{"id":444135,"date":"2026-02-03T23:24:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T23:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/444135\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T23:24:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T23:24:29","slug":"blackhawks-third-line-shines-trotz-steps-down-bennett-injured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/444135\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackhawks Third Line Shines; Trotz Steps Down; Bennett Injured"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How nice was it to see the Chicago Blackhawks get a win on home ice on Monday? Or just a win in general?<\/p>\n<p>After losing their final five games of January, the Blackhawks kicked off February with a bang, taking down Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks 6-3 at the United Center. It\u2019s the only home game of the month for the Blackhawks, whose next game in Chicago isn\u2019t until Mar. 6.<\/p>\n<p>While Connor Bedard extended both his goal and point streaks in the win, it was the third line of Ryan Donato, Jason Dickinson, and Ilya Mikheyev that did all of the heavy lifting offensively against San Jose. Check the links to read more about the third line\u2019s offensive explosion.<\/p>\n<p>Also in Blackhawks news, Sam Rinzel\u2019s plans for the Olympic break have been made clear, while Bedard made more Blackhawks history in the victory over San Jose.<\/p>\n<p>Around the league, a serious change is coming in Nashville, the two-time defending champions suffered another key injury, and bold predictions for the Olympic hockey tournament.<\/p>\n<p>All that &amp; more in the Daily!<\/p>\n<p>Chicago Blackhawks Recap, News &amp; Tidbits<\/p>\n<p>Chicago Hockey Now: All eyes were on Bedard and Celebrini as the puck dropped in Chicago on Monday. Both players had strong performances; however, it was the <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagohockeynow.com\/2026\/02\/02\/chicago-blackhawks-san-jose-sharks-donato-mikheyev-bedard-celebrini-recap\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Blackhawks\u2019 third line<\/a> of Ryan Donato, Jason Dickinson, and Ilya Mikheyev who stole the show. The three forwards combined for 10 points in the 6-3 win over San Jose.<\/p>\n<p>More CHN: After totaling only 11 goals in their last eight home games, the Blackhawks finally received some notable depth scoring against the Sharks. Connor Bedard also found the back of the net, setting another U21 scoring record in franchise history. Here\u2019s a breakdown of how <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagohockeynow.com\/2026\/02\/03\/chicago-blackhawks-hits-depth-scoring-bedard-history-power-play-ends-skid\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the Blackhawks<\/a> ended their recent scoring drought on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Sam Rinzel was one of five players to score in the victory, netting his 2nd NHL goal. In his first two games back with the Blackhawks, the former first-round pick has looked much more confident with the puck. He\u2019s also been poised in the defensive zone and has avoided any major blunders.<\/p>\n<p>However, the plan is still for Rinzel to return to the AHL during the Olympic break, according to NHL insider Frank Seravalli, who joined CHSN\u2019s pregame show before the Blackhawks took on the Sharks. That will allow Rinzel to remain in action while Chicago has 22 days in between games. Artyom Levshunov, however, will not be eligible to be sent to Rockford.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Frank Seravalli on the CHSN Pregame says Rinzel will be the only Hawk headed back to Rockford over Olympic break.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlayers who have been on the team for a huge chunk of this season, or have played 16 of the last 20 games, are not eligible to go back for the break,\u201d per the CBA<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CHGO Blackhawks (@CHGO_Blackhawks) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CHGO_Blackhawks\/status\/2018497900519535012?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">February 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>NHL Trade Talk, News, &amp; National Hockey Now<\/p>\n<p>The Athletic: Just eight days remain until the men\u2019s hockey tournament at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games commences. From the USA\u2019s medal hopes to Jordan Binnington\u2019s success level, here are several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7016685\/2026\/02\/03\/olympic-hockey-predictions-milan-canada-usa\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">bold predictions<\/a> ahead of the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN: Major surprise news coming out of Nashville. Predators GM Barry Trotz held a press conference on Monday to announce that he will be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/story\/_\/id\/47806858\/sources-barry-trotz-set-retire-predators-gm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">stepping down<\/a> from the position. Trotz reiterated that he IS healthy and will not be pursuing another coaching opportunity. He is retiring, but will remain in the role until the Predators find his successor.