3 takeaways from the Chicago Blackhawks’ 4-1 loss in their preseason opener, including who stood out — and what didn’t

Notice: Trying to get property 'post_title' of non-object in /home/ofzfvenynm4q/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-rss-feed-to-post/includes/wprss-ftp-display.php on line 109

In a game that doesn’t count, a preview to a season that could amount to a mulligan, the Chicago Blackhawks didn’t play like Tuesday’s 4-1 preseason loss to the St. Louis Blues would indicate.

The veteran imports flashed some speed, the prospects showed good instincts and the team for the most part played disciplined hockey for coach Luke Richardson in his opening bow in front of 10,317 at the United Center.

The penalty kill was another matter, but more on that later.

“Wasn’t a great start, but I thought that at times we really carried the game to them, especially the middle part of the second period,” Richardson said. “You know there’s some encouraging things on that, especially how we played, how we’ve been kind of preaching and practicing over the last four or five days. So that was encouraging.

“Now we’ve just got to get more diligent and consistent and that’s what this league’s about.”

Ryan O’Reilly, Justin Faulk, Griffin Luce and Nikita Alexandrov scored for the Blues — all but Luce’s coming on the power play — and Cole Guttman had the Hawks’ lone goal.

“We’ve got six games and we’re really just trying to figure out the little things,” said Colin Blackwell, who assisted on Guttman’s goal along with Buddy Robinson. “We’ve only known each other for four or five days now. … We did a pretty good job of doing the systems right.”

The Hawks have plenty of time to master Richardson’s systems, and he and the Hawks are in the rebuild for the long haul.

“I enjoyed it, it was great, especially the national anthem, you always love it, right?” Richardson said.

His thoughts then turned to Martin St. Louis, his own former coach who became a first-time head coach last season when he took over the Montreal Canadiens. Richardson supported him as an assistant.

“I know he was a great player but he (had) never coached in the league. After the first game he was exhausted,” Richardson said. “He was like, ‘Wow, that was fast.’ Things happen fast and you have to be looking at the referee on changes, and you’re trying to watch the other bench on lines … ”

“You want to have fun with the guys and be loose and talk to them and make sure they enjoy it, because when they enjoy it, they’re going to relax, not think too much and play their game,” he said. “At the same time, you have to be on your toes and make sure you don’t miss anything.”

Here are three takeaways from the game.

The Hawks gave up three power-play goals, but to be fair, Tuesday was the Blues’ third tuneup.

The Hawks ranked 24th of 32 teams in PK percentage (76.2%) last season. Assistant coach Kevin Dean, who oversees the penalty kill, comes from a Boston Bruins system that ranked ninth (81.3%).

Richardson isn’t too worried.

“They have some of those guys out there, they strike quick when you’re not prepared and you don’t execute out there”, he said.

[ [Don’t miss] Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews dismiss trade rumors at Chicago Blackhawks training camp: ‘It’s just a lot of noise right now’ ]

Richardson wants to fashion the PK into an aggressive unit, one that wants to go on the attack rather than sit back in a defensive posture. But the Hawks didn’t get the chance.

“I thought we didn’t really get the puck out of our zone once to try our forecheck, which we want to be more aggressive on this year, which I think will help with (spending) less time in the D-zone,” he said. “And definitely that’s going to be a good strategy going forward.”

Athanasiou didn’t take long to show why general manager Kyle Davidson wanted to add his speed to the roster.

He came out of the gate showing plenty of zip.

During a first-period power play, Athanasiou toe-dragged the puck around Matthew Kessel as three other defenders closed in, but he shot wide. In the third, he worked his way to Jordan Binnington’s backdoor, but couldn’t flush the puck when Patrick Kane dropped it down to him.

He had three shots on goal and tied linemate Kane with four scoring chances, two of them high-danger opportunities, according to naturalstattrick.com.

“Thought he had a great start to the game,” Richardson said. “I think he had three or four really glorious chances, that shows his speed and that’s going to really help us this year.

“We wanted to get him out on the penalty kill a little bit tonight. I think his speed could create problems for the other team if they get a little sloppy.

“That’s going to be an area that we can exploit as we go along and that might keep teams just a little leery from trying seam paces and getting things knocked down, because he could be gone like a rocket.”

Athanasiou’s line with Kane and Max Domi dominated possession with a 76% Corsi-for and a 90% edge in scoring chances.

Richardson said, “We don’t know how much chemistry they will build but … in the second period you saw a couple of O-zone extensions where they could retrieve pucks and really make teams pay.

“We’d like to see more of that from those guys. That’s who’s going to have to bring the offense.”

Kevin Korchinski looked at ease in his NHL preseason debut, making smart decisions when to join the rush while not exposing himself to getting beaten defensively.

In the second period, he raced by the defense to take a feed from Kane but couldn’t get it past Blues goalie Jordan Binnington.

“I thought his skating ability was great, and really no trouble in most of the D-zone coverages,” Richardson said. “He had a great chance in the second period going 200 feet and redirecting a pass, but didn’t get in.

“But I think he played with some composure with the puck, made some nice passes. And that’s his game.”

[ [Don’t miss] 9 young players — from Nolan Allan to Alex Vlasic— to watch as the Chicago Blackhawks open training camp ]

On the Hawks’ only goal, Cole Guttman dashed out in the second period and was ready when Buddy Robinson settled Colin Blackwell’s pass behind the net and chipped it to him. Guttman flipped in the puck for his first unofficial marker for the Hawks.

“Guttman’s line played really well for us,” Richardson said. “I thought they changed the tide for us in the second period. They had a really good shift and got us going. And that’s how we want to play, we were forechecking, we’re backtracking. I didn’t think they got over the red line for a while.

“And it carries, it becomes contagious. The other lines started doing it, and then they end up getting the goal.”