Red Wings-Blackhawks quick take: Wings methodically disassemble the Hawks

The Detroit Red Wings kicked off a three-games-in-four-night slate of games against Original Six opponents with a battle against the resurgent Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday evening.

Detroit came into the game on a 1-game winning streak; Chicago had won 2 straight and 3 of their past 4, and was aiming to earn a 3rd straight win as they hosted the hated Red Wings.

On Wednesday night, on TNT, the Red Wings played a bit of a sleepy first, but after Alex DeBrincat scored with 1.5 seconds remaining in the 1st, Detroit systematically disassembled Chicago, responding to a tying goal by Nick Foligno 8:42 into the 2nd with goals from Larkin at 12:27, Veleno at 3:03 of the 3rd, Copp at 17:47 (empty-net) and a 28-stop effort from Cam Talbot…

Defeating the Blackhawks 4-1, and making a tidy job doing so.

Now the Wings head to Toronto for a Friday night road game, and return home for their last home game for 12 days against the Rangers on Saturday.

In the pregame warmups, Cam Talbot and Petr Mrazek led the teams out…

With Patrick Kane wearing an alternate captain’s “A”…

Chicago lined up as follows…

And the Red Wings dressed the following lineup…

The starters and scratches were as follows:

In the 1st period, Detroit started the DeBrincat-Larkin-Kane line opposite a checking line of Dickinson, Teravainen and Mikheyev; Gustafsson and Johansson were on defense, and Talbot faced Mrazek in goal.

Larkin drew in for the opening faceoff and lost it; Chicago chipped and chased, Gustafsson and Johansson cleared and the Hawks’ fans chanted, “Detroit sucks,” as is their wont.

Chicago recoiled at center, Larkin and Kane had to regroup at center themselves, and Copp walked the right wing to left wing boards, Compher centered, and Kane was unable to intercept a centering pass.

Detroit changed some 1:00 into the 1st and Seider and Edvinsson could not quite get Lucas Raymond the puck;

Raymond, Compher and Copp took a defensive position and then changed 1:30 in;

Chiarot and Petry fed Kasper and he passed laterally to Tarasenko, who fired a shot in on Mrazek and was stopped.

Chicago won the next faceoff and Taylor Hall and Vlasic generated shot opportunities, one that went on goal and one that was blocked away;

Chiarot and Petry tried to get he Rasmussen-Veleno-Fischer line going, but instead, Talbot blockered away a shot and the line was forced to ice the puck. Talbot gloved a flipper off the first faceoff, and Fischer had to defend a lost faceoff on the next exchange, with Chicago cycling down low in Detroit’s zone for a time.

Detroit finished its 4-line rotation at 3:14 of the 1st.

On the next shift, the Larkin line gave up a giveaway via Larkin himself, but Seider made a smart block;

Colin Murphy also got a shot attempt on Talbot that was stopped, and Vlasic sent a shot wide;

Chicago hemmed in the Compher line for a time, and the Wings chipped, chased, and could not retrieve the puck as Chicago dominated possession and control early.

Talbot had to make another good stop off a faceoff loss as Seth Jones charged toward the net and jammed a rebound opportunity into Talbot at 5:18;

Detroit was just having a hard time dealing with the Blackhawks’ forecheck and neutral zone pressure over the first 5:52 of the 1st period, and the Hawks had the puck for the vast majority of the time as a result.

Veleno and Fischer did a good job of cycling with Johansson for a shot attempt that was tipped out of play some 6:23 into the 1st, when the first TV timeout hit.

Detroit won the faceoff in Chicago’s zone, but their shot attempt was blocked, Kane regrouped with Chiarot, and Mrazek reversed the flow as Teravainen flipped a puck in on Talbot at 6:56.

The Compher line was utilized against Bedard, and Compher sent a good centering feed off Bedard in the slot–stifled by Bedard–7:30 in.

