The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Calgary Flames 5-2 at the United Center on Tuesday to move to 10-5-4 through 19 games on the 2025-26 season.
Both teams got off to a sluggish start in the first period, but the Blackhawks once again struck first with a goal from Ryan Donato to jump ahead 1-0. Chicago has now scored first in 14 of 19 games this season.
The game started to open up in the second stanza, and the Blackhawks managed to double their lead after an excellent effort play from Connor Bedard. The 20-year-old raced down a loose puck and poked a shot through Flames’ goaltender Dustin Wolf for his 11th goal of the season.
While the Blackhawks were in control for a majority of the opening 40 minutes, they handed the Flames some life by allowing a power-play goal in the final seconds of the second period. Connor Murphy was whistled for cross-checking, and Matt Coronato responded on the ensuing man-advantage to cut the deficit in half.
The Flames rolled over their momentum into the early stages of the third period, as Rasmus Andersson tied the game just over three minutes in after a sloppy sequence in the defensive zone. Wyatt Kaiser made an errant drop pass that led to a turnover, and the Blackhawks broke down in coverage, leaving Andersson wide open at the right dot. All of a sudden, the 2-0 lead had completely evaporated.
Fortunately for Chicago, Bedard brought his A-game with him to the United Center. Just a few moments after surrendering the tying goal, Bedard received a pass from Ryan Greene and whistled a wrist shot past Wolf for his second goal of the game and 12th of the season. The home squad jumped back ahead 3-2.
The Blackhawks went on to add a crucial insurance goal in the final half of the third, as Oliver Moore showed off his wheels for his second NHL tally. Moore raced into the offensive zone and drove the net with a purpose, and the puck took a crazy carom to find its way across the goal line. That gave Moore his second point of the game and fifth in the past six contests.
With the Flames’ net empty for the extra attacker, Bedard hopped back on the ice and completed his hat trick bid. Bedard turned and fired a shot from his own end, and the puck perfectly floated over everyone to find the yawning cage. That marked Bedard’s second hat trick in the last ten games, and it also put a stamp on the Blackhawks’ first six-game point streak since 2019.
Here are ten observations from the second win in 11 days over the Flames.
10 Blackhawks Observations
1. Bedard Jumps Into Top Five — With a three-goal performance, Bedard jumps into a tie for second in the NHL in goals (13) and is solo fourth in points (29). Over the past 11 games, he has now scored 11 goals and recorded 11 assists for a total of 22 points. Bedard has elevated his game to a superstar level and is producing like a top player in the league early in his third NHL campaign. He’s as hot as anyone right now.
2. Moore Thriving in NHL — Moore had his best game during his current NHL stint, as he scored a goal, added an assist, and had a plus-two rating in 13:48. He’s meshed well along with Teuvo Teravainen and Frank Nazar on the second line in the last two games. Moore continues to use his blazing speed to make an impact on both sides of the puck, and he sure looks like he belongs in the big leagues as a 20-year-old.
3. Crevier Extends Point Streak — Louis Crevier keeps making the simple plays in the offensive zone, and he keeps getting rewarded for it. Crevier earned another assist in the same manner in which he’s picked up most of his points this season: by putting the puck on net. The six-foot-seven defenseman now has points in four consecutive games and is tied with Artyom Levshunov for most points among Blackhawks blue-liners (10).
4. Donato Ends Drought — Donato snapped an eight-game goalless drought with his seventh tally of the season to open the scoring in the first period. The 29-year-old hadn’t scored since before Halloween, so it was nice to see him chip in and help the Blackhawks earn a win on Tuesday.
5. Soderblom Stands Tall — The Blackhawks didn’t have to lean on Arvid Soderblom too heavily against Calgary, as he only needed to make 18 saves to pick up his third win of the season. Over his last two appearances, Soderblom has now stopped 63 of 66 shots faced.
6. Rinzel Responds — Sam Rinzel hopped back into the lineup after being scratched for the first time this season on Saturday. Rinzel had a few poor turnovers, but he also had some strong stretches in the offensive zone. The former first-round pick snapped his 10-game point drought with a primary assist on Bedard’s first of three goals and finished with a plus-two rating in 14:16 of ice time. However, Rinzel was credited with a team-high four giveaways. Still some things to clean up.
7. Greene Produces Again — Greene played up on the Blackhawks’ top line for a second consecutive game, as Tyler Bertuzzi was once again out of the lineup. Greene dished out a couple of sweet passes to spring his linemates for scoring chances, and he also found his way on the stat sheet for a second game in a row. The 2022 second-round selection threw an excellent feed to Bedard that set up his game-winning goal. Additionally, Greene won six of ten faceoffs and was plus-one in 19:48 of ice time.
8. Power Play Cools Off — Coming into Tuesday, the Blackhawks were 6-for-12 on the power play over their last five games. But they failed to capitalize on each of their four man advantages against the Flames, including a brief 5-on-3 opportunity in the second period. A lack of winning offensive-zone faceoffs and poor decision-making plagued the power play in this game.
9. Dach Keeps Delivering — Colton Dach ranked third in the NHL with 76 hits entering the United Center on Tuesday night, and he added another four to his season total versus the Flames. Once again, Dach paced the Blackhawks in hits, and he also nearly dropped the gloves with Adam Klapka in the final moments. Dach has been an essential power forward down in the lineup this season, and his physicality and willingness to stick up for teammates haven’t gone unnoticed.
10. 10-3-3 Stretch — Since starting the season with a 0-2-1 record, the Blackhawks are now 10-3-3 in their last 16 games. With 24 points on the year, the Hawks are tied with the Winnipeg Jets in the Central Division and sit in the top wildcard playoff spot in the Western Conference. We’re still only 19 games in, but this Blackhawks team doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. They’ve remained competitive every night through a quarter of the season and proven that a new era has arrived in Chicago. It’s been A LOT of fun to watch unfold.
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