There weren’t many who expected this game to be as close as it was, but the Chicago Blackhawks took everything the Tampa Bay Lightning could throw at them for most of the night. In the end, it took a shootout for the Lightning to pick up the two points in a chilly Chicago. Successful shootout attempts by Nikita Kucherov, who shushed the crowd after they serenaded him with boos during his attempt, Gage Goncavles, and Dominic James were the difference.
With the ‘Hawks coming off a shootout win against Columbus Thursday night and starting back-up Arvid Soderblom in net, the Lightning were heavy favorites. For the first forty minutes of the game, the Lightning looked like the more rested team as they absolutely dominated the home team in every statistical category except for the one that counts in the record books – goals.
Through the first twenty minutes the game was played in the Chicago zone as the Bolts racked up 24 shot attempts and 16 scoring chances. Both teams found iron as Jason Dickinson put one off of the crossbar and Gage Goncalves hit the post on a look at a fairly open net. The home team mustered just 7 attempts with 4 of them getting on net. Well, 3 attempts on net and one in the net.
Just as a power play expired for Chicago, Ryan Greene used a nice moving pick by Nick Lardis to get some open ice in the slot and he beat Vasilevsky with a nice shot. The Lightning challenged for off-side, but the review determined that,
“[Oliver] Moore delayed touching the puck in the offensive zone so [Nick] Foligno could tag up prior to Ryan Greene’s goal.”
Cool. As one can assume the Lightning weren’t happy about it considering they’ve had more than one goal overturned on similar plays this season. They weren’t happy to have to kill off another penalty, their third of the game, but kill it off they did.
It was more of the same in the second period. The Bolts had a couple of chances with the extra skater, but despite a copious amount of zone time, they weren’t able to beat Soderblom. Chicago did a really good job of getting sticks in the lane and forcing Tampa Bay to try alternative ways to get shots on net.
Tampa Bay was down a forward as Jack Finley skated in one shift in the first period, got into a fight with Foligno and then didn’t return to the game.
As the period waned, it was the reliable line of Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, and Nikita Kucherov that provided the equalizer. The goal was a textbook example of why that line works so well. Cirelli started the sequence by dispossessing Marc-Edouard Vlasic of the puck along the boards. He fed it to Hagel who feinted a shot, but then slid a perfect pass to Kucherov, who was cutting across the face of the net. Kucherov finished it with a casual backhander past a sprawled out goaltender.
To Chicago’s credit, despite the tough back-to-back, the third period was their best period as they eight shots on Vasilevskiy, two more than they had through forty minutes. The Lightning netminder, who finished with 17 saves, was up to the added workload. The overtime period was just as chaotic with Chicago dominating most of the five minutes. At one point it looked like Andre Burakovsky had the game winner as Vasy was down and out, but he couldn’t slam it home and the puck skittered harmlessly through the blue paint.
To the shootout!
Vasy stopped Nick Lardis and Connor Bedard while Charle-Edouard D’Astous was stoned by Soderblom. Kucherov did convert, but Frank Nazar tied it up. Jake Guentzel had the chance to end it, but couldn’t slide it through the five-hole. Louis Crevier beat Vasilevskiy with a nice backhand shot. Gage Goncalves tied it, and then after Oliver Moore was stopped, Dominic James ended it.
Goals
Ryan Greene [7] (Nick Lardis, Oliver Moore) Chicago 1, Lightning 0
Chicago goal!
Scored by Ryan Greene with 02:18 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Nick Lardis and Oliver Moore.
Chicago: 1
Tampa Bay: 0
#TBLvsCHI #Blackhawks #GoBolts
— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) January 23, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Nikita Kucherov [25] (Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli) 1-1
“SCORREEE!!! KUCHEROV, and he’s tied the game at one!”
Kuch doing Kuch things! 🤷♂️
#TBLvsCHI
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— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) January 23, 2026 at 9:04 PM