Blackhawks, Connor Bedard Outskated by Red Wings, 5-1

J.T. Compher, from Chicago's north suburbs, and Robby Fabbri each scored twice and the Detroit Red Wings cruised past the Blackhawks 5-1 Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena.

The Wings came out skating, moved the puck briskly and jumped on coverage mistakes and turnovers by Chicago's younger players. 

"I think we gave them their first three goals tonight," Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. "So we were behind that 8-ball and just chasing uphill after that."

The Blackhawks outshot the Red Wings 35-29, but couldn't sustain pressure. Detroit had the better chances against Petr Mrazek, aided by odd-man rushes.

Connor Bedard set up Lukas Reichel for a power-play goal 3:20 into the first period to tie it at 1.  

And Bedard was firing away, with seven shots on goal that Alex Lyon stopped. The rookie center attempted four more that were blocked or missed the net.

Compher opened the scoring with a short-handed goal 51 seconds before Reichel connected. He broke in off right wing and took a cross-ice feed from Andrew Copp that slipped past Bedard.

Fabbri gave the Wings a 2-1 lead at 8:42, turning rookie Chicago defenseman Wyatt Kaiser inside-out with a move while flying down right wing and then breaking to the net.

Ben Chiarot and Compher connected 54 second apart in the second to put Detroit in charge.

Chiarot was wide open at the edge of the net for a rebound after Mrazek stopped Alex DeBrincat's sharp-angle shot. Kaiser had sprawled in the crease to cut off a possible pass, but took himself out of the play.

Compher added a power-play goal at 5:56 of the second, driving past fellow North Shore product Alex Vlasic and tipping in a pinpoint pass from David Perron. 

Fabbri fired in his second goal of the night on a power-play midway through the third.

Chicago again failed to win back-to-back games this season, and lsot for the the seventh time in nine games. The Hawks are 7-14-0.

'It's to the point in the season where we've got to try to make some ground," Richardson said.

Compher, from Northbrook, Illinois, skated for Detroit-area based U.S. elite development teams starting at age 16. The red-headed forward, now 28, moved on to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for three seasons. 

Compher was drafted by Buffalo in the second round in 2013 (35th overall), but turned pro with Colorado following a trade. He skated seven seasons with Avalanche before signing as a free agent with the Wings last summer.

Compher has eight goals and five assists against the Blackhawks in 22 games.

The Blackhawks seem ready to move on following the abrupt release of veteran Corey Perry on Tuesday for violating team policies. 

Initially little else was confirmed about what led to the termination of the 38-year-old forward, other than what GM Kyle Davidson termed an "internal personnel matter" in a press conference before Tuesday's 4-3 win over Seattle.

The team said Perry was involved in an incident an with employees. That led to Perry being scratched in a game at Columbus on Nov. 22 and then being placed on waivers on Tuesday. He cleared waivers Wednesday and became a free agent.

Perry issued a statement on Thursday afternoon, apologizing for his actions and making reference to issues he's having with alcohol. See the statement here:

Forward Anthony Beauvillier, acquired from Vancouver on Tuesday, didn't join the Blackhawks on Thursday due to visa issues. The 26-year-old from Sorel-Tracy, Québec is expected to skate with the team in Winnipeg on Saturday.

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