Tobias Bjornfort and the Florida Panthers celebrate a goal in their 5-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of The Hockey News)
The Chicago Blackhawks fell to the visiting Florida Panthers 5-1 behind two goals from defenseman Tobias Bjornfot at the United Center on Sunday. Florida (28-20-3) used a four-goal third period and 19 saves from Daniil Tarasov to put away Chicago (21-23-8) for the victory.
Not much action through a period and a half of play when Bjornfot scored on a wrap-around goal beating Chicago goaltender Spencer Knight five hole after bouncing off his pads. The goal, 24-year-old Swede’s first goal of the season, was assisted by forward Cole Schwindt.
Chicago would tie the game at 1-1 after forward Tyler Bertuzzi fired home his team-leading 25th goal of the season at the 19:30 mark of the second period. Forward Ilya Mikheyev and defenseman Wyatt Kaiser assisted on the goal.
Tyler Bertuzzi – Chicago Blackhawks (25) pic.twitter.com/EfR0YDNdz0
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) January 26, 2026
The visiting Panthers would make the Blackhawks look like they were skating in mud for the third period as Florida scored four unanswered goals. Chicago Steel alum Mackie Samoskevich, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart and Bjornfot each scored to finish off the Blackhawks 5-1.
Chicago returns to action on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop versus the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul.
Analysis
The Stanley Cup-winning Panthers showed their class in the third period and put the sleeping Blackhawks to bed. This was a good game in January for a wake-up call for fans and players to show how much of a grind the season is for players. This is also a good reminder that when Connor Bedard is not rolling offensively and finding the scoresheet and the defense refuses to put any body on any player in front of the net and in the corners, this is an underwhelming team that has been winning games with Bedard leading the way.
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