"Explosive First Night Back in the UC"
Tonight we saw the Preseason home opener versus the Detroit Red Wings. Once again in the preseason, we had an offensive explosion mainly led by the returning Brandon Saad. In his first game at the United Center back in a Blackhawks sweater, Saad led the 6-1 victory with a Hat Trick! We also saw some combinations out of the line blender that looked very promising.
The scoring of the game was started by sophomore Ryan Hartman. Patrick Sharp sent a nice pass cross-ice to Tanner Kero who let go a wrist shot, Hartman would be in front of the net and tipped it in off his skate. The ‘Hawks would also kill 4 penalties in the first period.
Brent Seabrook would add the second goal and only power play goal of the night. After Schmaltz skated around the defender he sent a perfect pass that Seabrook would slap past the netminder. The rookie DeBrincat would get on the score sheet a little over two minutes later in the game. Schmaltz skated over the blue-line dropping a pass to Panik who would find DeBrincat between the circles, he would let a wrist shot go past the stick side of Petr Mrazek. As the explosive second period continued Saad would get his first goal of the night. Jordan Oesterle sent a long pass up ice to Panik who let go of a shot, Mrazek blocked the shot but gave up a big rebound Saad would put top shelf past the sprawling netminder. While originally the play continued no one realizing the puck had gone in, the play would be later be called a goal.
Detroit would score their only goal of the night. Michael Rasmussen would poke check the puck away from Duncan Keith drive to the net, squeezing between Corey Crawford and Connor Murphy with a diving shot. Saad would score his second of the night after grabbing his own rebound and sending it past Mrazek. While not as bad as the first period the ‘Hawks killed off another three penalties in the second.
The third period would start with a goalie change, Collin Delia would come in to finish the game. Saad would finish his hat trick with help from a familiar pair. Skating down the right-hand side Panik would send a backhand pass to Oesterle, who would then backhand across the slot to Saad who would jam the puck home. Delia would finish the game perfect with 8 saves.
The Good
- Schmaltz continues to prove he should be the second line center. Highly improving to the dot winning 78% of his draws, Schmaltz also showed his playmaking ability again adding two assists. Schmaltz also saw time on both the power play and penalty kill.
- Saad showed a side of the game we truly have been lacking. Saad was around the net all night picking up and finishing second-chance opportunities.
- Sharp is also looking like he has found his form again. Although time will tell if he can continue, Sharp put up two more assists and helped play the point on the top power-play unit.
- DeBrincat looks promising, he has eyes for the puck and can shoot the puck. On the puck, he is strong but still gets bullied a bit, with some work and experience in the league he may be able to keep a roster spot.
The Bad
- The Penalties! This game saw in total 13 penalties while no Face-Off infractions, the new slashing rules were on display.
- The Blackhawks players need to to be careful with the new slashing rules, although hitting the opponents stick may disrupt a play it is up to the referee's discretion.