The Chicago Blackhawks comeback comes short on St. Patrick’s Day by a final score of 4-3 in overtime to the Minnesota Wild.
The Minnesota Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks on St Patrick’s Day. Mats Zuccarello scored the overtime winner for the visiting Wild.
The “Youts” Are On Fire:
Not all losses are equal in a rebuild, and tonight would be considered a very good loss. Despite the “L” in the box score, Chicago’s young stars played great tonight.
Big Louis Crevier started off the scoring for Chicago with a booming 102 mph knuckle puck from the blue line. That was the fifth shot by Crevier to hit the 100 mph mark, good enough for 99th percentile in the league. To cut the deficit to a single point, Crevier and Connor Bedard would assist on Ryan Greene’s wide-open net.
But when the Chicago Blackhawks needed a spark the most, three of the youngest players on the squad connected for a huge game-tying goal.
Story continues below.
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Artyom Levshunov found Connor Bedard on a stretch pass. Bedard carried the puck over the blue line and fed Frank Nazar III on a beautiful play. By the time the final horn sounded, Louis Crevier would be the oldest Blackhawk to record a point at 24-years-old. A great showing for the youngsters.
Return of the Cap:
Back on March 6th, the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild agreed to atrade that would send Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno to the Wild for “Future Considerations.” Tonight, the former captain of the Blackhawks made his return to a very welcoming United Center crowd. The move comes as the two teams are on opposite trajectories. The Chicago Blackhawks are the youngest team in the NHL, with an average age of 25.13. Minnesota, on the other hand, is an “ancient” 29.65
When asked about the adjustment to the new locker room, Nick Foligno commented: “It’s nice to look around the room and feel normal age.”
Growing Pains: Penalty Kill Edition
When you trade the anchors of your penalty killing unit in Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy, adjustments will need to be made. Unfortunately for Chicago, those adjustments are being made on the fly, causing some issues. Coming into the trade deadline, Chicago boasted a 85% penalty kill percentage, first in the entire league. Since March 6th, however its been lackluster. After tonight, the Chicago Blackhawks are clocking in at a 7/12 or 58% killing percentage. A far cry from the world-beating unit the Blackhawks had previously possessed.
Chicago’s Elite Netminder
If I could only use one word to describe Chicago Blackhawks goalie Spencer Knight, it would be as follows. Elite. Spencer Knight is elite. The box score partly shows the whole story. 33/37, .892 save percentage, and an overtime loss. What the rest of the box score doesn’t show is that Knight was shelled to start the game with almost 20 shots in the first period alone. Spencer also made multiple incredible stops in overtime, with the 3 players in front of him being on the ice for over 90 seconds each.
This season, Spencer Knight has kept the Chicago Blackhawks’ heads above water when other goalies would have the team in Davey Jones’ locker. In his first year as a full-time starter, “The Red Knight” has a 2.67 Goals Against Average and a .907 save percentage. All stats above his career averages.
Jan 27, 2026; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Spencer Knight (30) looks on during overtime against the Minnesota Wild at Grand Casino Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn ImagesCredit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Wild Domination:
Now we end this article on a more sobering note for Chicago Blackhawks fans. Let’s do a little thought experiment.
Where were you in life on December 15th, 2019? Maybe in college, in high school, even. Maybe you had just started dating your now spouse. Either way, we can all agree that was a long time ago. Well, December 15, 2019 was the last time the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Minnesota Wild in regulation. It’s been nearly six and a half years since then. On that date, Patrick Kane scored a hat trick, Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato played for the Wild, and there are no present-day Blackhawks left from that team. Connor Bedard, who notched two points tonight, was just 14-years-old. No matter how you dice it up, it’s a really bad look.
On Tap for the Chicago Blackhawks is a rematch versus the Minnesota Wild on Thursday evening. The Hawks look to change the tide and turn the page on this rough chapter of this rivalry. Puck drop at 6:30 CT.