Red Wings – Blackhawks Recap

The Red Wings showed good signs in their pre-season home opener at Little Caesars Arena, but ultimately came up short against the young Blackhawks lineup.

Chicago started early at LCA, with Dylan Sikura scoring just 11 seconds into the game. Detroit bounced back almost immediately when Elmer Soderblom fired a shot off his older brother, Chicago goaltender Arvid Soderblom, and Adam Erne backhanded the rebound into the net.

Lukas Reichel put the Blackhawks ahead to end the first period, sneaking past the defense and taking a beautiful two-line saucer pass from Kevin Korchinski to beat Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic low to the stick side.

Erne opened the 2nd period by netting his second goal of the night to tie the game 2-2. But the Chicago offense was just too much for Detroit. Jujhar Khaira put the Blackhawks ahead in the 2nd with a power play goal. Sam Lafferty added a late empty netter to cap off a 4-2 Blackhawks win.

Elmer Soderblom Shines

It was Elmer Soderblom’s first game in front of Winged Wheel fans, and his play drew plenty of attention. Coach Derek Lalonde noted before the game that there were requests from management to see Soderblom in a Top 6 role. He did nothing but impress. The 6’6, 220 pound winger was undoubtedly the best player on the ice last night for Detroit.

It’s incredibly rare to see a player Soderblom’s size boast great skating ability along with terrific stick handling. That size and playmaking ability give Soderblom a massive ceiling. Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings scouts deserve a ton of credit for landing a player this talented in the 6th round of 2019 draft.

That talent was on display last night, and his play makes me believe he will crack the opening night roster.

Follow Detroit Red Wings Beat Reporter Michael Gentry on Twitter (@16Gentry) for more Red Wings Content!