The Blackhawks’ showdown game against the Blues on Wednesday may not have mattered in the record books; hell, in a week, you may not remember who won. It was an exhibition game, so the winner and loser have no omens, but the Blackhawks won 4-0 behind two power goals from Dominik Kubalik and a combined shutout of 21 saves by Corey Crawford and Malcolm Subban.
However, what matters more than the final score are the questions the game solved, before the Blackhawks’ qualifying series against the Oilers.
Five main questions in this game:
All of these questions were answered. Some right away: Sikura didn’t see much time, just 6:12, but Carlsson did, at 13:15, taking turns with almost all the other defenders. Colliton mixed lines, but eventually settled on some great looking ones, including the return of Brandon Saad, Jonathan Toews, and Kubalik as the frontline trio.
Defensive pairs were much more concrete and lined up early, as Duncan Keith-Boqvist and Olli Maatta-Slater Koekkoek’s predicted pairs played almost every turn together, to the point where Koekkoek was on the penalty spot with Maatta.
Crawford made 11 saves at 29:42 before he was drawn to Malcolm Subban as Colliton wanted to get the two goalkeepers into the game. Subban stepped in and made 10 saves, including eight with even force, in the remaining 30:18.
To start the third period, the Blues did the same, pulling Jordan Binnington in favor of Jake Allen, who allowed also allowed two goals.
Murphy looked excellent, although he had his time limited (only 4:11 p.m.), playing mainly with De Haan and handling 62.5 percent shooting.
Dach made an impression, adding two assists, both in the power play, and played the most amount of time among the Chicago forwards with 17:35 in the game. Boqvist and Nylander did not add any points.
The only real adjustments made from the training camp lines were Dach and Toews changing the left wings, with Kubalik returning to the front line and Drake Caggiula playing with Dach and DeBrincat.
Saad started the scoring at 7:40 in the second, after an explosive offensive trade by him, Kubalik and Toews. After several opportunities, Toews recovered the disc, made an almost blind pass to Saad, who passed it alongside Binnington:
It was at least the second time Toews had made a similar play in the game, passing Kubalik on the same line during a first period power play, although Binnington saved that shot.
Dylan Strome then deflected a pass from Patrick Kane into the net for a 2-0 lead at 9:12.
The Nylander-Strome-Kane line impressed all of the training grounds and they were able to score against the Blues, the top seed in the Western Conference. That’s why you leave your stick on the ice if you can drive the net, especially when you’re online with Kane.
Even the Blackhawks’ power play scored, making it their second chance due to a Dach play.
Dach caught a pass from Kane and threw it directly at Kubalik to score. It’s a great move from Dach, which could end up being a trusted power-play net front presence in the future.
And then Kubalik did it again, scoring in the Blackhawks’ fourth power play after Toews abused him and gave him the puck and the Czech forward put it in.
That’s all Kubalik, because it’s a pretty clear mistake on Toews’ part, but it doesn’t matter when you’re as good a scorer as candidate Calder.
Three stars
- Dominik Kubalik (CHI) – 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 shots
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Corey Crawford / Malcolm Subban (CHI) – 21 combined saves, 1.77 expected goals against
- Kirby Dach (CHI) – 2 assists, 2 shots, 5:35 pm
Whats Next
The Blackhawks play Game 1 of their qualifying series against the Oilers at 2 p.m. Saturday.
