The Connor Bedard show comes to Hockeytown, Joe Veleno's strong form continues, and other observations from Detroit's 6-1 win over the Blackhawks from Little Caesars Arena

Detroit, MI—The Red Wings routed the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1 on home ice Sunday evening, improving to 3-1-0 for the preseason in the process.

"A lot of positives in that I thought we did some good things structurally," said head coach Derek Lalonde of the evening's effort.  "Goaltending was sneaky really good, which is a good sign, and a lot of reps for some of our young guys."

"It's so hard to judge these games," he continued.  "Obviously, you see different line-ups.  Most teams, they will not bring a strong line-up on the road, so it's tough to judge.  You kind of want to just judge yourself on yourself, and for the most part, it was pretty good."

The Red Wings wasted little time in getting to work against a Chicago Blackhawks line-up that featured a healthy smattering of players bound to be Rockford IceHogs by the time the regular season rolls around.

With crisp passing and aggressive forechecking, the Red Wings camped out in the Chicago zone from the jump, and Detroit found the game's opener off the stick of Daniel Sprong before the game was three minutes old.  Not quite ten minutes later, Michael Rasmussen doubled the lead with a snipe of his own.

The Red Wings carried that 2-0 margin into the first intermission, and set about adding to it early in the second.  Elmer Soderblom did just that 3:24 into the period with a blistering shot after Amadeus Lombardi forced a turnover through dogged forechecking to set him up.

Before the horn sounded on the second, Detroit would tally twice more—first an Antti Tuomisto point bomb, then another Rasmussen snipe.  Detroit also warded off a 1:34 5-on-3 power play for the Blackhawks with Simon Edvinsson and Olli Maatta both in the box.

In the third, Louis Crevier got Chicago on the board, but J.T. Compher answered with a power play goal for the Red Wings—capping a textbook man advantage passing sequence with a one-timed wrister from the inner slot.

As Lalonde noted, the Red Wings enjoyed sound performances from both their goaltenders on the evening.  James Reimer got the start and stopped all 12 shots that came his way, most notably turning aside a Jason Dickinson breakaway bid.  Alex Lyon came on in relief and stopped 16 of the 17 shots he saw.

Connor Bedard Comes to Hockeytown

The first indicator that things might not be quite so easy for 2023 first overall pick Connor Bedard in the NHL as they had been with the Regina Pats in the WHL came on the game's opening face-off.  J.T. Compher effortlessly pulled the draw back for clean Red Wings possession, and he would repeat the same feat to open the second and the third.

While the game wasn't devoid of Bedard's signature offensive flourishes, it would prove a trying evening for the prodigious Blackhawks center.  Throughout the game, Detroit did excellent defensive work on Bedard.

On the opening shift, Compher's line pinned Bedard deep in his own end, not for the last time on the evening.  At different points throughout the first period, Albert Johansson, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Maatta each dispossessed the dynamic youngster with relative ease.  Lombardi stripped him twice on the same 4-on-4 shift.

There was of course one notable exception to Detroit's effective defending, with Bedard pulling a beautiful toe draw behind his back to dance around Edvinsson only to be denied by Reimer in tight.

Lalonde referred to it as a "wow! moment" after the game and added that his sons had planned to stay home to watch the evening's contest until they learned Bedard would be playing in it.

Despite that moment of magic, the night would return to a state of frustration for Bedard, with the final blow coming in the waning moments of the third, when Nate Danielson (whom Bedard once described as the toughest player he had to face in the WHL and whom Bedard offered a friendly stick tap during warm ups) stripped him in his defensive zone and promptly set up a great look for an activating Edvinsson.

For Bedard, it was just one night, and there remains little doubt that superstardom waits in the not-so-distant future.  Still, it was also a reminder that life in the NHL, even in the preseason, will demand a bit more from him than major junior did.

Veleno Continues Strong Preseason

Playing between Marco Kasper and Christian Fischer, Joe Veleno continued to build on his strong preseason form.  

"Joe's had a good camp," said Lalonde after the game. "He's had some pace to his game. I like his two-way game. When he's involved, when he's engaged, he's an effective player, and he's been that so far."

"Engaged" or "involved" are both apt words for Veleno's Sunday night performance.  He wasn't flashy, and it would be stretching the truth to say he was dominant, but he was visible all over the ice.

At the five minute mark of the first, Veleno deployed a swift and decisive stick lift to nab a loose puck in the slot in front of Reimer's crease and usher it to safety.  On the penalty kill, he did yeoman's work throughout the evening.  He also showed signs of poise and confidence as a puck carrier.

Veleno earned the primary assist on Tuomisto's goal, where once again he wasn't spectacular, but he was effective.  After transporting the puck through neutral ice and then gaining the offensive blue line, Veleno pulled up along the half wall, shaking his off his checker and putting a feed on a platter for Tuomisto. 

It was a simple play but a winning one.  So often, an entry like Veleno's will go no where—a hapless shot from distance, a rim along the wall that never quite finds anyone.  By pulling up upon gaining the zone, Veleno gave himself time to find the right outlet.

He'd pulled the same trick on a similar rush in the first period, and while that one didn't find the net, it did yield a prolonged spell of attacking time in the offensive zone.

With Detroit's busy offseason, a promotion in the line-up might not be in the cards for Veleno.  With Dylan Larkin, Compher, and Andrew Copp entrenched through the middle, he is presumably relegated to the 4C role.  However, Veleno can continue to push for more special teams minutes, and he will want to continue to grow his offensive game.  

If the early returns from the preseason are any indicator, the 23-year-old may be well on his way to reaching those objectives.

Cabrera's Send Off

As Red Wings fans trickled into Little Caesars Arena, there was an unusual number of 24 jerseys on display.  These weren't Bob Probert sweaters or Chris Chelios' or Klim Kostin's.  Instead, they buttoned down the front and read "CABRERA" across the back.

Some two hours before the puck dropped between the Wings and Blackhawks, kitty corner from LCA across Woodward Avenue and I-75, Miguel Cabrera recorded the final putout of his illustrious career—having taken up his old first base spot for the first time in two years in a glove he borrowed from teammate Spencer Torkelson.

After fielding a harmless ground ball to his backhand side, Cabrera skipped over to first to, beating his chest after stepping on the bag, a boyish grin across his face.  It was a routine play, but to Detroit fans everywhere it was a perfect distillation of the joy Miggy, as he is so affectionately known, provided.

The Venezuelan now rides off into retirement after 21 big league seasons (16 with the Tigers), 511 home runs, and 3, 174 hits.  Though it hasn't been in any question for years by now, Cabrera's resonance with the city of Detroit was obvious in the raucous ovation that accompanied a video montage of his final day as a major leaguer played over the LCA jumbotron.