Larkin won two faceoffs en route to Erik Gustafsson and Albert Johansson both being blocked off shot attempts, and the duo had to regroup at the Wings’ blueline;

Ultimately, the Hawks were doing a very good job of shutting down the Red Wings’ offensive attack, but Detroit gained momentum as the period progressed, and by the halfway mark…

Petry and Chiarot parried a Hawks rush with good defense, and Maroon fell over Talbot–as did the puck–but it stayed out…

Kane came off the bench with Berggren and Kane centered the puck for Kasper tight in the slot, but the puck didn’t meet him…

Then Alex DeBrincat raced in off a Larkin pass and DeBrincat was stifled ON THE GOAL LINE by Mrazek’s glove:

Larkin, DeBrincat and Kane continued to cycle, and DeBrincat put the puck off the crossbar…

When play resumed after another TV timeout some 13:40 into the 1st, Copp, Compher and Raymond regrouped, Compher tried to center for Raymond, but Kaiser blocked the pass, the Blackhawks went the other way, and Hall, Bertuzzi and Foligno cycled down low vs. Petry and Chiarot, Bertuzzi gave and went with the Hawks’ D, and Talbot stopped a Kaiser shot from the point;

Compher, Raymond and Copp did a poor job of defending, and the Hawks changed lines while in possession, and a block off Petry’s skate saved the Compher line.

Rasmussen and Veleno tried to break away from a trio of Blackhawks defenders, Veleno flipped a slot shot toward the net, and Rasmussen was blocked off;

He regrouped at center ice, changed with 6:10 left in the period, and Berggren raced in, slid a slot pass to Tarasenko…

But Chicago’s sticks were active, and Detroit struggled to generate shots and passes on “clean looks” in the offensive zone.

Kasper, Berggren and Tarasenko got a good cycle going, however, and they at least generated some zone time.

Then Patrick Kane was bumped by Bedard, Kane cycled back around Bedard, and he hacked the legs out from under Kane with 15:24 of the 1st period, affording Detroit a power play.

On the power play, Detroit lost the opening faceoff, and Seider, Raymond, Kane, Larkin and DeBrincat pushed the puck into the offensive zone, ane and Larkin worked on an exchange, Larkin cycled to the line for Seider, Kane looked for DeBrincat back door and instead, Mrazek sealed the puck off with his catch glove.

With 1:19 left in the PP, Larkin won a draw to Raymond and then Kane, he flipped a puck into traffic, and Chicago cleared the zone;

Seider dropped to Kane, Detroit raced in and Larkin battled back to a blind pass Chicago charged in and Wyatt Kaiser’s pass-shot was blocked off.

Kane then sent a shot pass into the slot that was tipped down by Mrazek;

Kurashev tried to beat Seider with a shot that Talbot had to stop;

And in the final 13 seconds of PP time, Petry and Tarasenko worked the puck to Compher, he tried to feed Kasper, and instead, Bedard charged out of the box, stole a puck from Petry, and Tarasenko bumped Bedard off the puck.

Talbot then made a good stop on a Bertuzzi snap shot with 2:06 left in the 1st.

Chicago looked to dominate the final 2 minutes’ worth of play coming off a good PK…

Veleno, Rasmussen and Fischer at least cycled in the Hawks’ zone for a bit, Seider sent a blind pass to Larkin coming off the bench, and that didn’t work;

And Chicago tried to spring Foligno behind Kane as the last man back on defense, but that pass was blocked off by Edvinsson.

DeBrincat, Larkin and Kane then generated a scoring chance that never found its way to the net, Chicago’s Teravainen line set up in the Wings’ zone, and DeBrincat and Kane helped Larkin set up a chance that DETROIT CONVERTED INTO A GOAL.

Kane fed Larkin, Larkin’s shot off Mrazek went right to DeBrincat, and he chipped the rebound into the net with 1.5 seconds remaining in the 1st period.

DeBrincat scored from Larkin at 19:57. Detroit led 1-0.

