There wasn’t NFL football on Sunday in Chicago. That didn’t stop the Chicago Blackhawks from giving Bears coach Ben Johnson a shoutout — one that was met with a deafening roar from the United Center.
He was treated to matinee hockey as the Hawks hosted the Nashville Predators. The Hawks faithful found themselves stressed out in the back-and-forth affair, giving fans a similar feeling to every “Cardiac Bears” game last season.
The Hawks, under another Chicago first-year coach, Jeff Blashill, gave Johnson and his children a mixed bag of highlight plays, offensive zone giveaways, and a goal from star center Connor Bedard. The Hawks weren’t able to squeak out a victory on the ice like the Bears did on the turf.
The Hawks (26-31-13) fell to the Predators 3-2 in overtime on Sunday. It’s their fourth loss in five games.
“If our overtimes had been better, our record (would) be much better,” Blashill said. “I certainly recognize that, but we got a lot of other things that we’re looking at as well and that we need to continue to improve on.
“I don’t believe in luck, but there’s a little bit of happenstance in overtime. That’s reality, so we got to keep finding ways (to) make the better play than the other team.”
Ryan Greene of the Chicago Blackhawks celebrates after scoring a goal against the Minnesota Wild during the second period at the United Center on March 17, 2026. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Bedard collected a long pass from Ryan Greene and used a set of stick moves to leave goaltender Juuse Saros looking back at 13:57 in the second period. It was the center’s 29th goal of the season.
Greene’s ice vision has always been one of his best attributes, but it has reached new heights skating with Bedard. He’s proven his top-line candidacy despite not sounding the horn much.
“You get a chance every day to build your resume and he’s done a good job of building that in a positive fashion,” Blashill said of Greene. “He’s not chaotic in his game, his game’s pretty calm and he’s pretty smart so that helps him play with a guy like (Bedard) because he can read off him.
“I may have to try him out at center a little bit more as this keeps going through the year, but he’s done a good job being a good complementary player on the top line.”
The right wing of the top line has raised questions all season. That spot belongs to André Burakovsky, who sent four shots on goal on Sunday.
He was rammed in overtime by Preds left winger Filip Forsberg, who proceeded to fly the puck behind Spencer Knight (30 saves) for the game-winning goal. It was his second goal of the game, the first coming at 6:31 in the second period for Nashville (33-28-9).
Blashill has defended his placement of Burakovsky as Bedard’s right winger, despite his scoring just two points since Jan. 9. The bench boss said that he’s seeing a heightened confidence from Burakovsky since his March 9 goal, but admitted that more points need to come.
“We need production out of him, we all get that (and) he gets that, (but) sometimes you don’t totally control that,” Blashill said. “Sometimes you see a guy out there (and) you can tell he doesn’t have confidence. He looks like he has confidence but he’s certainly snake-bitten.”
Nick Lardis got a full-game promotion to the second line after spending much of his recall from Rockford on the fourth. He attempted a pass to Frank Nazar, but Nashville defenseman Nicolas Hague inadvertently sticked the puck into his own net past Saros (26 saves) at 4:34 in the second to open scoring for the Hawks.
Blashill said Sunday was Lardis’s best game since being recalled from the IceHogs. He’s making the most of this NHL stint.
“I want to show my strengths when I get that opportunity,” Lardis said. ” I thought (my line) generated chances and didn’t give up a whole lot.”
Matt Grzelcyk was injured in a first-period scuffle and didn’t return. Blashill didn’t specify the injury or the timeline, but he confirmed Grzelcyk won’t play in the next four road games.
As a result, the Hawks’ defensemen skated for extended lengths of time. Alex Vlasic had a team-high ice time at 26:34.
“I thought everybody did a great job,” Vlasic said. “It’s never easy to lose a guy like that, minutes-wise but also within the locker room, he’s a big part of our team. To have him go down was a tough loss, but I thought everybody did a great job of stepping up.”
Artyom Levshunov has spent the past week on the top defensive pair with Vlasic after his play in a 4-0 loss to Vegas. He skated for 24:27.
“(Levshunov’s) been playing some really good hockey,” Vlasic said. “He’s been playing hard, playing good defense-first, and we’ve been having some success, so it’s been fun.”
Louis Crevier skated for 18:03 in his return to the lineup after missing Friday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche. Andrew Mangiapane did not play on Sunday, but is expected to return to the lineup this week.
Hawks prospects Anton Frondell and Sacha Boisvert are expected to debut on the team’s upcoming road trip, which starts at the New York Islanders on March 24. Boisvert’s visa is still being processed, so his Hawks’ status is still up in the air.
Frondell’s visa process was handled at the time of his entry-level contract signing in July. He will be able to play for the Hawks upon arrival.