Wings rock Hawks on power play
Penalty kill ‘stretched out’, Colliton says
The Blackhawks raced to a three-goal lead in the first 10 minutes. The Detroit Red Wings answered with four power-play goals, but the Hawks held on for a 6-4 preseason victory Monday at Little Caesars Arena.
The Hawks looked dominant at the start of their fourth preseason game and recorded a second straight win. Tyler Johnson opened the scoring with a powerplay goal, and Jake McCabe and Philipp Kurashev added their first goals of the preseason.
However, the Red Wings had the Hawks on their heels in the second period and early in the third as they took advantage of communication breakdowns in the Hawks penalty kill.
The Hawks have two more preseason games — a home-andhome against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday and Saturday — to round into form before the Oct. 13 season opener against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.
Here are three takeaways from Monday’s game.
1. The penalty kill problems snowballed for the Blackhawks.
The Hawks had the fourth-worst penalty kill in the NHL last season, and even with a new cast, it won’t be fixed overnight.
The Hawks shut down the Red Wings’ lone power-play opportunity in the preseason opener, but the floodgates opened in Monday’s rematch. The Red Wings got on the board with their second power play, which came early in the second period.
Jonathan Toews broke his stick during the kill, and Red Wings rookie Lucas Raymond made a great play to slip the puck to Bobby Ryan for a redirect goal from the net front.
Later in the second, Moritz Seider one-timed a shot from the high slot through a seam in the Hawks coverage.
Then, in an apparent mix-up in coverage responsibility, Adam GaudetteandMikeHardmanboth converged on Seider, leaving an open Filip Hronek to pass the puck down to Robby Fabbri in the slot, and Fabbri chucked it in as former Hawk Pius Suter screened goalie
Marc-Andre Fleury.
In the third period, the Hawks defense drifted too far to Dylan Larkin’s side, and Larkin crossseamed a pass to a wide-open
Raymond on the far side. McCabe slid to take away a low shot, but Raymond top-shelfed it over Fleury’s glove side.
It was another lapse in coverage responsibility.
“Ultimately (we) got a little bit stretched out,” coach Jeremy Colliton said. “They did a good job of spreading us out; they’ve got a couple of really skilled and mobile forehand options that they used to create some lanes.”
2.Marc-AndreFleuryhadhishighs and lows.
Fleury played 60 minutes for the first time — he played 33 minutes against the St. Louis Blues on Friday — and the goaltender saw little action until staving off a four-shot barrage during the Hawks’ first-period penalty kill.
Then came the second period and early third, when the Red Wings capitalized on all four power-play opportunities.
But Fleury had several big stops, including his third-period robbery of Fabbri, who looked like he had the goalie dead to rights on a backside try off a rebound.
Fleury made 36 saves, and all four of his goals allowed came on Red Wings power plays.
“Just his presence gives confidence to the group,” Colliton said.
“You can see he reads the game so well, really good instincts as far as what to take away . ... It’s only his second game, so he’ll get better and
better.”
3. Brandon Hagel and MacKenzie Entwistle made quite the pair.
Hagel is a speed demon and pesky forechecker, and Entwistle just seems to find himself in the right place at the right time.
Hagel had three assists, including both of Entwistle’s goals. And both were beauties.
In the second period, Calvin de Haan dumped the puck into the offensive zone, and Hagel outraced two Red Wings on the forecheck and backhanded the puck from the back wall to Entwistle for the flush.
Then in the third, Hagel harassed Red Wings defenseman Wyatt Newpower along the boards and forced him to make a bad pass to Entwistle.
Entwistle and Hagel worked a two-on-one give-and-go, and Entwistle scooped it past Thomas Greiss to give the Hawks a 5-4 lead.
“It’s fun to watch him,” Colliton said of Hagel. “Our team feeds off his energy, his skating, his work ethic, and he creates a ton of puck possession and confidence for the guys he’s playing with and obviously himself.”
Entwistle has been living with Hagel during training camp, and that chemistry showed Monday.
“Having a good friendship and being close with someone, it’s going to show on the ice,” Hagel said. “That’s how good teams come together.”
Hagel has been one of Entwistle’s biggest advocates this preseason.
“He wants to take it to the next level, and you can see how he’s developed from last year to this year — it’s a crazy difference,” Hagel said. “He’s a hell of a player and he showed that tonight.”