10 observations: Blackhawks shut out by Red Wings in preseason action originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich
The Chicago Blackhawks were shut out by the Detroit Red Wings 2-0 on Friday at Little Caesars Arena in their second game of the preseason.
Here are 10 observations from the loss:
1. The Blackhawks had a difficult time generating offense, but Detroit’s roster was much better than Chicago’s. Patrick Kane didn’t play and neither did Alex DeBrincat, but the Red Wings fielded a decent lineup.
2. The fourth line of Joey Anderson, Paul Ludwinski and Zach Sanford had a tough night. The Red Wings led 9-0 in shot attempts through two periods against that line, per Natural Stat Trick.
3. Arvid Söderblom started in goal and played the whole game. He was quite busy and was up to the task, making a big-time save near the end of the first period to keep the game at 0-0. He didn’t get the run support but it was a solid first outing for him. He finished with 29 saves on 31 shots for a save percentage of .936.
4. The line of Colton Dach, Cole Guttman and Gavin Hayes was excellent. When the three of them were on the ice together at even strength, the Blackhawks led 17-7 in shot attempts and 8-5 in scoring chances.
5. I didn’t notice Lukas Reichel as much as I had hoped. He had zero shot attempts until recording a shot on goal with 50.8 seconds left in regulation. This is a big training camp for him and he’s going to have to make a strong impression to show he can be part of the Blackhawks’ long-term picture.
6. Frank Nazar and Nick Lardis were much better in this game than Wednesday. Nazar led all skaters with six shots on goal, and Lardis had four shot attempts and two shots on goal.
7. The Blackhawks had only one power-play opportunity, and they couldn’t do much with it. They could’ve used the reps too, especially after fielding a young roster like they did.
8. Dach was all over the scoresheet. He had six shot attempts, two shots on goal, five hits, two takeaways and one giveaway. Not many Blackhawks stood out but he did.
9. The Blackhawks didn’t have a great night at the dot. AJ Spellacy lost 11 of 14 faceoffs and Nazar lost seven of nine draws. That’s going to be a learning curve as they get acclimated to going up against NHL players.
10. Some good news: Blackhawks No. 2 overall pick Artyom Levshunov skated on Friday morning in a non-contact jersey for the fourth consecutive day. His timeline hasn’t changed but it’s encouraging to see him out there and hitting the next step in his recovery process.
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