Chicago Blackhawks secure a 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks, featuring Tyler Bertuzzi’s hat trick and Connor Bedard’s first goal.
The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night, 5-2. The Hawks followed up a horrid second period with a solid third period that featured a Tyler Bertuzzi hat trick and a Connor Bedard empty net goal (worth noting because that’s his first goal in his hometown). Ron Luce does an excellent job breaking down the game, which you can read here. Here’s my two cents on the victory.
Nov 5, 2025; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Chicago Blackhawks forward Ilya Mikheyev (95) celebrates his goal against the Vancouver Canucks in the third period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Artyom Levshunov
I’ve been a proponent of Artyom Levshunov starting in the NHL since before the season began (why yes, I do enjoy eating crow). Sam Fels explained what he likes about Levshunov’s skillset in his newsletter (which is absolutely worth the pricetag), and I share his thoughts. Levshunov’s excellent skating ability suits his chaotic play style and unpredictability. In last night’s game, Levshunov had strong shifts sprinkled with moments of expletive-filled mistakes. A brain-dead turnover in his debut on the first power play unit, followed by an ill-timed pinch in the offensive zone—the latter of which put the Canucks on the board—are the two prime examples.
The eye-test matched Levshunov’s numbers. His 65.3% Corsi at even strength ranked second-highest on the team (according to Evolving Hockey). Levshunov had moments in the offensive zone that helped the Blackhawks generate shot attempts and had a couple of good looks himself. However, his 31.33 expected goals share (xG%) is reflective of his poor decision-making.
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What Went Wrong in the Second Period?
The Vancouver Canucks had a 77.34 xG% at 5-on-5 in the second period. Vancouver finished with a 45-28 shots on goal advantage in all situations. Spencer Knight is why they were able to win 5-2. But the Hawks’ passive neutral zone play conceded the blue line to Vancouver, giving them free rein to pick apart a defensive system that’s still learning. It was very reminiscent of the Luke Richardson days.
With Jeff Blashill, we’ve noticed an increase in letting the defensemen make aggressive plays in the neutral zone. They stand up the blue line and defend the red line. Wyatt Kaiser has been excellent at this. However, we didn’t see much of that in the second. I’m not sure if that’s what they’re coached to do because of the long shift change (would that even matter?). But, inviting the Canucks into their zone allowed them to find gaps in the Hawks’ man-on-man defensive zone coverage and create high-danger scoring chances—of which the Canucks had a 12-2 advantage.
Closing Thoughts
The Blackhawks didn’t give up after getting swirled around in their DZ in the second period. Mostly thanks to Spencer Knight and his .956 SV% (he stopped all 18 high danger chances by the way, and that means something). But it’s a fresh breath of air to see this team hang on and get a win. I’ve had my criticisms of Tyler Bertuzzi in the past, but his hat trick (and early-season performance) does deserve recognition.