You know how we’ve heard Anders Sorensen talk a lot recently about icing the puck and better puck management? Yeah, this wasn’t the start he probably wanted. Albeit Colorado is a wagon and they’re hot right now, it was actually fairly impressive that it took more than six minutes for the Avs to score the game’s first goal. The best look the Blackhawks had at that point was from Frank Nazar. But Connor Bedard‘s line put pretty good pressure on the Avs. Bedard was able to force a turnover that found Ilya Mikheyev and he tied the game at one.
In the middle of the second period, I have no clue how the Blackhawks kept a puck out of the net when it appeared they had one. But moments later the Hawks took a 2-1 lead as Colton Dach‘s hard shot rebounded perfectly to Nazar, who scored his first goal of the season. Dach picked up his first NHL point with the assist. It looked like Bedard gave the Hawks a 3-1 lead but the video people said he kicked it in so it was taken off the board after review.
On a huge penalty kill early in the third period — with Mikheyev in the box — Nazar came off the bench, immediately got a takeaway and set up Teuvo Teräväinen for a point blank, one on the goalie shot that hit the crossbar. The roof was *this close* to coming off the United Center at that point. The volume went way up when Bedard scored his 11th of the season at 11:54 into the third to extend the Blackhawks’ lead to two. After Bedard’s goal, the Blackhawks… rolled lines, attacked the puck and controlled the action.
These are the games that give you hope for the future, folks.
Star 1: Frank Nazar
Nazar had himself a first period. He won three of four faceoffs, put one shot on net and was credited with the only hit by a Blackhawks’ forward in the opening 20 minutes. By the end of two periods, Nazar was the only Blackhawks forward with more than one shot on net (two), he had won 5 of 6 faceoffs and scored his first goal of the season. Nazar was electric in all zones and phases. His steal on the PK could (should) have provided a huge insurance goal.
#Blackhawks take a 2-1 lead
🚨 Frank Nazar
🍎 Colton Dach, Teuvo TeräväinenDach’s first career NHL point
Nazar’s first goal of the season— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 9, 2025
Star 2: Connor Bedard
Bedard made a nice play on the forecheck to start the scoring play for Mikheyev. The assist extends Bedard’s point streak to eight games, which is tied with Bobby Hull for the third-longest by a teenager in Blackhawks’ history. Bedard attempted three shots thru two periods (none of them were on net) and won 5 of 9 faceoffs. Natural Stat Trick had Bedard on the ice for 9:55 of 5-on-5 time during which the Blackhawks had a team-best 16-5 Corsi advantage. He was on the ice for 8 of the Blackhawks’ 15 total shots on net thru two periods. Bedard ripped home a goal in the third to give him a multi-point night. He brought it tonight.
#Blackhawks lead 3-1
🚨 Connor Bedard
🍎 Tyler Bertuzzi, Seth Jones— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 9, 2025
Star 3: Petr Mrázek
The official shots on goal after 40 minutes said 26-15 but that felt like a far too close number based on the play on the ice. The Blackhawks had their moments offensively, but this game could have very easily been 4 or 5-1 by the end of two periods if not for Mrázek.
Petr Mrázek’s save late in the second period pic.twitter.com/SmAOAV9wwB
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) January 9, 2025
Key Takeaways
- Full marks where they’re due: Seth Jones came to play tonight. Maybe he was motivated. Maybe he took the conversations the leadership group had the last couple days and decided to play like the highest paid guy on the roster. But he was physical, he skated, he was engaged in all zones. He picked up an assist on Bedard’s third period goal. This was the Seth Jones people beg to see consistently.
- The Blackhawks were out-shot 14-8 in the first period. Five of their eight shots came from defensemen: Wyatt Kaiser (three) and Jones (two) were the only Hawks with more than one shot on net.
- Chicago’s fourth line of Craig Smith, Ryan Donato and (yes, finally) Lukas Reichel got completely overwhelmed in the first period. They weren’t on the ice for a Blackhawks’ shot attempt and watched Colorado score their first goal. It was not a good period for that line. Smith and Reichel were still the worst Corsi For percentages on the Blackhawks’ roster after two periods.
- The Blackhawks won 15 off 22 faceoffs in the first period, led by 5-of-6 from Jason Dickinson. The Blackhawks won 21 of 35 faceoffs thru two periods, led by Dickinson’s 6-of-10.
- When the Blackhawks went short-handed for the first time early in the second period, they mixed up the forwards. Dickinson was with Mikheyev and Nick Foligno was with Teräväinen. Which makes sense when you consider the speed on Colorado’s first PP unit.
- Here’s Mikheyev’s goal from the first period:
Chicago goal!
Scored by Ilya Mikheyev with 03:12 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Connor Bedard.
Chicago: 1
Colorado: 1#COLvsCHI #Blackhawks #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/s249Q5pCPy— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 9, 2025
