Bertuzzi’s hat trick and Knight’s 43 saves lead Blackhawks to 5-2 win over Canucks – Hockey Writer – Chicago Blackhawks
The Vancouver Canucks host Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks for their second game of the season on Wednesday night at Rogers Arena. The Canucks get some injury relief heading into the game with Connor Garland returning to the lineup. They are still without Teddy Brugger, Filip Chytil, Derek Forbot, Jonathan Leklimaki and Niels Hooglander; however, Brugger and Leiklimaki will soon be wearing non-contact jerseys. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks are down to Jason Dickinson.
The Canucks had a dramatic game against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, with Brock Boeser blowing the clock to lead his team home with a 5-4 win. The Blackhawks last played on Monday when they lost 3-1 to the Seattle Kraken. Kevin Lankinen started for the Canucks, while the Blackhawks were countered by Spencer Knight.
The first two periods of this game were a goalie duel until Tyler Bertuzzi opened the scoring in the third period. In the end, he scored two more hat tricks to complete the fourth hat trick of his career. Ilya Mikheyev and Bedard finally won 5-2, which was their first hat trick in 11 times against the Canucks. However, the Blackhawks had their goaltender to thank, who made 43 saves. He was about to get shutout, but Atul Ratty and Evander Kane finally got the better of him late in the third quarter. This is your game review.
game review
Although the Canucks outscored the Blackhawks 16-11 in the first quarter of track and field, with the two teams combining for 24 scoring chances (9 high-danger), the game remained scoreless. It was a fast-paced, exciting 20 minutes of hockey, but the goalies held their heads high and kept the score at 0-0 going into halftime.
The shots and chances continued in the second period, mostly for the Canucks, who took 18 shots to Knight and the Blackhawks eight to Lankinen. Drew O’Connor thought he had opened the scoring early, but it was called off due to goalie interference. By halftime, the Canucks were outscoring the Blackhawks 35-19 and 31-15 (14-8 high-danger), but Knight and Lankinen remained perfect.
Surprisingly, the Blackhawks broke the game open in the third quarter despite being outgunned in field goal percentage and chances. Bertuzzi opened the game at 3:06 and eventually scored two more goals to complete his hat trick and help the team lead 4-0 at 11:37. The Canucks made the game interesting with goals from Ratti and Kane, but Bedard scored an empty-net goal in the final minute to win 5-2.
What’s next?
The Canucks will continue a brief four-game homestand against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, while the Blackhawks will travel to Calgary for a game against the Flames on Friday.
