RECAP: Blackhawks Drop Preseason Tilt to Blues, 6-3

The Blackhawks dropped the first of a preseason back-to-back with the St. Louis Blues on Friday night at the United Center, 6-3.
"Maybe we need that to recognize that we've got work to do. We're not ready yet," head coach Jeremy Colliton said of the early bumps in the preseason road with back to back losses. "I do think we've used the time at the beginning of camp here where we haven't played games (as frequently as other teams), but there is an adjustment for all the players -- their first games, their first shifts -- just realizing the level you need to be at. Took us a bit both games, it took us some time to adjust and understand how we need to play."

Video: Blues, 6 - Blackhawks, 3

FIRST SKATE OF THE YEAR

After seeing a handful of big-name players dress in the opening preseason tilt on Wednesday, the stars came out on Friday night at the United Center. Marc-Andre Fleury, Seth Jones, Jake McCabe and Tyler Johnson all made their unofficial Blackhawks debuts on Friday, while Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome joined Jonathan Toews among the returning veterans in the lineup.
In the first preseason game for the majority of the roster, it took a little while for things to come together on the ice, but it's part of the process in building towards the regular season.
"It's preseason. You've got to get your team game in order and you've got to get your skating legs under you," said Caleb Jones, one of five Blackhawks skaters who played on Wednesday. "For a lot of guys in the lineup tonight it was their first game, and I think they (St. Louis) have some guys play three or four games. We had a couple good moments once we started to find our legs. They came out flying. It obviously wasn't good enough. We've still got work to do to get ready for the opener, but I think there's a lot of good things we can build off of and watch and learn and I just think we'll continue to get better. "
"We had a bunch of guys playing their first games. They've played a few and the difference in the details was noticeable," Colliton said. "I think we got better at times. We had some spurts where we started doing things we need to do to have success, but it just wasn't enough. We couldn't really sustain it. We battled back in the game a couple times, but ultimately we've got to get over that hump of getting into playing regular season style. Definitely still some things to build on."

CAT POINT FEVER

In his first exhibition game of the preseason, DeBrincat picked up right where he left off last season with a goal and an assist on Friday night. The winger was Chicago's scoring leader over the final two months of a bounce back 2020-21 campaign and posted points (12) in eight straight games to close out the season, including four multi-point affairs.
"I want to have a good year, obviously," DeBrincat said of carrying the workload up front before Friday's game. "I don't need to score every game, I think we have a lot of guys that can score on this team. Obviously I want to, but it's probably not realistic. We have a good team this year. We have a lot of new faces that can score and I think it's just sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. We'll see how it goes this."

SPLIT TIME

While Fleury made the start in net, he and Collin Delia split the cage on the night -- a move determined ahead of the game by Colliton and the coaching staff.
"It's part of preseason," Colliton said of the duo in action. "Trying to get some guys in, get that feel and get the rust off."
The reigning Vezina winner made 15 stops on 17 shots before yielding the crease to Delia at the 13:01 mark of the second period. Delia stopped 18 shots on the night.