<\/p>\n<p>San Jose Hockey Now: Before the Blackhawks took on the Sharks, Sheng Peng from SJHN asked both <a href=\"https:\/\/sanjosehockeynow.com\/san-jose-sharks-macklin-celebrini-connor-bedard-chicago-blackhawks-comparisons\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bedard and Celebrini<\/a> their thoughts on facing one another and the comparisons between the two players. But neither of the two former No. 1 overall picks was interested in talking about head-to-head battles; they were focused on their teams.<\/p>\n<p>Florida Hockey Now: After losing 5-3 to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday, <a href=\"https:\/\/floridahockeynow.com\/matthew-tkachuk-the-florida-panthers-are-in-trouble\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Florida Panthers<\/a> forward Matthew Tkachuk said the team \u201cis in trouble.\u201d To add insult to injury, Sam Bennett exited the game early with an upper-body issue. Florida is already down Aleksander Barkov and Anton Lundell and sits nine points back of a playoff spot.<\/p>\n<p>NHL.com: Former Blackhawk Nick Schmaltz recorded his third career <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/news\/vancouver-canucks-utah-mammoth-game-recap-february-2-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hat trick<\/a> on Monday, leading the Utah Mammoth to a 6-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks. It was also Schmaltz\u2019s second hat trick of the season.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado Hockey Now: <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradohockeynow.com\/2026\/02\/02\/avs-coach-says-landeskogs-olympic-participation-not-in-jeopardy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Colorado Avalanche<\/a> captain Gabriel Landeskog, who\u2019s been out for nearly a month with an upper-body injury, isn\u2019t in jeopardy of missing the Olympics. Avs coach Jared Bednar sure made it sound like Landeskog will be healthy enough to represent Sweden next week.<\/p>\n<p>Sportsnet: Quinn Hughes is wasting no time adding his name to the Minnesota Wild\u2019s record book. In just his 25th game with the Wild, Hughes tied teammate Kirill Kaprizov for the longest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/nhl\/article\/quinn-hughes-extends-assist-streak-to-tie-wild-record\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">assist streak<\/a> in franchise history. He also has the most three-assist games already in Wild history, passing Ryan Suter.<\/p>\n<p>Montreal Hockey Now: It\u2019s been another career year so far for <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsnaut.com\/nhl\/montreal-canadiens\/montreal-canadiens-suzuki-strong-case-for-the-selke-trophy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Montreal Canadiens<\/a> captain Nick Suzuki. He\u2019s on pace for a career-best 95 points, but he\u2019s also playing his best defensive hockey. Could Suzuki be a strong candidate for the Selke Trophy?<\/p>\n<p>New Jersey Hockey Now: What should <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsnaut.com\/nhl\/new-jersey-devils\/devils-news-palat-trade-cap-space-next-steps\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New Jersey Devils<\/a> GM Tom Fitzgerald do with the cap space he created in the Ondrej Palat trade? James Nichols from NJHN breaks down Fitzgerald\u2019s next move.<\/p>\n<p>For more Blackhawks news, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagohockeynow.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chicago Hockey Now<\/a> and like our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/chicagohockeynow\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook Page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Follow us on X:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/chihockeynow\" rel=\"nofollow\">@chihockeynow<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JackBushman2\" rel=\"nofollow\">@JackBushman2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How nice was it to see the Chicago Blackhawks get a win on home ice on Monday? Or&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[4678,521,37,96,5263,508,58,5,8180,501,4,106,5619,1496,6614,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-444135","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-barry-trotz","9":"tag-blackhawks","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","12":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","13":"tag-connor-bedard","14":"tag-featured","15":"tag-hockey","16":"tag-ilya-mikheyev","17":"tag-macklin-celebrini","18":"tag-nhl","19":"tag-nhl-news","20":"tag-nick-schmaltz","21":"tag-quinn-hughes","22":"tag-ryan-donato","23":"tag-sam-bennett"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116009282427561532","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}