10 observations: Blackhawks blow multi-goal lead, fall to Blues in preseason

10 observations: Blackhawks blow multi-goal lead, fall to Blues in preseason initially appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

The Chicago Blackhawks misplaced their third consecutive preseason sport after falling to the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in additional time on Saturday at Enterprise Heart.

Listed below are 10 observations from the loss:

1. The Blackhawks obtained off to a scorching begin after scoring a pair of targets within the first interval and appeared to be in whole management. They bent however did not break within the second, however that wasn’t the case within the third interval, the place the Blues tied issues up at 2-2 and ultimately sealed the deal in additional time. Unlucky end result.

2. The Blackhawks had 25 giveaways. The Blues had 26. For context, the Blackhawks averaged 8.5 giveaways per 60 minutes final season, which ranked seventh-most within the NHL. That is preseason hockey for ya.

3. Petr Mrazek performed the entire sport and was wonderful regardless of the result. He made 32 saves on 35 photographs for a save proportion of .914, a number of of which had been Grade A stops. Via two preseason video games, Mrazek appears to be like to be in midseason type.

4. This was the primary preseason sport for Philipp Kurashev, who did not need to shake off any rust. He scored the opening purpose of the sport, recorded a secondary help, and had three photographs on purpose, which was tied for the staff lead. Stable preseason debut.

5. Taylor Corridor additionally shined for the Blackhawks. He fed Kurashev a pleasant little sauce move on the primary purpose and picked up a major help on Pat Maroon’s power-play purpose to make it 2-0. The Blackhawks led 9-1 in photographs on purpose when Corridor was on the ice at even power, per Pure Stat Trick.

6. Good gesture by the Blackhawks to slap the “A” on Maroon’s sweater in his return to St. Louis, the place he gained a Stanley Cup in 2019. As talked about above, Maroon additionally scored on the facility play, which drew some cheers after his purpose was introduced.

7. Chicago’s pairing of Nolan Allan and Ethan Del Mastro had a robust first interval collectively. When the 2 of them had been on the ice collectively at even power, the Blackhawks allowed zero photographs on purpose and 0 scoring possibilities. They’ve developed some good chemistry collectively within the AHL.

8. Frank Nazar and Kevin Korchinski have every performed in all three preseason video games thus far. Nazar has been terrific within the staff scrimmages however he hasn’t performed significantly nicely within the preseason video games. Korchinski led all skaters with 26:24 and likewise had a team-high eight shot makes an attempt. I count on each of them to begin the season within the AHL, though Korchinski may very well be with the Blackhawks if they do not have sufficient wholesome our bodies. Wyatt Kaiser is at the moment banged up and has missed the previous couple of days of follow.

9. Jason Dickinson and Nick Foligno are the one two gamers who have not participated in a preseason sport but. I count on them to play at the least two of the ultimate three, if not all three, because the Blackhawks put together to trim down their roster and prepare for Opening Night time.

10. With AHL coaching camp beginning on Sunday, the Blackhawks despatched seven gamers to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs: Forwards Gayin Hayes, Paul Ludwinski, Jalen Luypen and Marcel Marcel, defensemen DJ King and Austin Strand, and goaltender Ben Gaudreau. Nick Lardis was additionally despatched again to the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs. The coaching camp roster is now at 41 gamers.