In the 2nd period, Larkin, DeBrincat and Kane lost the opening draw, but DeBrincat regrouped at center, Kane fed Larkin and he sent a long shot that was tipped down by Guastafsson and stopped;

Kane battled the puck deep as well, but it hit the Wings’ captain in the back of his leg, and the Wings changed;

Detroit came out with more pace to start the 2nd period, and Compher, Raymond, Edvinsson and Copp cycled deep, Edvinsson tried to hold the line, and when Chciago broke in, Seider won a physical battle despite being hit heavily to clear Detroit’s zone.

The Tarasenko-Kasper-Berggren line came out and stole a Hawks pass, Berggren fed Chiarot and he was stifled by Mrazek;

Foligno and company then generated a couple of scoring chances, only one of which made its way toward Talbot thanks to some good shot blocks and pass blocks by Red Wings’ shin pads and skates;

Petry fumbled a pass and the Kasper line got held into their zone for over a minute and-a-half, but the Wings held tough and flipped the puck out of trouble;

Veleno, Rasmussen and Fischer then took to the ice, Gustafsson pinched heavily, and Johansson came back to generate an icing call that bailed out Gustafsson.

Mrazek then stifled a point shot, Kane fed Larkin in the slot, but the puck went under Larkin’s heel, and Detroit cycled, Larkin walked deep and fed Kane, but the pass was too fine, and Chicago charged up 3-on-2, with Mikheyev hitting glass;

DeBrincat then tried to center for Kane in the Hawks’ zone, and he was blocked by the Hawks’ defensemen;

Detroit looked like it was nursing its one-goal lead, however, and that was concerning.

Talbot made a nice stop on a redirect by Donato, and then he sealed the rebound;

Edvinsson made a terrible turnover off the next faceoff, and the Kasper line was pinned into its own zone again, but Seider blazed out to center, got back to stifle Bedard, and Tarasenko pushed the puck out to center ice;

Mrazek made a bad giveaway to Kane down low in the Hawks’ zone, but nothing came of it some 7:45 into the 2nd;

DeBrincat and Kane and Larkin were being checked heavily, and Talbot had to help Gustafsson and Johansson stop Dickinson, Vlasic and Teravainen as the Hawks’ trio tried to make a “cute play” happen;

Talbot then made another stop at 7:45, ushering in the first TV timeout.

When play resumed, the Blackhawks won a deep offensive zone faceoff, and the Veleno line did an OK job of clearing their own zone without incurring too many problems;

But Hall and Bertuzzi raced in 2-on-1, Talbot made a good stop and Bertuzzi could not put the rebound home;

And Tyler Bertuzzi centered the puck after Chiarot got pinned, Petry got lost in the slot, and Foligno jammed the puck through Talbot’s right pad to tie the game at 1-1 at 8:42.

Foligno scored from Bertuzzi at 8:42 to make it 1-1.

On the bump-up shift, the Hawks iced the Bedard line vs. Compher and company, and the line was herky-jerky, and Kane, DeBrincat and Larkin worked hard to generate a scoring chance on the next shift, but Chicago was able to clear Mrazek’s rebound with ease.

The Kasper line followed, Tarasenko and Berggren ground out the puck down low, but the Hawks escaped, and Fischer, Rasmussen and Veleno shot one puck past Mrazek wide, and another into Mrazek;

The group regrouped well, but instead, Reichel raced in, and Gustafsson closed well to stifle the chance;

Compher was then stopped by Mrazek;

Thankfully, off an aborted Hawks rush by Bertuzzi, DeBrincat stole the puck, fed Larkin on the right side of center ice, and Larkin raced pass Isaac Phillips and ripped a shot through Petr Mrazek’s blocker to make it 2-1 DETROIT.

Dylan Larkin scored goal #8 at 12:27 from DeBrincat. Detroit led 2-1.

After a TV timeout, Larkin continued to blaze up the ice well, but DeBrincat and Kane were checked heavily, and the Hawks’ Teravainen line really stifled Detroit’s top trio.

