In what was already a tough trade deadline day inside the Chicago Blackhawks locker room, a 6-3 loss on home ice to the last-place Vancouver Canucks didn’t make things much better.
Less than a dozen hours after watching their captain, Nick Foligno, get traded to the Minnesota Wild, the Blackhawks were somewhat understandably out of sorts at times against the Canucks. After all, with Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy no longer around either, they’re by far the most inexperienced and youngest team in the league now.
Without their core leadership group to lean on, the Blackhawks couldn’t keep it together for a full 60 minutes and made too many costly mistakes on Friday. Perhaps the biggest one was failing to capitalize on an early 1-0 lead and squandering the chance to get the sellout crowd at the United Center more involved.
After Ryan Donato scored 68 seconds in, the Blackhawks surrendered three consecutive goals over the next six and a half minutes that followed, quickly turning a one-goal advantage into a 3-1 deficit. That proved to be the difference in a game that came down to the wire.
Canucks 25-year-old goaltender Nikita Tolopilo was also the difference in the outcome, as he robbed the Blackhawks and Connor Bedard, in particular, with several unbelievable saves. In just his 11th career NHL start, Tolopilo moved post to post like a veteran and was the visitors’ No. 1 star of the game.
Here are the highlights from the Blackhawks’ 6-3 loss to the Canucks, dropping their record to 23-29-10 through 62 games this season.
FIRST PERIOD
A full-blown scoring frenzy ensued in the opening 20 minutes at the United Center. Kicking off the action was Donato, who took matters into his own hands to open the scoring at 1:08. Donato chased down his own dump-in and scored on the backhand to give the Blackhawks an early 1-0 lead.
Exactly one minute later, the Canucks answered back to tie the score. Drew O’Connor got a piece of Tom Willander’s centering feed at 2:08 to make it 1-1. O’Connor got the inside position on Andrew Mangiapane while crashing the net.
Only 24 seconds later, and the Canucks suddenly had the lead. Off an offensive-zone faceoff, Zeev Buium was left with far too much open ice and skated to the top of the circles to let go of a wrist shot. Jake DeBrusk deflected the shot past Soderblom and into the net at 2:32 to give Vancouver a 2-1 advantage.
With a horrendous sequence from all five Blackhawks skaters on the ice, the Canucks scored a third consecutive goal to extend the lead to 3-1. Marcus Pettersson weaved through Teuvo Teravainen and Donato with ease, and then sent the puck into the crease. Teddy Blueger was left all alone in front and stuffed it home at 6:32. Three goals in 4:24 for the visitors.
Fortunately, the Blackhawks closed out the period much better than they started. The new-look third line cashed in for a clutch goal to regain some momentum and cut the deficit to one. Oliver Moore made an excellent extra pass to Ilya Mikheyev for a one-timer, and the Russian winger blasted home his 12th goal of the season to make it 3-2 at 12:00.
Tyler Bertuzzi➡️Oliver Moore➡️Ilya Mikheyev🚨
Bertuzzi drops the puck to Moore, and he makes a deceptive play to move it over to Mikheyev for a one-timer. Mikheyev blasts home his 12th goal of the season. #Blackhawks now trail 3-2. Crazy start.pic.twitter.com/Vxe2DzP8P7
— Talkin’ Hawkey (@TalkinHawkey) March 7, 2026
While the two teams combined for only 14 shots on goal, with seven apiece, five found the back of the net in the period. Vancouver led 3-2 on the scoreboard and also held a 12-8 advantage in scoring chances.
SECOND PERIOD
The second period didn’t include nearly as much scoring as the first, although there were plenty of chances, particularly for the Blackhawks. Connor Bedard created a handful himself, and one of them came in the first thirty seconds of the period.
Bedard jumped on a turnover at center ice and raced into the offensive zone, then pulled to his backhand as he closed in on the net. He had Tolopilo dead to rights, but lifted the puck just high of the crossbar. Still 3-2 Canucks, but just barely.
Bedard had another golden opportunity with just under four minutes remaining. Andre Burakovsky was stripped of the puck (what else is new), but it trickled right to Bedard for a shot that rang off the crossbar and out. Somehow, the Canucks still led 3-2.
Finally, the Blackhawks broke through to tie the score 3-3 in the final minute of the period. Frank Nazar crashed the net, and Alex Vlasic found him with a perfect shot-pass with 42.6 seconds remaining. It’s Nazar’s first goal in his last seven games and eighth of the season.
Ilya Mikheyev➡️Alex Vlasic➡️Frank Nazar🚨
Nazar deflects a perfect shot-pass from Vlasic for his 8th goal of the season to tie the game 3-3 with under one minute remaining in the 2nd period! Mikheyev with his 2nd point of the game. #Blackhawkspic.twitter.com/xjjjCBkvsu
— Talkin’ Hawkey (@TalkinHawkey) March 7, 2026
In all situations, the Blackhawks did not surrender a single high-danger scoring chance in the period. They were dominant and had tons of chances to score more than just once. But tying the game before the intermission was crucial. Shots on goal were 17-13 in favor of the home side.
THIRD PERIOD
On his first shift of the third period, Bedard nearly gave the Blackhawks the lead, but was robbed once again. His shot from the right circle hit off the shaft of Tolopilo’s stick as it was heading for the top-right corner.
Alex Vlasic was whistled for high-sticking Elias Pettersson shortly after, sending the Blackhawks top-ranked penalty kill onto the ice in the early stages of the frame.
Brock Boeser made Vlasic pay for his penalty, as he scored at 2:40 by knocking the puck out of midair to give the Canucks a 4-3 lead. Poor puck play by Arvid Soderblom handed Boeser the opportunity.
Tolopilo made a few quality stops down the stretch, and the Blackhawks were forced to pull Soderblom with just under two minutes remaining. It didn’t take long for the Canucks to hit the empty net, as Max Sasson scored at 18:34 to extend the lead to 5-3.
For good measure, Boeser added another empty-netter for his second goal of the period with 16 seconds left on the clock. 6-3, Canucks.
The final horn sounded at the United Center, sending the Blackhawks to a disappointing loss in their first home game in 32 days. They’ll have Saturday off before returning to action against the Dallas Stars on Sunday afternoon.
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