Connor Bedard shovels home his first-period goal during the Chicago Blackhawks’ 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. (Photo courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks)

In the second game of their back-to-back, the Chicago Blackhawks squared off at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.

Before the game, Chicago made headlines by recalling Sam Rinzel from Rockford. Rinzel’s last NHL game was on Dec. 7 before being send down to Rockford. In Rockford, Rinzel appeared in 19 games, recording two goals and eight assists.

In the lineup, Rinzel replaced Artyom Levshunov. Levshunov was a healthy scratch for a mental reset. The young defenseman was awful in the Hawks’ last game against Pittsburgh. In addition to Rinzel being added to the lineup, Sam Lafferty got his second start this month because of an injury to Nick Foligno.

First period

Columbus got on the board late in the first period with a goal from Charlie Coyle. The Colyle power-play goal came with under a minute left in the period.

The Blackhawks responded in the waning seconds with a goal from Connor Bedard.

GOAL: Connor Bedard beats the buzzer and puts home a rebound to tie the game before the end of the period pic.twitter.com/CpHk9Mu5xF

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 31, 2026

Second period

In the second period, Columbus continued to dominate the game. Coyle scored his second goal of the game. The goal was set up by a poor pass from Andre Burakovsky to Matt Grzelcyk. The pass missed Grzelcyk and went to right to Coyle, who buried the chance.

Mathieu Olivier scored his sixth goal of the season to extend the Blue Jackets’ lead to 3-1. The Hawks did challenge unsucessfully for goalie interference.

Frank Nazar answered the Olivier tally later in the period.

GOAL: Bedard to Nazar! Banggg 🔥 pic.twitter.com/vBOHVMEvit

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 31, 2026

This was a much-needed goal for Nazar, who has struggled to find his offensive form. With the assist, Bedard registered his second mutiple-point game since returning from his injury.

Third period

The Hawks tried to make a valiant comeback. Bedard missed a golden opportunity in the period to tie the game.

https://t.co/DzdOlsO5rI pic.twitter.com/q9vWmiM0dy

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 31, 2026

Coyle finished off his hat trick with an empty-net goal to seal the Jackets’ victory at 4-2.

Analysis

Despite being visibly frustrated after the game, Bedard is starting to heat up offensively. He now has three points in the last two games. The young forward needs to get back to his pre-injury production.

In addition to Beard heating up, Nazar might finally be returning to form. He also has three points in their last two games.

On the defensive side, Rinzel had a good game according to head coach Jeff Blashhill. Rinzel made less critical mistakes in his first game back up. Rinzel figures to get more minutes when the Hawks eventually trade Connor Murphy.

Spencer Knight enjoyed another solid performance in net.

The Blackhawks have two games left before the Olympic break. Their next game is Monday night against the San Jose Sharks at 7:30 p.m. CST.

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