Blackhawks Game Day Preview: Nick Foligno makes preseason debut again Wild

Chicago Blackhawks (0-2-1) vs Minnesota Wild (2-2-0)
7 pm CT – XL Energy Center
TV : CHSN (Ball/Pang)
Radio: 720 AM (Wiedeman/Murray)

The Chicago Blackhawks will travel to the Land of 10,000 Lakes for their first of two preseason games with the Minnesota Wild. These two teams will meet again at the United Center on Friday night. The Blackhawks will bring much of their expected opening night roster with them to the Twin Cities, including the preseason debuts of Jason Dickinson and new captain Nick Foligno. Connor Bedard will play in his second game after picking up an assist in last week’s 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. The darling of training camp, prospect A.J. Spellacy, will get at least one more game in before returning to the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League. Drew Commesso will play the entire game tonight.

The Wild will play many NHL regulars in their penultimate exhibition contest. Their offense and power play have been on fire through their first four preseason games. Former Blackhawk Ryan Hartman will center the top line, while star second-year defenseman Brock Faber will also play.

In other news, Artyom Levshunov skated again on his own before practice and has graduated to a regular practice jersey. The second-overall pick of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft had been wearing a green non-contact jersey throughout training camp. He was joined by goaltender Laurent Brossoit. This was his first venture onto ice after offseason knee surgery. It is doubtful that either will play in the final two preseason games, but seeing them both progress is encouraging.

Head coach Luke Richardson gave an update on defenseman Wyatt Kaiser. Some concerns arose from his physical, and he needed to get some invasive testing done. All the tests returned negative, and he is cleared to begin hockey activities again. No specifics were given.

Quotables

“I’ve had the mindset just to do my best to see where it takes me, and I feel that I’ve done that. I’m going to keep learning. Sticking around here helps me learn.” Spellacy on sticking around camp longer than expected.

“There will be a ‘pinch me’ moment when I put the C on for the first time. With the history of this franchise and the honor to wear the captaincy, I’ll never take that for granted. It means more to me that my teammates believe in me, and I care a lot about that. That’s the biggest honor of it all, and I’m going to do it the best I can.” Foligno on his first game as Blackhawks’ captain.

“I’m just looking forward to playing. It’s been a long summer with a lot of watching and practicing, so it’s nice to get into a game and feel the puck. Making good reads and moving my feet are the two things I’m focused on for tonight. I’ll let everything else build from there. If my legs are moving and my reads are good, I’ll feel pretty good about where I’m at.” Dickinson on his first preseason action.

Blackhawks Preseason Leaders

G-Philipp Kurashev/Pat Maroon/Teuvo Teravainen/Craig Smith (1)
A-Taylor Hall (0)
P-Hall/Kurashev (2)
PPG-Maroon (1)
SOG-Smith (6)

Wild Preseason Leaders

G-Joel Eriksson Ek/Jakub Lauko/Graeme Clarke/Ben Jones/Kirill Kaprizov (2)
A-Eriksson Ek (3)
P-Eriksson Ek (5)
PPG-Kaprizov (2)
SOG-Carson Lambros (8)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-1.33
GA/G-3.00
PP%-12.5
PK%-77.8

Wild Team Stats

GF/G-4.25
GA/G-4.00
PP%-55.6
PK%-82.4

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Philipp Kurashev-Connor Bedard-Tyler Bertuzzi
Lukas Reichel-Andreas Athanasiou-Taylor Hall
Nick Foligno-Jason Dickinson-Ilya Mikheyev
Pat Maroon-A.J. Spellacy-Craig Smith 

Defensemen
Alex Vlasic-Seth Jones
Connor Murphy-Kevin Korchinski
Isaak Phillips-Louis Crevier 

Wild Probable Lines

Forwards
Kirill Kaprizov-Ryan Hartman-Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson-Joel Eriksson Ek-Liam Ohgren
Marcus Foligno-Marco Rossi-Yakov Trenin
Jakub Lauko-Marat Khusnutdinov-Frederick Gaudreau

Defensemen
Jonas Brodin-Jared Spurgeon
Daemon Hunt-Brock Faber
Declan Chisholm-Zach Bogosian

Goaltending Matchup

Drew Commesso (Arvid Soderblom) vs Filip Gustavsson (Jesper Wallstedt)

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