The Detroit Red Wings swept their preseason slate against the Chicago Blackhawks by defeating the Hawks 2-0 on Friday evening at Little Caesars Arena. Detroit also took down the Hawks 4-2 in Chicago on Wednesday, so this was a satisfying sweep of the hated Hawks (even if it is only preseason hockey).
Detroit will continue its preseason slate against the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow night (7 PM EDT start on DetroitRedWings.com) with Patrick Kane in the lineup and Ville Husso and Sebastian Cossa splitting goaltending duties (per DetroitRedWings.com’s Carley Johnston).
Neither the Red Wings nor the Blackhawks iced their preseason best on Friday–Detroit’s lineup consisted of the Tarasenko-Compher-Berggren line, the dominant Rasmussen-Copp-Fischer line, and mid-season form from Chiarot and Seider on defense, with an astute Alex Lyon in goal for the first two periods, but then there were a significant number of young players and the Wings’ two try-outs in Isaac Ratcliffe and Alex Chiasson.
Chicago’s lineup was very young, though it included Mt. Clemens’ Frank Nazar and fellow rookie A.J. Spellacy, and their best player was goaltender Arvid Soderblom, who stopped 29 shots…
But the Red Wings deserve full marks for serving as a strong under-card to the playoff-clinching Detroit Tigers thanks to an efficient first 40 minutes, registering a goal at 4:10 of the 2nd thanks to a pretty passing play from Rasmussen and Copp to Christian Fischer, and then a power play goal in which Vladimir Tarasenko took a set of passes from Copp and J.T. Compher, and #11 roofed the puck over Soderblom…
And when the Hawks pushed in the 3rd period, a superb 9-save performance by Cam Talbot (after Lyon stopped 13 shots) sewed up a shutout and a sweep.
It wasn’t the Tigers making the playoffs, but it was fun to watch, audio glitches from the Red Wings’ stream included.
Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde told the Free Press’s Helene St. James that he was satisfied with his team’s effort:
“I thought we had an honest game for a preseason game,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Saw guys blocking shots, managing the puck, so a lot of positives on that end. Young guys again showed well. And I think some of our NHL guys, those guys in the top six, had a pretty solid night. All in all a positive and a good step in the process of the preseason.”
Wings fans chanted, “Let’s go, Tigers,” in the third period as news spread that the Tigers had clinched a playoff spot. Wings players were paying attention, too.
“We were watching a little bit on the bench,” Christian Fischer said. “That has been the talk of our locker room the last four or five days. Right on, Tigers. I know we’re all going to watch in the playoffs.”
With eight exhibition games in 11 days, the Wings are rotating lineups. Friday, it was goalie Alex Lyon’s turn to play the first two periods — he made 13 saves against a heavily minor-league Blackhawks group — and Cam Talbot who took over in the third period.
Forward Jonatan Berggren played on the second line with J.T. Compher and Tarasenko, in Patrick Kane’s spot. The trio had a good shift late in the first period, with Berggren feeding the puck to Tarasenko on a pass from the neutral zone to start a cycle. Berggren came up the left side to catch a pass near the net, but was unable to convert on the chance.
Fischer got the Wings on the board in the second period, positioned by the crease to get his stick on a loose puck and make it 1-0, at 4:10.
“Both lineups there’s a lot of inexperience, a lot of young guys getting opportunities,” Fischer said. “You just try to get your basic fundamentals back. It’s nice to get those little things in.”
Alex Lyon agreed, as he told Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen…
“The only thing that you have to look at is how Mo Seider is blocking shots,” Lyon said. “That’s not something that’s a given. And it just speaks to the level of urgency that we have.”
Receiving a contract worth $8.55 million per season for seven seasons isn’t going to alter his approach. If the Red Wings are to be an improved defensive team, he will be lion in the front of the pack.
“It’s who he is and the DNA again, you’re trying to teach winning and habits that win and give you guys credit over two games,” Lalonde said. “We’ve been willing to do that. It’s what’s going to be needed going forward. I just think it’s so instinctive for him. ”
Seider boasted four block shots, and his defensive partner Ben Chiarot totaled three to pace the Red Wings to a 2-0 win against a Blackhawks team that had more prospects than veterans. The Red Wings outscored Chicago 6-2 in the home-and-home series that began in Wednesday with a 4-2 win.
“The way you do anything is the way you do everything,” Lyon said. “So it starts right now.”
Lyon, in a battle to be Detroit’s starting goalie, says the Red Wings know “where we want to be and how we want to play the game.”
