Newcomers made an impact for the Chicago Blackhawks, who got goals from Craig Smith and Teuvo Teräväinen, but they couldn’t prevent a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings in the preseason opener Wednesday at the United Center.
“A lot of sloppy plays and stuff for sure on both ends,” Connor Bedard said. “But it’s all of our first games in four or five months, so to be expected a little, I guess. There’s definitely a lot of areas to clean up for both teams.”
Teräväinen said the first game was “good to get over with.”
“Puck was bouncing a lot, legs weren’t there really,” he said. “I don’t know, kind of a weird one.”
Bedard joined an almost completely new lineup at puck drop, with defenseman Seth Jones and goalie Petr Mrázek his only partners from last season. Bedard was flanked by Teräväinen and Tyler Bertuzzi, and Alec Martinez was Jones’ new defensive partner.
The night represented a homecoming for Teräväinen, a 2012 first-round draft pick who played for the Hawks from 2013-16. He was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes and spent the next eight seasons there.
“It was cool, for sure,” he said. “Just doing the warmups again and seeing the fans felt like the old days.”
Attendance was listed at 10,354.
"That was cool for sure just doing the warmups again, and seeing the fans felt like the old days."
–Teuvo Teravainen on returning to the United Center as a Blackhawk after 8 seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes pic.twitter.com/zJVZzZxQDq
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) September 26, 2024
The Red Wings struck first 1 minute, 10 seconds into the game on a deflected goal by Tyler Motte, another former Hawk who was traded away.
The Hawks offense got off to a slow start but generated some good chances before the first intermission. In the second period, they put it together.
Smith put the Hawks on the board 6:50 into the second. He took a sweet between-the-legs backhand dish from Ryan Donato and clanked his first shot off the crossbar, but the rebound ricocheted back to him and he roofed it over Ville Husso.
Teräväinen gave the Hawks their first lead 2:13 later, taking a cross-ice pass from Bedard and whirling around for a shot that he squeezed between Husso’s pad and the post.
Detroit’s Jeff Petry erased that lead with 82 seconds left in the second with a long-range slapper.
Each team’s goalie prospects took over in the third — Sebastian Cossa for the Wings and Mitchell Weeks for the Hawks — and unfortunately for Weeks the Hawks committed a penalty before he was suitably warmed up.
Smith hooked Wings defenseman Justin Holl, and Lucas Raymond banked a power-play goal off the crossbar to give the Red Wings a 3-2 lead. Olli Määttä padded the lead with a wrister with 5:18 left.
Before the game, Hawks coach Luke Richardson said he wanted to see “speed in our attack” as well as on defense. But in his postgame assessment, the Red Wings showed more speed.
“It’s a starting point, I guess,” he said. “There were times where we played well and times we didn’t. It was the consistency and getting into that routine of a game, habits of doing it shift in and shift out, and I thought at times we did it in all three periods but not near enough.”
Added Smith: “It’s been a long time since a lot of us played a game. It’s a good starting point. Obviously there’s a lot to work on. Good, we have a lot of time. That’s what these games are for.”
Here are four takeaways.
1. Even veterans have to get acclimated.
Teräväinen and Bertuzzi were the highlights of a summer free-agent haul that also included Martinez, Smith and T.J. Brodie, who partnered with Alex Vlasic in the second defensive pairing.
Training camp can accomplish only so much, and several of them showed signs of unfamiliarity.
“Just for myself, little differences makes me think a little more,” Teräväinen said. “I first of all need to get my legs going and then feel like my head was still slow too. Too much thinking. We’ll get there.”
Said Smith: “We’ll continue to get to know each other a little bit better and correct some changes and then move forward. That’s all you can do.”
Richardson said players “get maybe a little frustrated.”
“Then their feet stop moving because they’re trying to make the perfect pass or settle it down to make the perfect play,” he said. “We’re not going to put too much into Game 1 other than there’s some good video we can use to improve on.”
"That's a good starting point. Obviously there’s a lot to work on. Good, we've got a lot of time and that's what these games are for."
–Craig Smith on the Blackhawks preseason opener, a 4-2 loss to the Red Wings pic.twitter.com/cHBKvNyo9z
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) September 26, 2024
2. Connor Bedard has some new toys and new moves but was “gassed.”
Bedard and Teräväinen looked to set up each other several times, a connection the Hawks hope will materialize after signing Teräväinen to a three-year contract July 1.
