Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks slayed their ghosts from the past with their 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Following the statement victory in the 2025-26 NHL season, Jeff Blashill voiced a powerful message on one veteran on the team.
The Blackhawks had lost three straight games to start off a six-game road trip in the NHL. Meanwhile, Vancouver entered the matchup with an 11-game win streak against Chicago. However, anything can happen in the league, and no streak can last forever. The Canucks learned that the hard way as the Hawks won in British Columbia for the first time since November 2021.
In more ways than one, the 5-2 win over Vancouver gave Bedard and Chicago a clean slate in the 2025-26 NHL campaign. Such was the case for Tyler Bertuzzi, too. The 30-year-old winger scored a hat trick—his first multi-goal game since January. Bertuzzi’s last hat trick had been during a 4-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 24, 2024. After the game, Blashill spoke honest words on the veteran’s style of play.
“[Bertuzzi’s] a guy you appreciate more from ice level than you might from up top,” Blashill commented postgame, via NHL.com. “Skating doesn’t always look great, but man, he wins pucks, and that’s kind of who he’s always been for me. He’s great on that back post. He’s really learned over the years how to build a wall on that back post and people shoot for it and they go in. It’s a great way to score. ‘Bert,’ for me, has been very good all season, and he had another good one tonight.”
The means to an end matter
While Chicago escaped Vancouver with a much-needed triumph to snap the losing hex, Blashill and the Blackhawks aren’t losing sight of the forest for the trees. The Hawks struggled throughout the game, but Spencer Knight kept them in the game with crucial stops. Going forward, Chicago might not run with that luck in the NHL.
“I don’t think it was a lack of want or care or effort, so then it’s about correcting mistakes and finding a way to go out and do a better job,” Blashill noted, via Chicago Sun-Times. “I thought we were really good in the third. We talked about, ‘Good teams find a way to win this game. You’re on the road. It’s 0-0. You probably haven’t played your best. Go out and have a great period.’ And I thought we did.”
On a brighter note, Bedard put on another strong performance in his third season in the league. The former first overall selection is playing on a contract year, as his entry-level deal will expire next summer. With a goal and an assist, Bedard extended his current point streak to six games—with 11 points over that span.
Didn’t go as planned
After being traded to the Vancouver Canucks, Lukas Reichel reunited with his former NHL organization in a crucial matchup. Ahead of the game, the German forward delivered a bold statement, which he failed to deliver on. “I want to show that the Canucks made the right move,” Reichel stated before the game.
“The first two periods we doubled them in chances, I think we all saw that,” Canucks head coach Adam Foote admitted. “I think one of those goes in, there’s a pretty good chance we win that hockey game. Little mishap on the first one they got, defensively we made a mistake and I think we just got off a little bit from there. I don’t know if it was fatigue from the trip, coming back. We just over pressed. And you guys saw the rest.”
Though Reichel made his presence felt with some strong plays throughout the night, he was held scoreless and finished the game with a -2 rating. In more ways than one, the Canucks shot themselves on the foot—and it cost them the game.