2018 Preseason: Detroit Red Wings Remain Undefeated Clip Hawks

It was a shootout in Chicago last night.  The arena workers need to change the goal light bulbs this morning because they certainly had a workout.  The Detroit Red Wings would go on to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 8-6.

Goaltending?  What goaltending? Jimmy Howard and Cam Ward didn’t exactly impress for there respected teams. The Detroit Red Wings scored early and often.  Thomas Vanek scored 16 seconds into the game, a welcoming scoring outburst that isn’t exactly a regular occurrence of late for the winged wheels.

Remember Andreas Athanasiou talked the talk, he told Jeff Blashill if he received more ice time he would reward the Wings with consistent offensive production.  He recorded four points last night in Chicago, netting 2 goals and adding 2 helpers. During 20:19 minutes of ice-time AA was a plus 5.

Vanek was a plus 4, he scored twice and added an assist in 15:02 minutes of work.  Big Anthony Mantha had a fantastic game.  A promising site for 39, in 16:50 minutes he was a plus 2 with a pair of goals and added a helper.

Darren Helm and Dylan Larkin both recorded a goal and an assist. Witkowski scored and scrapped with Brandon Manning in the third period.  Justin Abdelkader marked a point and also got into a spirited tilt with Chris Kunitz in the second period.

Jeff Blashill leaned on the four defensemen in competition for two NHL jobs to start the season.  Dennis Cholowski was impressive although he never recorded a point.  He was a plus 4 in 20:21 minutes of duty.  Cholowski continues to impress in all facets of his game.

Libor Sulak played 22:05 and also didn’t record a point.  A bit less impressive in this one than Cholowski but still solid on the back end.  Sulak finished even with no shots on goal.

Filip Hronek was a plus 1 and added 5 hits.  Hronek took a cross-checking penalty in the second period during an exchange with Brandon Manning which led to the Abdelkader, Kunitz fist-a-cuffs.

Joe Hicketts played a solid game possibly elevating himself ahead of Hronek.  Hicketts had an assist and played 22:34 minutes.  Hicketts added 4 hits and 4 blocked shots.  The 5’8 defender loves to grab our attention with his willingness to throw his body into harm’s way without thinking twice about it.

Filip Zadina played 14:13, Ehn 12:07 and Svechnikov continued his up and down appearances playing 12:36.  These 3 players were minus.  Svechnikov was a minus 3 which was the worst of the evening.

Jeff Blashill won’t be thrilled with Svechnikov who has already been in the coaches dog house.  It seems when Svechnikov is going well he is excellent and when it’s terrible, it becomes a disaster.  Svechnikov shouldn’t be judged on this one appearance rather than the whole body of work, but he needs to bounce back in his coaches eyes to secure a spot with this team.