Sources: Chicago Sun-Times, Daily Herald, NBC Sports Chicago, The Athletic Chicago
Day 10 of Blackhawks training camp featured practice with half the team and a preseason game versus the Red Wings in Detroit for the other half. Besides the game, the most noteworthy news was additional roster cuts including the following players who were reassigned to Rockford:
* Matej Chalupa (W)
* Cam Morrison (W)
* Chad Krys (D)
According to Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago, Connor Murphy wore the A in last night's game while Alex DeBrincat has worn the A during preseason home games. If this pattern holds, Patrick Kane will wear the A in all games, Murphy on the road, and DeBrincat at home.
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Game Summary
Starting Lineup
DeBrincat - T Johnson - Kane
Kubalik - Toews - Kurashev
Hardman - Borgstrom - Carpenter
Hagel - Gaudette - Entwistle
McCabe - S Jones
de Haan - Murphy
C Jones - Galvas
Fleury
Soderblom
Scoring Recap
1st Goal: T Johnson (1-0) PP
Puck movement by the top power play unit was strong. While the passing could have been a tad quicker, the Hawks at least advanced the puck lower and closer to the net with each successive pass rather than stay out around the perimeter waiting for a pretty play to unfold.
2nd Goal: McCabe (2-0)
On this even-strength tally, movement was reminiscent of a power play as the puck transitioned from right to left along the top of the umbrella before Jake McCabe powered it home. One thing to like was how Dominik Kubalik battled in the slot and took away the goalie's eyes.
3rd Goal: Kurashev (3-0)
The Hawks kept pushing the puck forward on the power play rush as Kubalik executed a picture-perfect give-and-go with Brandon Hagel. Once Hagel got to the slot, Philipp Kurashev drove hard to the net and planted his stick blade on the ice to be ready for the redirect.
4th Goal: Ryan (3-1) PP
Although it didn't help that Jonathan Toews lost his stick, the PK unit was simply too passive and got lured by the puck's location rather than focusing on proper coverage of all Detroit players. Before the goal, all 4 Hawks were in the right faceoff circle leaving 3 Wings open.
5th Goal: Entwistle (4-1)
This goal was made possible by heads-up playing by Hagel to not only chase down a stretch pass from Calvin de Haan but to also have presence of mind to peek over his shoulder to scour options and spot MacKenzie Entwistle sneaking into a prime scoring area in the left circle.
6th Goal: Seider (4-2) PP
Again, the PK unit lacked any sense of urgency to proactively neutralize the Detroit PP whether to attack the puck carrier, seal off passing lanes, or clog shooting windows. It's all too easy to create chances on the man advantage when there's no pressure by the Hawks.
7th Goal: Fabbri (4-3) PP
Even when the Wings collapsed the power play lower and lower to the slot, the Hawks still left a lot to be desired as far as pressure to close off time and space and make it difficult for the puck to get on net. Credit is due to Detroit for swift and crisp puck movement.
8th Goal: Raymond (4-4) PP
The Wings scored every which way on the power play, this time by staying on the perimeter until getting the puck to the middle where Lucas Raymond rifled the equalizer. Raymond was all alone as the entire Hawks PK unit was mesmerized by Dylan Larkin along the left wall.
9th Goal: Entwistle (5-4)
Hagel racked up his 3rd assist of the night after forcing a turnover at the Detroit blueline that led to the puck landing on Entwistle's stick. Entwistle performed a textbook give-and-go with Hagel and eventually finished the play with his 2nd goal of the game.
10th Goal: DeBrincat (6-4) EN
DeBrincat added the empty netter to seal the win.
Shootout:
Blackhawks
* Toews (miss)
* Kane (miss)
* DeBrincat (goal)
* Kubalik (miss)
* T Johnson (goal)
Red Wings
* Larkin (miss)
* Raymond (miss)
* Fabbri (goal)
* Ryan (miss)
* Zadina (miss)
Thoughts & Notes
Faceoffs are a marked improvement for the Blackhawks during the preseason. Not counting Saturday's game near Kansas City where no stats beyond goals and assists were tracked, the Hawks faceoff percentage has been 49%, 63%, and 57%. Last season's faceoff percentage was 46.3%.
The Hawks penalty kill went 1-for-5 giving up 4 power play markers due to their dreadful PK performance that underscored an area where the Hawks still struggle mightily which is holding leads. In last night's game, they failed twice to hold a 3-goal lead.
Highlights
Goal by Jake McCabe
Goal by Philipp Kurashev
Goal by MacKenzie Entwistle
Save by Marc-Andre Fleury
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IceHogs Training Camp
IceHogs training camp began yesterday and preseason action starts later this week with back-to-back games on consecutive nights (Thursday and Friday) against the Wild at different arenas within Iowa. Here is a look so far at the Hogs camp roster:
Forwards
* D.J. Busdeker
* Matej Chalupa
* Liam Folkes
* Carson Gicewicz
* Kale Howarth
* Riley McKay
* Dylan McLaughlin
* Garrett Mitchell
* Cam Morrison
* Chris Wilkie
* Chad Yetman
Defensemen
* Chad Krys
* Ryan Stanton
* Cliff Watson
Goalies
* Tom Aubrun
* Cale Morris
Of this list, only Cliff Watson wasn't at Blackhawks training camp.
The following players are also likely to join Hogs camp within the next week:
Forwards
* Andrei Altybarmakian
* Evan Barratt
* Reese Johnson
* Dmitri Osipov
* Jakub Pour
* Josiah Slavin
Defensemen
* Nicolas Beaudin
* Michael Krutil
* Ian Mitchell
* Isaak Phillips
* Alec Regula
Goalies
* Arvid Soderblom
And the following players are likely to be in the mix to snag the few roster spots up for grabs with the Hawks:
Forwards
* Henrik Borgstrom
* MacKenzie Entwistle
* Mike Hardman
* Philipp Kurashev
* Lukas Reichel
Defensemen
* Jakub Galvas
* Wyatt Kalynuk
Goalies
* Collin Delia
* Malcolm Subban
Collin Delia and Malcolm Subban would need to clear waivers first before being sent down to the Hogs. So would Henrik Borgstrom but he seems to have a leg up to lock down a roster spot in Chicago.
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HHOF Legends Classic
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See you on the boards!