Red Wings pre-season game day: Detroit hosts Chicago for third game in three days

NHL teams don’t usually play three games in three days.

Such compressed scheduling is forbidden during the regular season. The pre-season, however, is a completely different entity; the Detroit Red Wings will finish off their exhibition threepeat at home Monday with a 7:30 p.m. ET clash against Chicago.

Bally Sports Detroit+ will be carrying the game on TV; you’ll be able to tune in to WXVT-FM 97.1 The Ticket to hear it on the radio in Detroit.

The Red Wings still have the same 54 players in camp:

Forwards (30): Filip Zadina, Robby Fabbri, Jakub Vrána (inj.), Mitchell Stephens, Lucas Raymond, Pius Suter, Taro Hirose, Riley Barber, Michael Rasmussen, Carter Rowney, Kyle Criscuolo, Chase Pearson, Givani Smith, Dominik Shine, Hayden Verbeek, Jonatan Berggren, Bobby Ryan, Turner Elson, Tyler Bertuzzi, T-Bone Codd, Jon Martin, Dennis Yan, Dylan Larkin, Adam Erne, Tyler Spezia, Patrick Curry, Kirill Tyutyayev, Sam Gagner, Joe Veleno, Vladislav Namestnikov

Defensemen (19): Nick Leddy, Jared McIsaac, Filip Hronek, Marc Staal, Luke Witkowski, Dan Renouf, Gustav Lindström, Brian Lashoff, Donovan Sebrango, Wyatt Newpower, Seth Barton, Moritz Seider, Danny DeKeyser, Troy Stecher, Jordan Oesterle, Mason Ward, Alex Cotton, Adam Brubacher, Ryan Murphy

Goaltenders (5): Thomas Greiss, Calvin Pickard, Victor Brattström, Kaden Fulcher, Alex Nedeljkovic

Detroit went with a mix of veterans and youngsters for Sunday afternoon’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

We’ll let you know when the Wings release their roster — or if they make any cuts — prior to Monday’s game.

Chicago has yet to release its travelling lineup. After assigning 12 players to the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League on Saturday, Chicago currently has 49 players in training camp:

Forwards (28): Andrei Altybarmakian, Evan Barratt, Henrik Borgström, Ryan Carpenter, Matej Chalupa, Brett Connolly, Colton Dach, Kirby Dach, Alex DeBrincat, MacKenzie Entwistle, Adam Gaudette, Brandon Hagel, Mike Hardman, Reese Johnson, Tyler Johnson, Patrick Kane, Jujhar Khaira, Dominik Kubalík, Philipp Kurashev, Cam Morrison, Alex Nylander, Dmitri Osipov, Jakub Pour, Lukas Reichel, Josiah Slavin, Dylan Strome, Michael Teplý, Jonathan Toews

Defensemen (16): Nolan Allan, Nicolas Beaudin, Louis Crevier, Calvin de Haan, Jakub Galvas, Caleb Jones, Seth Jones, Wyatt Kalynuk, Michael Krutil, Chad Krys, Jake McCabe, Ian Mitchell, Connor Murphy, Isaak Phillips, Alec Regula, Riley Stillman

Goaltenders (5): Collin Delia, Marc-André Fleury, Kevin Lankinen, Arvid Söderblom, Malcolm Subban

The St. Louis Blues fell by a 5-1 score to Chicago on Saturday. Henrik Borgström, Colton Dach, MacKenzie Entwistle, Mike Hardman, and Dominik Kubalík all tallied in the victory; Malcolm Subban made 31 saves on 32 shots.

Detroit’s goaltenders had a game to forget on Sunday, collectively allowing 27 goals on 32 shots. The defensemen ahead of them weren’t much better, conceding a dismal 2.8 expected goals at 5-on-5 (according to Natural Stat Trick).

Detroit allowed more expected goals at 5-on-5 on just six occasions during the 2020–21 regular season. The entire defensive side of the Red Wings’ game needs to be better on Monday.

Will Henrik Borgström play again on Monday? The 24-year-old center spent the entire 2020–21 season playing for HIFK Helsinki in the Finnish Liiga, scoring 11 goals and 21 points in 30 games. The Florida Panthers drafted Borgström 23rd overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft after all 30 teams passed on selecting him in 2015. In parts of three seasons with the Panthers, Borgström scored nine goals and 19 points in 56 games.

After failing to sign him to a contract for the 2020–21 season, Florida traded Borgström’s RFA signing rights to Chicago on Apr. 8, 2021. Borgström subsequently signed a two-year, $1 million AAV contract with Chicago on May 12.