Blackhawks Fall 7-2 to Wild in Chicago Sports Network Debut

Despite Jason Dickinson giving the Chicago Blackhawks an early lead, the Hawks ended up falling 7-2 against the Minnesota Wild, with the Wild scoring six unanswered goals.

Blackhawks fall to 0-3-1 in the 2024 NHL Preseason

Both the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks had heavy NHL lineups in Tuesday night’s game at the Xcel Energy Center but the Wild looked more prepared infront of the home crowd.

Some costly turnovers, multiple by Kevin Korchinski, cost the Hawks in this one. Chicago has to be better in their own end getting the puck up ice safely.

The Blackhawks entered the third period with some life after a late goal by Connor Bedard, but that momentum quickly went away as Chicago got nothing going against the Wild. The Wild outshot the Hawks 42-1 – and that domination showed on the scoresheet. Now the Blackhawks travel back to Chicago for a home game on Friday still searching for their first win.

Highlights:

Chicago’s first goal came as a result of a nice play made by Seth Jones, Nick Foligno, and Jason Dickinson. Foligno made a great drop pass for Jones who put it on the net. The big rebound went right to Dickinson who didn’t miss.

a Jason Dickinson goal for your feed 🙂 pic.twitter.com/NWPyvLNB14

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 2, 2024

Connor Bedard was also the beneficiary of a big rebound. With under a second left in the second period, Bedard scored on the power play after a mad scramble infront of the net.

blink and you'll miss this Bedsy goal pic.twitter.com/8nREqYp6Fr

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 2, 2024

Takeaways:

The Chicago Blackhawks may want to consider starting Kevin Korchinski with the Rockford IceHogs. Now that he’s eligible, there is no reason to start him in the NHL. He hasn’t been great in the preseason and may benefit from some time with Rockford growing his game.

The Hawks have a lot of hope for Korchinski, drafted in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft. While he has a lot of talent, Davidson and the Blackhawks need to let him develop and gain more confidence. Rockford could be the perfect place for that.

Korchinski’s play in this game against the Wild showed some deficiencies that need to be worked on. It was a big mistake by him that led to Minnesota’s first goal as he turned the puck over in his own end right in front of Drew Commesso. The Wild continued to have grade-A chances and score on some of them when he was on the ice.

The Blackhawks and Wild will meet again on Friday: 

The Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild are not done. The two teams will face off again on Friday at United Center. Chicago has a game in Milwaukee against the St. Louis Blues the next night so it will be interesting to see what their Friday lineup looks like.

Find Chicago Hockey Now on Facebook and Twitter.

Follow Jim on Twitter

Follow Vinnie on Twitter