The Blackhawks’ first 40 minutes in their exhibition game against the Montreal Canadiens at the United Center on Wednesday night included glimpses of their past success and potential for more. The last 20 minutes, however, were a disaster.
In the first two periods, the Blackhawks played their patented puck-possession game and generated some decent scoring chances. Canadiens goalie (and Olympic gold medalist) Carey Price indeed robbed the Blackhawks of a few sure things.
“I didn’t mind the first 40 minutes,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “I thought we played pretty well. We had a lot of zone time. “I thought we were looking for too (much) stick-to-stick and too many perfect plays. Particularly on the power play we didn’t shoot the puck.”
As the Blackhawks have just begun working on the power play in practice, they are 0-for-17 in the preseason. You can expect much more work on it in practice before the start of the season.
The Blackhawks’ fourth line looked intact for most of the game before receiving less ice time in the third. Jeremy Morin was relentless on the forecheck and Brandon Mashinter also played with an edge. Mashinter again showed some skating ability, which is a big plus for the potential Blackhawks enforcer.
The Hawks’ third line, consisting of Kris Versteeg, Andrew Shaw, and Bryan Bickell, embodied the overall effort of the team.
“We’re getting more comfortable,” forward Kris Vertseeg said. “I thought in the first and second period we were buzzing and playing very well. Like I said, (in) the third period the energy seemed to die off, me, I know I did for sure. But the first and second went great, so that’s what preseason is for, just getting the legs under you and getting ready.”
The action: Rene Bourque, Nathan Beaulieu and Michael Bournival scored for the Canadiens, and Andrew Shaw netted the Blackhawks’ lone goal on a breakaway. All four goals came in the third period.
The Blackhawks will head to New York for their final exhibition game Friday. Corey Crawford is scheduled to be in net for Chicago.
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