NEWSLETTER
The Blackhawks’ preseason home finale had them as close to their opening night lineup as we were going to see during the preseason. Minnesota did them the favor of countering with most of their NHL players, so this looked and felt a lot like a regular season game. The Wild are expected to be a playoff team this year; the Blackhawks are supposed to be back near the bottom of the league. But what we watched was a pretty equal game until the Blackhawks absolutely took over the second period. The speed and skill of Chicago chipped away until they controlled the action for almost the entire middle 20 minutes.
But we needed a shootout to decide this one. Connor Bedard was the first man over the boards for Chicago. He tried to dance Marc-Andre Fleury but couldn’t get a shot off. Flower tapped him on the shin after he tripped after the non-attempt. Taylor Hall couldn’t convert either. Chicago needed Lukas Reichel as the third shooter to convert but he could not and the Hawks lost.
Star 1: Taylor Hall
Hall’s wife is due with a baby on Saturday so this will undoubtedly be his last preseason game. Ryan Donato made a nice play to get a puck up the ice to him and then Hall went to work. This was a vintage move with speed. If Hall’s going to finish like this… he might be in line for a big bounce-back season.
Star 2: Nick Foligno
During the first intermission, Caley Chelios chatted with Nick Foligno and asked him about playing against his brother, Marcus. Nick said tonight was the first time they both scored in the same game — and it happened in the first period. I asked for it and Nick delivered. Thanks!
Star 3: Kevin Korchinski
This Minnesota lineup was the most NHL regular season-like that the Blackhawks have faced to date and I think this was the most complete, confident game Korchinski has played against NHL competition. Late in the second period he got a puck and flipped an excellent outlet pass across the neutral zone off his backhand. He was skating confidently with the puck and using his speed to take away space. He skated 18:37 in regulation.
