Three takeaways from the Blackhawks’ game against the Red Wings

For the second time in three days, the Chicago Blackhawks played the Detroit Red Wings in what was the final meeting of the season between the two teams.

The Blackhawks came into the month of April knowing that they had to make significant improvements if they had any hope of making the playoffs. Unfortunately for Chicago, they had only won three out of their last seven games going into tonight’s matchup, including a disastrous 4-1 loss to the Wings this past Thursday.

However, the ‘Hawks were determined to come out tonight with all cylinders firing, and they did exactly that in a decisive 4-0 victory tonight. Although there were definitely areas for improvement, as there are in any game, Chicago played very well overall, and easily dispatched their historical rivals.

The shot differential may not have been ideal, especially throughout the first two periods of the game, but the Blackhawks were able to find the back of the twine when it mattered, and their scoring trends continued. At the other end of the ice, the defense and goaltending were able to hold off the Red Wings, who have the third-worst offense in the NHL, from scoring any goals.

The Blackhawks must now look forward to the remainder of this month’s schedule, which will not provide them any smooth sailing. Next week will see the team play three straight games against the Nashville Predators, whom they are fighting for the final playoff spot. If the ‘Hawks performance against the Preds is anything like tonight, then they will likely be able to put up some more in the win column.

Before the team takes on the guys from Music City, let’s go through a quick recap of tonight’s game. Here are three key takeaways from the Blackhawks’ victory against the Detroit Red Wings.

If there is any player on the Blackhawks that is having a season to remember, it’s forward Alex DeBrincat.

DeBrincat has absolutely been on fire lately, a continuation of his stand-out campaign this year. While Patrick Kane (unsurprisingly) leads the team in points, DeBrincat has been finding the back of the net with absolute ease this season. That trend continued tonight, as he found a rebound off of the pad of Red Wings goaltender Jonathan Bernier and fired it into the twine to give the ‘Hawks a 2-0 lead.

DeBrincat, who grew up in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills and was a Red Wings fan growing up, has ironically always played very well against his hometown team. His goal tonight gives him 22 tallies on the season, far and away the team leader in that category. Add to that 21 assists, and the Cat is sitting on 43 points in only 40 games played, and he looks primed to continue lighting the lamp.

He has definitely been one of the anchors of this team so far, and there is no reason to think that will change any time soon. While he isn’t having the 76-point season that he had in 2019, it is important to remember that this was a shortened season due to COVID-19. While there are only going to be 56 games played this year when all is said and done, the awkward schedule clearly hasn’t affected DeBrincat in the slightest.

If this season had been a regular 82-game campaign, who knows where his point totals would be at now. The young gun has turned into an absolute star for the Blackhawks, and I am excited to see him in a Chicago sweater for years to come.

Malcolm Subban was playing in his first game since March 28, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if he was a bit rusty. That certainly wasn’t the case tonight.

After not starting in goal for nearly a month, Subban skated onto Detroit ice and shut out the Red Wings decisively. He made a number of terrific stops in this game, including a terrific cross-crease glove save against Wings forward Darren Helm, keeping a puck out of the net that would’ve probably gone in nine times out of ten.

With his victory tonight, Subban has his second shutout of the season, stopping all 29 shots he faced. While I have been a bit hard on Subban in the past, I also think that part of the reason for his previous bad performances was due to his ice time. He just doesn’t have that much experience, and starting in net once a month isn’t going to get him that far. In my opinion, he should’ve started in at least a few games before tonight, if only to take some of the pressure off of Kevin Lankinen.

The truth is that Malcolm Subban is likely never going to be a starting NHL goalie. However, that does not mean that he cannot be an extremely reliable backup. While he is not all that consistent, when he is on top of his game, he is nearly impossible to beat, and that held true tonight.

If nothing else, hopefully Subban gets a few more chances to start before the end of the season, because his performance tonight proves that he can compete in this league. He just needs to be more consistent, and if he can find a way to do that, then I think we can expect more shutouts from him in the future.