Recap: Blackhawks extinguish Flames 4-0

Connor Bedard fed a beautful pass to Bertuzzi. With the assist, Bedard extended his point streak to seven games. After the Bertuzzi goal, Colton Dach got into a fight with Joel Farabee. The first period ended with the Hawks up 1-0.

Second period

The physicality did not stop in the second period. Alex Vlasic got into a fight with MacKenzie Weegar for his hit on Oliver Moore. Later in the period, Nick Foligno checked Joel Hanley into the boards. He then fought Hanley. Hanely and Foligno served five-minute majors.

Third period

After a scoreless second period, the Hawks’ offense kicked into high gear. Bertuzzi scored his second goal of the game on Bedard’s second assist of the game. Bedard made a perfect pass on their odd-man rush against Calgary.

That was Bertuzzi’s fifth goal in the last two games.

Later in the period, Andre Burakovsky buried a shot for a goal. The Burakovsky goal was assisted by Bedard. That was Bedard’s third assist of the game.

With less than two minutes to go in the game, Bedard poked the puck free with a good stick. The poke check lead to a breakaway in which Bedard undressed Dustin Wolf for the goal.

The Bedard goal was the cherry on top of a great victory. The Hawks defeated the Flames 4-0.

Analysis

After a tough start to the road trip, the Hawks appear to have found their stride in the last two games. Chicago has been fueled by an explosive third-period offense and spectacular goaltending by Spencer Knight.

Knight

While Bedard and the other forwards will get the headlines, Knight has been the difference maker this season. Against Calgary, Knight made 33 saves, including 11 against Matt Coronato, to seal the win. In the last two games, Knight has 76 saves to help propel the Hawks two consecutive wins. For the season, Knight is 6-3-2 with a .926 save percentage. He also leads the league with a 10.5 goals saved above average this season per Natural Stat Trick.

With the shutout, he becomes the first Blackhawks goalie to record a shutout in two seasons. Before Knight, Petr Mrazek was the last Hawks shutout in 2023.

Bedard

With Knight providing spectacular goaltending, Bedard’s offense has also found another gear. With the four points, Bedard became the fastest Blackhawks player to 150 points, surpassing Eddie Olczyk. Bedard now has points 22 points in 15 games this season.

The big night also tied Bedard with Macklin Celebrini for the league lead in points, though it was short lived as Celebrini scored an hour later to retake the lead.

Bedard’s improved skating and puck-winning ability has helped launch his offensive game this season. He is currently on pace for 120 points.

Bertuzzi and Burakovsky

While Bedard will garner all the headlines, Bertuzzi and Burakovsky also have been white hot. Bertuzzi scored two more goals on Friday making that five in his last two games. With the Nazar injury, expect Bertuzzi to stay on the top line with Burkovsky. While Bertuzzi is scoring goals in bunches, Burakovsky is quietly going about his business. He has 12 points in 14 games and four goals in his last five games.

The excellent play of the players above in addition to the emergence of Artyom Levshunov has helped the Blackhawks win two in a row.

The Hawks also recieved some good news on Nazar, aa the injury is not as serious as the team initially feared. He will be day-to-day going forward.

Chicago has a quick turnaround as they take on the Detroit Red Wings at noon CST on Sunday.