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Hawks, Emery fall to Penguins, 4-1

There's still plenty of competition left in the Blackhawks' backup goalie battle even after Ray Emery allowed all 4 goals Thursday night in a 4-1 loss to the Penguins in Pittsburgh.

Rookie Alexander Salak started and wasn't tested much, facing only 8 shots in half the game and leaving with a 1-0 lead.

The Hawks had only 3 shots on goal in the first and 16 for the game, but it was a mostly young lineup again at forward with the exception of veterans Bryan Bickell, Michael Frolik, Daniel Carcillo and Brett McLean.

Frolik had the only goal for the Hawks, now 0-2 in the preseason.

The Penguins scored 4 goals on Emery in the third period, 2 by Jordan Staal, but the goalie didn't get much help from his teammates around the net in the third.

“I wasn't blaming the goalie,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

McLean and Bickell were minus-3 and Frolik minus-2. Young defensemen Shawn Lalonde and Brian Connolly were minus-2.

Frolik's goal came at 10:32 of the second period, but that was the extent of the scoring.

The Hawks are expected to have a more veteran lineup for tonight's game against Washington at the United Center, including Jonathan Toews, Andrew Brunette, Dave Bolland, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.

Corey Crawford will start in goal and play the entire game.

Quenneville gave rookie left wing Brandon Saad a second preseason game, and he played well again.

It was a nice gesture considering Pittsburgh is home for Saad, but more than that the second-round draft pick from last June has been maybe the most impressive prospect in training camp.

“He's been good. He's been really good,” Quenneville said. “He brought some attention to himself in how he played in the rookie camp. He was very noticeable and very noticeable here in every scrimmage. Every shift something was happening with him on the ice (Tuesday) night (against Edmonton). He's been one of those surprises maybe over the course of the camp that you'll talk about knowing he caught our attention.”