The Blackhawks defeated the Detroit Red Wings 6-4 on Monday at Little Caesars Arena in their fourth preseason game.
Here are 10 observations from the win:
1. The Blackhawks rolled out a similar lineup as Friday — a 6-3 loss to St. Louis — and it was a much better start to the game. In the first period, Chicago led in shot attempts (19-14), shots on goal (16-10), scoring chances (13-8) and high-danger chances (7-2), according to Natural Stat Trick, and took a 3-0 lead into intermission.
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2. The ice tilted heavily in the home team's favor to start the second period after the Red Wings scored three goals on the power play and outshot the Blackhawks 17-9. Detroit also generated 17 scoring chances to Chicago's 11 in the middle frame. The Blackhawks took their foot off the gas and the Red Wings made them pay.
3. It was a rough night on the penalty kill for the Blackhawks, who worked on that department at the end of the morning skate. The Blackhawks gave up four goals total on the power play, 18 shot attempts, 15 scoring chances, 14 shots on goal and five high-danger chances. That will probably be an area of focus at practice on Tuesday.
4. The good news? The Blackhawks had a successful performance on the other side of special teams. They went 2-for-3 on the power play and generated seven scoring chances during their three opportunities. Tyler Johnson and Philipp Kurashev were the goal scorers.
5. The Blackhawks' fourth line of MacKenzie Entwistle, Adam Gaudette and Brandon Hagel was terrific. When the three of them were on the ice at even strength, the Blackhawks led in shot attempts (9-1), shots on goal (6-0), scoring chances (6-1) and actual goals (2-0).
6. Hagel made an impact every time he was on the ice. He registered three primary assists in only 12:17 of ice time and connected with Entwistle twice. Here's a look at the first goal:
7. Along with Johnson, Jake McCabe scored his first unofficial goal as a member of the Blackhawks when he ripped a 34-foot slapshot from the point to put his team up 2-0 in the first period. He logged 20:08 of ice time on the first pairing with Seth Jones, had a blocked shot and two shots on goal.
8. Jonathan Toews played in his third preseason game and he's looking better by the day. He registered three primary assists, two shots on goal, one takeaway and went 11-for-16 (68.8 percent) at the faceoff circle.
9. Marc-Andre Fleury played the entire game and didn't get much action to start but he turned in a fine performance given how things unfolded, with all four goals against coming on Detroit power plays. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner stopped 36 of 40 shots for a save percentage of .900 and turned aside all 26 shots at even strength. He also made the Save of the Night:
10. Connor Murphy served as the second alternate captain and not Alex DeBrincat, which indicates Murphy might wear the second “A” on the road and DeBrincat at home. Kane is the other alternate captain.
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