had a 9-6 advantage in scoring chances at even strength with Allan on the ice.<\/p>\n
Considering Ethan Del Mastro\u2019s struggles in the preseason, I\u2019m expecting Allan to win the final left-handed defenseman spot on the Blackhawks opening-night roster. He\u2019s been the steadier of the two players throughout training camp and looks ready to be a full-time NHLer.<\/p>\n
Lukas Reichel<\/p>\n
Reichel skated on a line with Oliver Moore and Sam Lafferty, and that trio looked dangerous on their first few shifts together. Reichel made a few exceptional plays in the opening minutes of the first period, showcasing his skill and speed to generate scoring chances.<\/p>\n
While that mojo didn\u2019t continue on throughout the rest of Saturday\u2019s game for Reichel and his line, I still thought it was a noticeable performance for the 2020 first-round pick. Especially with how lackluster the rest of the offense was on the night.<\/p>\n
While Reichel\u2019s future in Chicago remains a mystery, he\u2019s at least been playing better in his latest action since a rough season opener. We\u2019ll see what ends up happening with him before Tuesday against the Panthers.<\/p>\n
EXTRA STUD \u2014 Anton Frondell<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t happen at the United Center, but it\u2019s still worthy of a shoutout. <\/p>\n
After scoring an incredible \u201cMichigan Goal\u201d in his last outing, 2025 No. 3 overall pick Anton Frondell might have somehow topped that performance on Saturday. Frondell became the second-youngest player ever to record a hat trick in SHL history, scoring his fourth, fifth, and sixth goals of the season in Djurgarden\u2019s 5-3 win.<\/p>\n
Frondell now has eight points (6G, 2A) through his first nine SHL games. It\u2019s also worth pointing out that Frondell was bumped up to Djurgarden\u2019s second line on Saturday along with Victor Eklund.<\/p>\n
Blackhawks Duds<\/p>\n
The Korchinski-Del Mastro Pairing<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t the preseason finale that Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro were hoping for. Both players finished the game with a minus-two rating and were out-chanced by the Blues 12-1 when on the ice together at even strength.<\/p>\n
Korchinski never really flashed his offensive abilities on Saturday and committed a boarding penalty on Jordan Kyrou in the second period. He also lost Thomas in coverage on the Blues\u2019 third goal of the game.<\/p>\n
Del Mastro was on the ice for three of St. Louis\u2019 four goals, and he allowed Kaskimaki to get inside position while driving to the net to open the scoring.<\/p>\n
It seems likely that both Korchinski and EDM open up the year in the AHL with Rockford. Neither had a standout performance in any of their preseason contests.<\/p>\n
Thompson-Ludwinski-Savoie Fourth Line<\/p>\n
While Aidan Thompson\u2019s speed was noticeable once again, it didn\u2019t really lead to anything offensively for the Blackhawks\u2019 fourth line. The trio finished the game with an expected-goals for percentage below 10.0 and were outchanced 5-1 by the Blues when on the ice at five-on-five.<\/p>\n
All three players were recalled from Rockford for the preseason finale, so it\u2019s already known where they all will begin the upcoming season. But even though they weren\u2019t fighting for NHL roster spots, it was still a missed opportunity to generate momentum together before kicking off the year with the IceHogs.<\/p>\n
Up Next<\/p>\n
THE REGULAR SEASON! The Blackhawks play in the opening game of the 2025-26 NHL season on Tuesday, October 7th, against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT at Amerant Bank Arena and will be televised on ESPN, SN1, and TVAS.<\/p>\n
For more Blackhawks news, visit Chicago Hockey Now<\/a> and like our Facebook Page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow us on X:<\/p>\n @chihockeynow<\/a>, @JackBushman2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Blackhawks played an AHL-heavy lineup for their final preseason contest on Saturday night, and it certainly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[491,521,34652,37,96,5263,8584,58,5,19632,8669,4,1568,857,855],"class_list":{"0":"post-225237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-arvid-soderblom","9":"tag-blackhawks","10":"tag-blackhawks-preseason","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","13":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","14":"tag-ethan-del-mastro","15":"tag-featured","16":"tag-hockey","17":"tag-landon-slaggert","18":"tag-lukas-reichel","19":"tag-nhl","20":"tag-nolan-allan","21":"tag-oliver-moore","22":"tag-ryan-greene"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115319612774165259","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}