9 things we’ve learned about the Chicago Blackhawks ahead of tonight’s preseason opener, including Max Domi filling the Alex DeBrincat role

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As much as Luke Richardson has learned about Chicago since his hiring by the Blackhawks in June, the Montreal transplant occasionally shows he still is learning a few things about his adopted city.

“I didn’t even know Goose Island was from Chicago before I got here,” said Richardson, who handed out a few beers at his news conference Monday — the Hawks are running an Oktoberfest promotion during Tuesday’s preseason opener at the United Center. “We’re all looking forward to enjoying a victory beer after that game.”

That remains to be seen. Richardson still is getting to know his personnel, just as the players are getting acquainted with the first-time head coach’s style and systems.

“We’ve done a lot of video, a lot of systems so far,” defenseman Seth Jones told the Tribune on Tuesday. “So it’s been a lot of learning, getting everyone on the same page — defensively especially — which is something that we struggled in that area.

“We kind of got run around a lot (last season), communication wasn’t always there, so it’s been a big focus for us this year.”

Five days into camp, the lessons are starting to sink in.

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“There (are) some very constructive questions at the right time, and it doesn’t seem like a lot of blank faces and no questions because then nobody gets it,” Richardson said. “We made them feel comfortable to ask questions, knowing it’s not just you, there’s probably six other people that want to ask the same question, so ask it.

“We have the technology now where we can show the video and laser pointers and draw on screen where it’s very clear. … It makes it easier for us coaches to implement something new.”

Here are nine things we’ve learned about the Hawks leading into the preseason debut against the St. Louis Blues.

Richardson said the power-play units in the first game likely will mirror what the Hawks practiced Monday. Here’s how they broke down.

• PP1: Max Domi (left flank), Patrick Kane (right), Taylor Raddysh (net), Andreas Athanasiou (bumper) and Seth Jones (point)
• PP2: Michal Teplý (left), Jonathan Toews (right), Tyler Johnson (net), Samuel Savoie (bumper), Kevin Korchinski (point)

The bumper and net-front player often switched during drills.

At times the units, featuring several new players, lacked cohesiveness.

“Wasn’t great by any means today,” Kane said, “but it’s our first time out there. We’ll talk about it more, we’ll adjust certain things and shoot the puck too — not be afraid to shoot out there and be selfish when you have it. Sometimes that’s the best way

“So, yeah, excited to get in the game action tomorrow and work on it and hopefully build some chemistry too.”

Jones added that he “felt our breakouts were pretty good today, (but it’s) hard not to get frustrated when you don’t score with all the time you spend in practice.

“But it’s a whole lot different in the game. So it’s just getting the reads down, making quick decisions.”

Look for Domi in Alex DeBrincat’s old “shooter” spot, where DeBrincat had 14 power-play goals last season.

“We lost Cat over there on the power play, he was one of the best on the one-timer side,” Jones said, “but I think Domes can step in and be that same kind of threat for us.”

Kane said of Domi: “He’s got a lot of speed on the entry, speed coming downhill on the left side where he can make plays being a lefty. So could be effective over there.”

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The Hawks will be using a box-plus-one zone defense, in which four defenders bracket the slot and the fifth defender chases.

“It’s a little less man-to-man, which we’ve done before,” defenseman Connor Murphy said. “We’ve had tendencies in the past in man-to-man of chasing our guy around the zone a little too much. So this allows us to read and swarm the puck a little more and close their options down quicker instead of chasing and reacting to some panicked areas.”

Jones said most teams have gone to zone and “it’s a copycat league.”

“It gives us confidence to close and not worry about getting beat because there’s always someone behind supporting you,” he said.

Part of Richardson’s mantra is aggressiveness, and that also applies to how the Hawks will approach transitions through the neutral zone.

In practice, “we talked about the (defenseman’s) first look is up ice, not D to D and kind of slowing things down and getting that rotary,” Richardson said. “If we can get it up ice as fast as possible, sometimes you catch them on a change, out of position, not set in their neutral zone forecheck. … It’s just about moving the puck quick.”

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That same aggressive mindset applies to the penalty kill too.

“That’s going to be up ice and definitely on entries and any trigger point in zone, off shots, loose pucks — we’re going to have three guys going,” Richardson said. “Anytime there’s pressure or a bobbled puck, we’re looking to go.”

He’s not worried about getting burned by taking a less conservative approach.

“A lot of teams fall back into a 1-3 and take their chances at the blue line — I don’t like those odds against the best players in the world,” Richardson said. “I’d rather disrupt things up ice. They’re not used to it, they don’t like it and I think it bodes well for our team, especially adding a little more speed this year.”

Petr Mrázek and Alex Stalock will split goaltending duties — and both have injury histories. Defenseman Jack Johnson, 35, who played into late June with the champion Colorado Avalanche, will sit out the first couple of games.

“There’s no need for him to play,” Richardson said. “His body probably needs the rest. … We’ll try to get more younger guys in — the Korchinskis and Savoies and those guys — (get) a really good look early and see how far we want to go with them.”

Toews had stitches on his right cheek, which happened while working with a skills coach.

“It’s kind of a weird thing to come off the ice, everyone’s wondering how I got a stick in the face when there’s only one other guy out there, but it’s how it happens sometimes,” Toews said. “I won’t name names right now.”

Riley Stillman joked that he couldn’t blame you if you thought he got a new nose ring. But looking at his right nostril up close, it was clear from the protruding threads that something gnarly happened to his nose, and the culprit was new teammate Domi.

“Domes got me the other day with his sword in practice,” said Stillman, referring to Domi’s hockey stick. “Stitches come out in a couple days. It was before training camp, fortunately.”

Later, Stillman revealed how nasty the cut was: “It was split right in half there. If I blew out of it, it flapped like a rudder.”

Forwards Colton Dach and Paul Ludwinski (concussion protocol) practiced in non-contact jerseys.

Richardson said it’s wait-and-see.

“I haven’t seen them or the trainers yet, see how they progressed, so to me that’s a good sign,” he said. “It’s too bad because they both had great rookie showings and it would’ve been great to see them in the first game, but hopefully down the line they get back quick.”