Dach makes surprise early return
The NHL trade deadline remains two weeks away, but Saturday the Blackhawks debuted their biggest midseason addition: Kirby Dach.
Dach returned from his right wrist injury more than a month ahead of schedule in the Hawks’ 3-1 loss to the Predators.
“I never had doubts in my mind that I was going to play [this season],” Dach said. “I just put my head down and went to work that way. [It] feels good to be back, but at the same time, the feeling is a little bit moot because we lost.”
Eased back into action as the third-line center between Mattias Janmark and Dylan Strome, Dach played 19 minutes, 58 seconds with no points but four shot attempts. He also took Brandon Hagel’s spot on the first powerplay unit.
He had missed the first 34 games of the season recovering from surgery in late December. Coach Jeremy Colliton said the organization initially thought it would only get Dach back for the final few games of the year. Now the Hawks can use him for their 22-game stretch run.
“We wanted to be careful not to play him too early, but ... he’s ready to go,” Colliton said. “[That’s] great for our team, but great for him individually to get in and continue his progression that’s been so fun to watch.”
The Hawks’ poor effort took much of the buzz out of Dach’s big night.
The surging Predators, 6-1 in their last seven games entering Sunday’s rematch, were on the front foot throughout. They overpowered the Hawks with a physical, hard, direct style that forced lots of turnovers and immediately sent those turned-over pucks toward Kevin Lankinen’s net.
Inexcusable defensive-zone giveaways by David Kampf and Calvin de Haan directly led to the Preds’ second and third goals.
“[The Predators] were working extremely hard,” Colliton said. “They were aggressive all over the ice. They beat us to a lot of loose pucks. They beat us at our own game tonight.”
The game gradually shifted as it went along — scoring chances were 18-7 Preds in the first period, tied 11-11 in the second period and 11-4 Hawks in the third period — but the Preds’ lead never felt threatened.
“We didn’t win many battles — couldn’t get in battles — because they were a bit quicker,” said Pius Suter, who scored the Hawks’ lone goal. “We were on our heels.”
Dach’s return will greatly improve the Hawks’ forward depth. He’s arguably the centerpiece of the Hawks’ future core and has all the tools to be a first-line center.
It didn’t take him long — four minutes, exactly — to showcase some of those skills when he raced powerfully down the ice, deked defenseman Ben Harpur, and nearly scored a highlight-reel goal.
“I’m not going to change anything from the way I played before,” Dach said. “I’m still going to play hard and do those types of things. I’m not going to shy away from contact.”
With the Rockford IceHogs also playing back-to-back games this weekend, the Hawks got playing time for the players who otherwise would have been scratched by sending them down Saturday. Rookie defenseman Ian Mitchell was the surprise inclusion in the group.
“He wasn’t going to be in tonight, so we wanted him to play a bunch of minutes in Rockford,” Colliton said.
Nicolas Beaudin entered the lineup in Mitchell’s stead. Defensemen Wyatt Kalynuk and Lucas Carlsson and forwards Reese Johnson and MacKenzie Entwistle were all sent down.