The Chicago Blackhawks ended their four-game losing streak with a big 5-3 win over one of the best teams in the NHL, the Vegas Golden Knights at United Center. After a two-score night, forward Tyler Bertuzzi voiced an honest admission about his performance alongside star linemate Connor Bedard.
The Blackhawks’ 2024-25 NHL season has been an utter disaster, with no way of sugarcoating it. While wins against the top sides in the league are big positives, the negatives far outweigh them on the scale.
Chicago has struggled tremendously, though shockingly the ‘Hawks have scored the most when facing better sides, though it hasn’t always translated into wins. After a much needed triumph over the Golden Knights, Blackhawks’ Bertuzzi made a strong admission on playing with Bedard.
“I’m starting to feel better, just coming into games and being better prepared,” Tyler Bertuzzi said, per NHL.com. “Our chemistry, me and Connor [Bedard], just keeps kind of growing as we go. The biggest thing for us, and we talk about it, is being better defensively. The last few games we have, and we need to continue to do that.”
Bertuzzi scored twice in the victory over Vegas, with both goals coming on the power play. He was also on the ice for three of the Blackhawks’ goals. Bertuzzi now tallies a team’s best 16 goals in the season, along with 10 assists. Half of his scores have been on the man-advantage.
On track
After a solid showing against the Nashville Predators, though it ended in a shootout loss, the Blackhawks managed to put on a complete game and prevail over one of the best sides in the league.
“I thought we just built off of what we did last game in Nashville,” Bertuzzi stated, via NHL.com. “We came out from the get-go, keeping it simple, playing hard, playing the way we want to play, and we got rewarded for it. Yeah, it was good.”
Bedard’s back on a streak
After his nine-game point streak came to a close during the shutout 4-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, Connor Bedard hasn’t lost a step and is back in his scoring fashion.
Bedard is now riding a three-game point streak. During the win over the Golden Knights, the star in Windy City registered an assist, while also being on the ice for both of Bertuzzi’s goals in the power play. Throughout the season, Bedard registers 13 goals and 28 assists for 41 points, which leads the team in Chi-town.
The Hawks get back on the ice on January 20 when they’ll host the Carolina Hurricanes, in hopes of threading together consecutive wins, and Bedard will aim to keep his streak alive.