Aiming to secure a winning record on their season-high, six-game road trip, the Detroit Red Wings visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday coming off a lopsided loss that almost felt fulfilling.
“I actually think — this is going to sound strange — I think this is one of our better-played games on the trip,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said after Thursday’s 4-1 loss in Edmonton. “We didn’t scramble around quite as much, yet when you look at it from an offensive perspective, probably not enough in and around the net, the net intensity.”
Despite the setback, Detroit has earned seven of 10 possible points through the first five games of the trip. Thursday marked the first time during that span that the club didn’t score at least four goals.
Simon Edvinsson had the club’s lone goal in Edmonton, as the blueliner scored for the first time since a two-goal effort against St. Louis on Oct. 25. Alex DeBrincat, a former Blackhawk alongside teammate Patrick Kane, has earned points in four of the past six games, contributing four goals and four assists.
Chicago is coming off a 3-2 road loss to the St. Louis Blues on Friday. The Blackhawks fell to 3-7-2 in their past 12 games.
Wyatt Kaiser and Andre Burakovsky scored for the Blackhawks while Connor Bedard had two assists. Bedard won’t play Saturday, however, after sustaining an upper-body injury in what coach Jeff Blashill called a “freak accident” in the closing seconds in St. Louis.
The Blues’ Brayden Schenn made a physical play on Bedard on the game’s final faceoff and Bedard left the ice clutching his right shoulder after the horn sounded.
Bedard is Chicago’s top scorer with 44 points — 19 goals and 25 assists — in 31 games.
Detroit will aim to avenge a 5-1 home loss to the Blackhawks on Nov. 9 and earn a split of the season series.
Bedard tallied a goal and two assists and Arvid Soderblom stopped 45 shots in that game. Dylan Larkin scored for the Red Wings.
After Spencer Knight started in goal for Chicago in St. Louis, Soderblom could get the call against Detroit, getting another opportunity to face his younger brother, Elmer, a Red Wings forward who notched an assist in Edmonton for just his second point this season.
“You kinda look back to those days when you were younger and you’re playing just for fun in the backyard or in the basement or wherever,” Arvid Soderblom said. “Right then, your dream is to get to the NHL, but you never know if you’re gonna make it. And then for both of us to make it and play for historical teams, him on the Red Wings and me here, I think that’s pretty cool. Just having that experience (of playing each other) is gonna be something we’re both looking back at for the rest of our lives. We don’t take that for granted to play each other.”
