Game Recap: Panthers 5 - Blackhawks 1

The Chicago Blackhawks' offense continued to produce zilch as the Florida Panthers collected their second win in as many nights. This has been a problem for the Blackhawks ever since the calendar turned to 2026. Even though the Hawks earned points in three of their last four games, when they lose, they lose hard.

Same format as the last one. My thoughts on the game, followed by a breakdown of each goal.

The Game

The Florida Panthers' defense prevented the Blackhawks from getting to the middle of the ice. The heat map below shows how Chicago was pushed outside of the slot for most of their 5v5 shot attempts. In fact, the only goal the Hawks scored was because Wyatt Kaiser held the blue line and forced a turnover with the Panthers defense scrambling to get back in their zone. Tyler Bertuzzi had all the space in the world to score.

I was surprised to see that the Blackhawks were actually above 50% in expected goals share in the second and third periods (5v5). That's probably due to the Panthers not generating many chances themselves unless they had to. The two scoring lines didn't look good, and head coach Jeff Blashill juggled Connor Bedard around a bit too much.

Bedard spent most of his time with Oliver Moore and Andre Burakovsky (5:46 of 5v5 time). They generated a 33.33% Corsi and a 23.76 xG%. Bedard also saw a shift with Ryan Greene, Nick Lardis, and I saw him with Frank Nazar. At 5v5, Bedard generated three shots on goal and two shot attempts (better than his quiet game against the Tampa Bay Lightning).

Ever since Bedard returned from injury, he hasn't looked the same. It's not that he looks like a ghost of himself, but where's that bite he had to his game earlier in the season? He can't do it all himself, and I'm looking at his line mates. Like Andre Burakovsky, whose lack of awareness (in both ends of the ice) should get him bumped off Bedard's line.

Frank Nazar's line, with Nick Lardis and Ryan Greene, generated a 33.33% Corsi and a 54.75 xG%. Nazar had two shots on goal, two shot attempts, and one scoring chance at 5v5. Oliver Moore's impact in the top six was 10.14 xG%. I say let's keep Moore and Lardis together and bring Nazar up with Bedard. Bedard needs the help. Nazar is a much more proven top-six player than Moore. And I get that Blashill wants to spread the talent where he can, but maybe Nazar playing 1C with Bedard on his wing won't be such a bad idea.

The only issue is who is going to get these guys the puck?

While figuring out who to play on the top line is a reason for the Hawks' lack of offense, there are some tactical issues as well. The Blackhawks' forecheck in the OZ doesn't help, their shot selection has been woeful (despite their expected goals share being plus 50% some of the time), and the power play has been ineffective. There's a lot more to dig into, but this recap is already well past its bedtime.

The Goals

Panthers 1 - Blackhawks 0: Tobias Bjornfoot (assisted by Cole Schwindt)

Tobias Bjornfoot had one career goal in 139 NHL games before tonight. He added two more to that tally. No one was watching the back door after the Panthers won the draw. I get Connor Bedard cheats up, but someone has to prevent a player from doing that.

Panthers 1 - Blackhawks 1: Tyler Bertuzzi (assisted by Ilya Mikheyev and Wyatt Kaiser)

I talked about this one above, and Kaiser deserves the praise for standing up the blue line as he did. Jason Dickinson was there to support him should Kaiser's pinch fail. It didn't, and it caught Florida off guard.

Panthers 2 - Blackhawks 1: Mackie Samoskevich (assisted by Gustav Forsling)

Spencer Knight let this one trickle past the goal line after he couldn't hold Mackie Samoskevich's shot. The Hawks gave Samoskevich the space to get open for the wrist shot. Artyom Levshunov made a poor outlet pass, which turned the puck over to Florida. Andre Burakovsky arguably was more at fault than Levshunov, as he wasn't paying attention. Gustav Forsling (FLA42) rimmed the puck around to Samoskevich (FLA11), and the Hawks were swirled in their zone like little meatballs.

Panthers 3 - Blackhawks 1: Carter Verhaeghe (assisted by Evan Rodrigues and Gustav Forsling)

Even though Florida was outnumbered 4v3, Evan Rodrigues delayed at the dot and found Carter Verhaeghe, who scored from the slot. Burakovsky getting pulled out of position so easily didn't help.

Panthers 4 - Blackhawks 1: Sam Reinhart (assisted by Evan Rodrigues and Eetu Luostarinen)

Empty net.

Panthers 5 - Blackhawks 1: Tobias Bjornfoot (assisted by Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell)

I feel like we've seen this a lot. The game is about done, and the Hawks are down bad. Somehow, they let the opposition score. I get that the Hawks media has been preaching the resilience of this young team. But shouldn't this be a little... I don't know, annoying?

Hawks play Tuesday night in Minnesota at 7 pm CT.