Coach Lalonde made an interesting observation regarding the Tigers–and his own team–as well:
“I think Tigers might be a year ahead of schedule,” Lalonde said. “Last year we may have been probably a year ahead of schedule, but unfortunately we didn’t finish the job. The difference is they did that. So I think our guys know where we are. We’ve taken natural progressions over the last two years and we want to keep pushing that forward.”
In the interim, as the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton noted, the Rasmussen-Copp-Fischer line was particularly dominant:
Per Derek Lalonde, the plan was for more experimentation, but the comfort of the ever reliable trio was too much to pass up. When asked about the Copp trio’s reliability, the coach replied, “Probably even had a plan of being a little more fluid with our lines through at least preseason, and we’ll still have some different looks, but as camp has gone on, I’ve gotten a little more comfortable [with] keeping some guys together that project as a line, and that’s certainly one of them. I think there’s a comfort level with that group, and I think there’s an identity that they formed towards the end of last year, so I think not only a comfort from me with them, I think there’s a comfort between the three of them.”
Tonight, Fischer scored the opener just over four minutes into the second, but the line had long since made its impact felt. They seemed to spend the duration of their first period shifts in the offensive zone, and they hardly relented as the game wore on. The line could easily have found a second and even a third by night’s end.
“Both lineups there’s a lot of inexperience or a lotta young guys getting opportunities…so, in my opinion, looking at my game, you just try to get your basic fundamentals back,” Fischer offered, when asked what he looks to take from a pre-season game. “A lot of details in your game that tend to slip away in summer time. Something as simple as stopping on pucks…Copper staying under in the D zone, making sure that we get the puck out, tracking, very simple things that makes the identity of our line.”
To Fischer’s initial point, it’s worth noting that he, Copp, and Rasmussen’s canny but simple veteran style is perhaps perfectly suited to dominate preseason competition that may be skilled but lacking in a bit of savviness. For long stretches this evening, it felt a bit as though the three forwards were offering a clinic to a young Blackhawks lineup in the NHL’s brand of creating offense from the cycle. It won’t be this easy every night, but it was an excellent start to the year for Detroit’s identity line.
If you’re interested, MLive’s Ansar Khan and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted recaps sans quotes, and Bleacher Nation’s Tab Bamford and Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Chicago offer the Blackhawks’ perspectives.
DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills will take us out with a few more comments from the Wings’ players and coach:
Lalonde on the Fischer – Copp – Rasmussen line
“As camp has gone on, I’ve gotten a little more comfortable keeping some guys together that project as a line and that’s certainly one of them. There’s a comfort level to with that group and an identity that they formed toward the end of last year. Not only a comfort from me with them, I think there’s a comfort between the three of them.”
Lyon on how he’s feeling entering this season
“It’s more confidence. Also I’ve been on one-year deals for a long time, so just being back in a place where I have a little bit of comfortablity is something that I really haven’t experienced for a while. It feels good. I’m happy to be here. Like I said, I’m just really looking forward to the season and trying to vindicate what happened last year.”
Lyon on his approach knowing there’s an open competition in the Red Wings’ net
“My approach remains the same. Like I said before, coming off last year a bit more comfortable playing in the NHL and just trying to build on that confidence. Everybody in that locker room feels like we’re on a mission. That’s where our heads are at.”
Fischer on picking up where he left off alongside Copp and Rasmussen
“We were together for most of the practices in Traverse City and the last couple days. Obviously it’s no secret we enjoy playing together and read each other very well, very simple game. It’s preseason, but felt great to be out there with them. A lot of success tonight. It’s fun to go through camp with them and hopefully keep building as the preseason games go on.”
Multimedia:
Highlights: Goals via Twitter? That’s what we’ve got tonight.
FISH ON THE DOORSTEP!
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 28, 2024
🚨: Fischer
🍎: Copp, Seider pic.twitter.com/4Bcl4PR3U2
PASS SHOOT SCORE
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 28, 2024
🚨: Tarasenko
🍎: Copp, Compher pic.twitter.com/ftSckke3DM
Post-game: The Blackhawks’ website posted clips of Frank Nazar and coach Luke Richardson speaking with the media;
The Red Wings posted a 15:52 clip of post-game remarks from Christian Fischer, Alex Lyon and coach Derek Lalonde:
Photos: The Free Press posted a 6-image gallery;
The Detroit News posted a 25-image gallery;
The Blackhawks’ website posted a Hawks-friendly 16-image gallery.
Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:
