Exhibition game vs. Blues gives Blackhawks chance to find their stride

Many professional athletes don't often get jazzed up – or even mildly excited – about exhibition games.

Get in. Get out. Stay healthy.

That's about all there is to it.

That won't be the mentality for the Blackhawks, however, when they take on the defending champion St. Louis Blues in Edmonton on Wednesday.

Instead, you can expect:

• Coach Jeremy Colliton to use most – if not all – of his starting lineup.

• The Hawks to try and play a disciplined, structured game

• Some big, crunching hits.

• A pair of goalies – and Colliton wouldn't say which two during a Zoom interview Friday – to split time somewhat equally.

This game – the first one for the Hawks since March 11 – comes just three days before they begin a best-of-five play-in series against Edmonton. So there is plenty of urgency as everyone tries to accelerate into playoff mode as quickly as possible.

“It's really important for the players to get their timing back - just the routine of playing a regular game (and) all of the things that you take for granted as you go through a normal season,” Colliton said. “They haven't done that in a long time.”

Said Patrick Kane, who led the Hawks with 33 goals and 51 assists in 70 games: “It's a great opportunity to get out there and play and get used to everything. Obviously we're going into an arena that's going to be pretty different with no fans and a lot of different other things going on. (It'll be good) to kind of feel that out.”

Some things to watch for:

• Let's see if the Hawks' best line – Kane, Dylan Strome and Alex Nylander – can build upon the momentum of a strong training camp.

• How does Kirby Dach look with Calder Trophy finalist Dominik Kubalik (30 goals) and Drake Caggiula? Dach's growth was apparent during camp, so it will be interesting to see how he lead this trio.

• We don't talk enough about Brandon Saad, who scored 21 goals in 58 games. If he's firing on all cylinders in the next 10 days, it bodes awfully well for the Hawks.

• Are Connor Murphy and/or Calvin de Haan in the lineup? And how do they look if they are? These two veterans must be at their best in the postseason.

• Is the power play sharp? And what about the penalty kill? The Hawks worked very hard on both phases of the game over the last two weeks, so let's see if it pays dividends.

• B Most importantly: How do the goalies look? Whomever we see Wednesday will likely be the 1-2 punch that Colliton uses in Game 1 against Edmonton.

As for the result? Well, sure, the Hawks would love to win.

But in Colliton's eyes, how they look is much more important.

“It's more so that we as a group use this game as an opportunity to remember how we're suppose to play,” Colliton said. “Get the summer hockey out of your game because come Saturday that's not going to get it done.

“That'll be a big focus for us. (Play) a very detailed, structured, disciplined game. It's a great test for us to play St. Louis, the Stanley Cup champion. It's going to bring out the best in us – I hope.”