The Chicago Blackhawks opened up the preseason on Tuesday night with a 5-4 overtime victory against the Detroit Red Wings at the United Center.
New acquisition Trevor Daley scored the overtime game winner for the Blackhawks, which came after the Hawks had blown a three-goal lead in regulation time.
Kyle Baun also scored a goal for the Blackhawks, and Jonathan Toews, Teuvo Teravainen, and Ryan Garbutt also added goals for the Hawks in the win.
The Blackhawks got off to a flying start in the first period as they got on the board early. Baun got open near the front of the net during a good possession by Chicago, and he whacked a puck out of midair to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.
Later in the period, the captain took his turn at the scoring well as he fired in a shot to make it a 2-0 contest. Toews made the play happen with his skating, as he carried the puck into the zone, found an open spot near the top of the face-off circle, and he ripped a wrist shot into the back of the net to extend the lead to two goals.
As the second period got underway, the Blackhawks got three huge saves right away from goaltender Scott Darling, and they repaid their netminder’s excellent play with another goal in support. Toews ripped a shot on goal off a feed from Brent Seabrook, and after the rebound hit Teravainen in the midsection, the youngster was able to slap in between Jimmy Howard’s leg pads to make it a 3-0 game.
The Red Wings finally got on the board with about five minutes to go in the period. Andy Miele made the play happen for Detroit as he fed a perfect pass over to Anthony Mantha, who cashed in the goal and made it a 3-1 game.
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Early in the third period, the Blackhawks scored again to give themselves a commanding lead. Seabrook made the play happen after a Detroit turnover as he shoved a pass over to Garbutt in the middle of the ice, and the new Hawks winger did the rest as he deposited the puck into the net to give Chicago a 4-1 advantage.
The Red Wings were not done however, and they scored three goals before the end of the period to force overtime. Riley Sheahan scored first on a backhanded shot to make it 4-2, and then Teemu Pulkkinen whacked a shot rebound out of midair to make it 4-3 a few minutes later. Finally, with about two minutes to go in regulation, a Sheahan shot bounced off of the post, and Luke Glendening pushed in the rebound to tie things up and send things to overtime with the score knotted up.
About two minutes into the overtime period, the Blackhawks got a 3-on-1 rush, and they finished the job emphatically. Daley did the honors as Artem Anisimov and Patrick Kane each feathered perfect passes around the zone, and the defenseman slid the puck into the empty net to give the Blackhawks the win.
The Hawks won’t have much time to celebrate their victory, as they will take on the Red Wings again on Wednesday night up at Joe Louis Arena.