“Some good moments for sure,” Bedard said. “Both of us were saying we were overthinking it too much or being too slow with our plays. … He’s a very good player and fun to play with, so I’m excited to build chemistry.”
Said Teräväinen: “Whenever we get the puck in the O-zone, it’s those quick little passes and get a chance right away.”
They finally connected on Teräväinen’s second-period goal.
“It was nice,” Bedard said. “I think he might have been trying to pass it, he said, but it was good it went in. He got himself in a good spot. That’s what he’s so good at: He’s so smart and finds the quiet spots on the ice.”
Meanwhile, Bedard had some Bedard kind of moments, such as a first-period power play. He deked Joe Veleno to set up a one-time pass and later faked out Simon Edvinsson with a spin.
However, Bedard admitted to fatigue despite his offseason work to get ready.
“It takes a few games to get your legs feeling it,” he said. “I feel like I did more conditioning than I’ve ever done, and I was still pretty gassed.”
“I feel like I did more conditioning than I’ve ever done and I still was pretty gassed.”
—Connor Bedard on how he felt during the game pic.twitter.com/cE6d3XUBYg
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) September 26, 2024
3. Among the prospects, AJ Spellacy stole the spotlight.
Spellacy’s highlight moment came in the first period. The big forward had Raymond lined up in his sights, motoring up the wall from the Wings defensive zone. Raymond tried to jump out of the way, but Spellacy clipped him hard enough to force a bad pass into the neutral zone, which the Hawks recovered.
The puck ended up on Spellacy’s stick, and he dodged Albert Johansson at the blue line and was speeding through the right circle when Dylan Larkin winded up and elbowed Spellacy in the head, sending him to the ice.
Donato and other Hawks went after Larkin, and a scrum ensued in the corner. Spellacy sauntered over and started punching and shoving the closest Red Wing he could find: Johansson.
“That’s awesome,” Smith said. “I was excited to play with him tonight. He’s got great legs. He’s got some good instincts. I’d like to see him shoot the puck. I think he’s got a great shot.”
Bedard agreed.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “I don’t know if he was the only guy or a few of the guys I think maybe had their first game here. I remember how excited I was, so he was obviously buzzing.”
Richardson said Spellacy performed well on the penalty kill and faceoffs (50% of 14 draws).
“He was engaged in the whole game and he got the other team riled up,” Richardson said, “and he had a couple of good chances at the net.”
Samuel Savoie had his moments, digging a puck out of a back-wall battle to set up Joey Anderson for a chance from net front and saucing to Paul Ludwinski on a third-period rush that Cossa denied.
“I thought they were really good in the third period,” Richardson said. “They had a couple of nice line rushes, but they play simple, they play right and Andy plays with them. He’s a smart player and they chip and go and make the other team work in the zone. They play 200 feet pretty fast.”
Meanwhile, Frank Nazar had a choppy night.
He was on the ice for three Red Wings goals, one on the power play. His line with Nick Lardis and Taylor Hall gave up the other two and was outshot 8-1, according to naturalstattrick.com.
At times it looked like Nazar was pressing and other times puck watching, looking for a chance on offense. He committed four turnovers, matching Hall.
“Frank had probably a better third period than he did the first two periods,” Richardson said.
Nazar did have two takeaways and caused another turnover on the penalty kill.
“I thought his penalty killing was excellent in the third period,” Richardson said. “He applies pressure, had a really good chance.”
He added that Nazar, who came into camp as the prospect with perhaps the best shot at making the roster, had “maybe a little bit” of nerves.
“He wants to show his best,” Richardson said, “and sometimes I think guys, their eyes are wide and the moment’s — not too big for them, they’re not lost in it — but they’re not taking advantage of it.
“Last year he came in (in April), he was playing on a high, he had a great year and he was just playing. Now we’re starting from scratch and it’s hard to kind of get everything settled and going, and it’s a lot going through a lot of the young guys’ minds. That’s why you see a lot of scrambling in the exhibition games.”
4. The power play fizzled after a strong start.
It’s no surprise considering there are several new pieces. The Hawks went 0-for-4.
Vlasic drew a high-sticking penalty from Raymond for the game’s first power play, and the first unit cranked out five shots on goal, including three from Teräväinen.
“We got a couple good shots there,” he said. “At the end, the puck started bouncing and maybe we were a little bit too slow. But it’s the first game. Just trying to get to know everybody and we’ll get there.”
