Blackhawks' Mashinter has a fighter's chance

You know what they say: In terms of importance, an NHL team's fifth preseason game is roughly equivalent to that of an NFL team's third preseason game.

Well, that's not true at all, actually, especially for an established team like the Blackhawks.

For them, what the fifth preseason game really means is that the sixth and last one is right around the corner and soon another run for the postseason can finally commence.

"Guys would rather play real games than exhibition games," coach Joel Quenneville said before Wednesday night's 3-1 loss to Montreal at the United Center.

"I think a lot of guys are ready for the season to start," Patrick Kane added. "Still, we have to come out with a good effort and try to treat it like a regular-season game."

One player who was definitely treating Wednesday's showdown against the Canadiens like a regular-season game was rugged forward Brandon Mashinter, who along with a couple of other younger players is in a dogfight for that last spot or two on the roster.

"Any time you're in these games it's good - especially when you're one of those guys on the bubble," said Mashinter, who finished with 3 hits and 1 blocked shot in 8:11 of ice time. "It means they want to keep looking at you.

"You're always thinking about it in the back of your mind, but at the same time you just have to put it aside and play the game. It's not my first rodeo, and it's good to have that experience going forward."

Despite dominating in the shots-on-goal department (22-9) for two periods, the Hawks had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard as the two teams took a scoreless tie into the third.

That changed early on when some extra effort by former Hawks forward Rene Bourque put the Canadiens up 1-0, and just a couple of minutes later Nathan Beaulieu beat Antti Raanta to pretty much seal the deal.

Andrew Shaw did cut the lead in half at 14:07, but Montreal scored an empty-netter with 59 seconds remaining to send a robust crowd of 20,413 home unhappy.

"I didn't mind the first 40 minutes; I thought we played pretty well," Quenneville said. "I thought we were pretty much control of the game. They scored early in the third and got some momentum off it, but we were fine the way we were playing."

Now it's on to New York for the Hawks' final exhibition game Friday night.

For Mashinter and Co. it will be their last best chance to make an impression because as Quenneville announced after the game … "We'd like the roster down to the numbers on Sunday to prepare for (the season opener)."

mspellman@dailyherald.com