The Detroit Red Wings had plenty of chances to get into tonight’s game, but they were blown away in the Windy City.
Special teams ruled the night, as the Chicago Blackhawks (1-3-1) scored two power-play goals en route to a 4-1 victory over the Red Wings (2-3-0) at United Center for their first win of the young season.
Captain Dylan Larkin scored the only goal for Detroit, who were unable to capitalize on the five power-play chances they they enjoyed throughout the game’s 60 minutres. Of course, that won’t do anything to make their special teams numbers in the stat column look any better.
Coming into tonight’s game, Detroit’s power-play ranked 21st overall in the NHL at just 14.3% efficiency.
Mattias Janmark, Patrick Kane, Calvin de Haan and Andrew Shaw all tallied for Chicago, who got 30 saves from goaltender Kevin Lankinen. Thomas Greiss made 23 saves in a losing effort.
Not helping the situation, Detroit was without several players including Robby Fabbri, Filip Zadina, Sam Gagner, Jon Merrill and Adam Erne – all of whom are on the team’s COVID-19 protocol list.
Chicago opened the scoring in the 1st period and added another tally in the middle frame. After Chicago took a three-goal lead in the 3rd period, Larkin’s power-drive to the net brought Detroit back to within two goals.
It would be as close as they’d get to a comeback, as Chicago would add an empty-net goal with just over a minute remaining in regulation.
The two teams will once again square off tomorrow afternoon; Jonathan Bernier (2-0) will be in net for Detroit.