Chiarot made a bad pinch and Bedard fed Donato for a shot that went off TALBOT’s MASK, and Talbot wiggled off his helmet to get a stoppage in play.

When play resumed, the Fischer-Veleno-Rasmussen line did struggle a bit vs. Bedard, Moritz Seider got high-sticked, and the refs ignored it, so Seider iced the puck as Bedard banged Seider’s nose.

Detroit managed to clear their zone, and Chicago continued to menace the Kasper line for a bit, but Gustafsson fed Berggren for a slot chance that was stifled…

And Gustafsson was going to sit for interference at 16:22 as he picked off Seth Jones in order for Berggren to charge the goal.

Larkin, Seider, Edvvinsson and Compher drew in for the opening D-zone draw and cleared the zone;

When the Hawks raced back in, Edvinsson cleared the puck down to Mrazek;

Chicago had a good rush game, but Seider did a nice job of generating a shorthanded opportunity before going off;

There was this odd exchange…

Detroit did a fine job of standing up at its line as the fans growled at the Hawks, and when Chicago set up, Raymond, Fischer, Chiarot and Petry generated a 2-on-1 where Raymond’s stick was checked at the last second to prevent a shorthanded goal against.

DeBrincat, Johansson and Kane generated a shot on Mrazek with 1:03 remaining, Larkin won a draw but the Hawks cleared the offensive zone, Gustafsson and Johansson helped Talbot take a surprising shot against and clear it, Larkin fed DeBrincat, he cycled to Edvinsson, Kane backhanded it off Mrazek, Larkin and Kane fed Edvinsson, but he was blocked off, and that was the 2nd period.

In the 3rd period, Larkin, Kane and DeBrincat drew in for the opening faceoff, they won the draw, but Johansson and Gustafsson ended up surrendering a rush against which resulted in a point shot that Talbot chipped out of play at 38 seconds of the 3rd.

The Compher line then took to the ice with Edvinsson and Seider, and Raymond tried to rush into the Hawks’ end, but he was checked particularly heavily;

The Kasper line came out at 1:30 to battle the Hawks’ heavy-checking emphasis, and Berggren, Tarasenko and Kasper worked well to grind out down low and push the Hawks back into their own end;

Finally, Rasmussen, Fischer and Veleno worked with Seider and Edvinsson to try to generate point chances, and Fischer was tripped down by Allan, sans call, he persisted, Veleno sent a shot wide, and SEIDER SLITHERED A SHOT TOWARD THE HAWKS’ GOAL THAT WAS TIPPED BY JOE VELENO!

Joe Veleno scored from Rasmussen and Seider at 3:03 of the 3rd. 3-1 Detroit.

Larkin’s line took the bump-up shift, and did a good job of keeping Teravainen and company quiet, and then the Bedard line held off the scoresheet;

Seider, Edvinsson and the Compher line helped stop Reichel and the rest of the Hawks off the scoreboard and generally out of the zone;

Bedard rejoined the fray 4:50 into the 3rd, and Talbot batted a puck away, Chiarot gave the puck away, and Chicago drew a penalty at 5:21 as Hall was grabbed by Kasper, who sat for holding.

On the penalty-kill, Chicago menaced Seider, Edvinsson, Raymond and Larkin, and Talbot made a couple of good stops on Bedard;

Bedard stayed on the ice as Bertuzzi tried to generate a shot that was blocked, and Seth Jones boobled an attempt to generate a point shot;

Petry cleared the puck well with 40 ticks left on the PK;

The Hawks then struggled to cycle the puck down low, Taravainen’s slot pass was blocked off, and the PP expired with Fischer trying to feed Kasper, he found Larkin and Mrazek made a HUGE STOP on Larkin, and then DeBrincat tried to feed Larkin as he was tripped up, yielding a 6-on-5 opportunity where Raymond joined the fray, but the Wings were unable to score. Teuvo Teravainen sat at 8:05 for tripping.

On the power play…

Larkin, DeBrincat and Raymond worked with Seider and Raymond, but Seider blubbed a pass off the faceoff win and Detroit had to re-set in its own zone.

Kane carried the puck through center to Raymond, DeBrincat and Larkin worked for Kane, and the Hawks cleared their zone;

Seider worked on another rush through center in which he charged up himself, but DeBrincat had to back off through center ice;

Raymond then fed Gustafsson and Kaiser was blocked off by DeBrincat, Larkin battled Murphy, Raymond lost the puck and the Hawks charged up 2-on-2…

Mikheyev tripped a Wing, Seth Jones fired a shot off on Talbot, and the Hawks were killing the penalty well with 25 left in it.

Berggren, Kasper, Gustafsson, Tarasenko and Compher were unable to generate anything, either, ending the power play.

Fischer, Copp and Rasmussen rejoined each other for the first post-PP shift, and they surrendered a rush to Foligno, who was stifled by Talbot at 10:21.

When play resumed after a TV timeout, the Hawks worked the puck from point to point, but Copp tipped a puck out of play, Compher lost a faceoff to Kurashev, and Talbot made a couple of good saves, including one where he didn’t know where the rebound was.

Then Simon Edvinsson whiffed a couple of times on the puck, with a drop pass from Raymond to Copp resulting in a spectacular Mrazek stop;

Larkin blazed through and DeBrincat nearly scored with 8:05 remaining;

Detroit iced the puck with 7:42 left, and the Wings won the defensive zone draw, Kasper and Tarasenko charged up the other way, and he clanged a puck off the post…

With Donato going the other way and Talbot stopping the Blackhawks forward.

Chicago’s Bedard then generated a hell of a scoring chance off a Petry turnover, and Talbot made a great glove save looking at Chiarot’s butt…

Compher, Copp and Raymond then cycled the snot out of Chicago, with Edvinsson and Seider sustaining possession, but the Hawks were able to repel them;

With 5:40 left in the 3rd, the final TV timeout hit, and Chiarot and Petry gave the puck away before Fischer, Veleno and Rasmussen ground out a puck down low, repeatedly, and after a terrible turnover by Simon Edvinsson…

Cam Talbot bailed Edvinsson out with an arm stop.

Kane, DeBrincat and Larkin then generated an offensive zone chance that didn’t connect as DeBrincat shanked it wide of Mrazek with about 4:00 remaining;

Talbot left a big rebound vs. the Donato line, but Chiarot and Kasper and Berggren desperately cleared the zone with 3:00 remaining;

Seider made a gorgeous little flip that pestered the Hawks until 2:30, when they pulled Mrazek to the bench, and Andrew COPP SCORED THE END-OF-GAMER VIA AN EMPTY-NET GOAL from Lucas Raymond at 17:45 of the 3rd.

Andrew Copp scored his 5th from Raymond at 17:45. 4-1 Detroit.

Tarasenko then shanked another shot wide of Mrazek, and Detroit battled and buzzed down low, with Tarasenko continuing to at least generate scoring chances as the slow-starter improved incrementally.

The game concluded with Rasmussen, Veleno and Fischer working with Chiarot and Petry, and they pushed the Hawks back behind Mrazek to end the game.

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

Published by

George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

2 thoughts on “Red Wings-Blackhawks quick take: Wings methodically disassemble the Hawks”

  1. George I am glad that you seem to be feeling better. I appreciate all that you do. I am puzzled though. With your fragile health, why would you expend valuable energy writing up what we all saw on tv? I would prefer to see you provide any “insights” that I may not be privy to. Thanks again and I hope that you get stronger soon. Keep up the good work-Russ

    Reply

    1. Great question, Russ.

      I’m just doing this to try and put out *some* content while I recover. I know that most of you watch the games, but it makes me feel like I’m still “in it” if I can at least provide a “game call” of sorts.

      I’ll work my best to provide more insight and a little less play-by-play, and I appreciate your suggestion.

      George

      Reply

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