Blackhawks have great opportunity with 8 home games – The Hockey Writers – Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks recently went on their longest road trip of the 2025-26 season, a six-game tour that took them through Western Canada, Seattle, and finally Detroit. After losing their first three games, they capped off the trip with three solid wins. A 3-2-1 record on a tough road trip for this young team is nothing to sneeze at. It showcases competitiveness and resiliency, and shows the hockey world that the Blackhawks may ultimately be better than the basement dwellers in the league.
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But it’s still early in the season, and this team must continue to build and grow (and win) to prove that this successful road trip, and 8-5-4 start to the season, was no fluke. What better way to do that than taking advantage of their current home ground? The Blackhawks are currently hosting eight of their next nine games at the United Center, starting Nov. 12 against the New Jersey Devils (a 4-3 overtime loss). This is a great opportunity to win some hockey games, move up the rankings, and become a contender rather than a pretender.
So, how do the Blackhawks do this? Let’s take a look at the players, coaches and some recent trends to pave the way for even greater success down the road.
Bedard leads the way
Anyone who doubted Connor Bedard in his third season in the league will not do so again. The young superstar put in the work in the offseason and came into training camp with more speed and explosiveness. He’s still learning how to apply that on the ice and the talent that has made him elite.
The numbers speak for themselves. Bedard has now scored in nine consecutive games, recording eight goals, 11 assists and 19 points in that span. This includes his 50th On October 28, he scored an NHL goal against the Ottawa Senators, his first career hat trick. On November 7, he scored 150 points against the Calgary Flames, becoming the youngest player in franchise history to do so.
Bedard also worked on defense. He seems to understand the mentality that head coach Jeff Blashill has been trying to instill in his team. The coach said the same thing about Bedard after his hat trick against the Senators.
Conner is off to a great start this year. He did a lot of things the right way. He plays defense very hard. He stopped on the puck. He did a lot to develop the habit of playing hockey. I think he creates a lot of offense but doesn’t always score. Whether it was him, or the pass, it just didn’t (end up scoring), for whatever reason. Of course, nights like this come with opportunities, so I think it’s great that he gets rewarded for it.
It’s great to see Conner have an offensive night like tonight and be rewarded for his strong play in both directions. Because what I don’t want is to not get rewarded and you suddenly start cheating for your offense. Because that would equal no winning. So he did it the right way, which is good for him, which is great.
In 17 games played, Bedard recorded seven multi-point games. His 10 goals lead the team, while his 16 assists and 26 points lead the rest of the team by a mile.
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Everything seems to be going well for Bader, and he seems to be just getting started.
Complementary works: Bertuzzi, Burakovsky
It’s easy to assume that Bedard is thriving this season as he finally has some complementary players around him, namely Andre Burakovsky and Tyler Bertuzzi.
Burakovsky and Bedard have been largely connected on the top line since training camp. Blashill said after they acquired Burakovsky that he thought the veteran forward would be a good fit for Bedard because of Burakovsky’s past success against high-end players. After all, he did win two Stanley Cups (2018 with the Washington Capitals and 2022 with the Colorado Avalanche) while contributing alongside highly skilled teammates. Blashill elaborated on this before last week’s game against the Seattle Kraken:
It’s a skill (playing with talented players). I think you have to know, first of all, you have to understand how the player feels. Must be a smart player. He (Burakovsky) is a guy who knows when to give and when not to give. He knows when and how to create space and can take on opponents. He’s also very smart with the puck and he’ll be a good fit for Connor (Bade) as well because he’s a good puck mover. When I talked to the Colorado State coaching staff, they immediately told me he was a good transporter and I thought that was a good fit for Conner.
I think he could use a little more shooting and offense at times, but he’s a really good fit there. What I really admire about him is how hard he works in his fights, how hard he works to win fights, how hard he tracks because that’s an important part. So if you play with good players, you’re usually going to play against good players. He does a great job at that too.
Another player who has found success alongside Bedard (and vice versa) is Bertuzzi. They’ve bonded over power struggles, with Blashill recently putting Bertuzzi on the top line with Bedard and Burakovsky. He also had that trio on the top line for a few games in mid-October. The coach gave his reasons at the time:
Burt, to me, is a defensively smart guy. So he can help you yourself. He shoots the puck off the wall really well and then he puts a lot of effort into the puck and he works hard in front of the net. I think for Burkey (Andre Burakovsky) and Connor (Bedda), they definitely need someone who can get to the net. Dach (Colton Dach) can do the same. But Burt has more experience and more time in this league. So I just thought that was probably the spark we needed last night (against the Vancouver Canucks). Ultimately, I think it would have been two goals if they counted one. So we’ll probably take a look at that over the next few games and see how it goes.
Burakovsky currently has five goals and 10 points in his past seven games (he did not play against the Devils due to illness), while Bertuzzi has scored in four straight games, including six goals and eight points. They are second (Bertuzzi) and third (Burakovski) in goals and points, behind Bedard. The three of them are producing a ton of production for the Blackhawks, and they’re working together to do that.
great goalkeeper
The impact that Spencer Knight and backup goaltender Arvid Söderblom had on this team at the start of the season cannot be overstated. Both played strong and made up for defensive lapses, giving the Blackhawks a chance to win every night.
Knight has played in 12 games for the Blackhawks this season. The 24-year-old has a .923 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against average. That save percentage currently ranks ninth in the league. That’s quite an accomplishment considering the Blackhawks’ defense is still a work in progress. Let’s face it, the Blackhawks wouldn’t be where they are without Knight’s stellar play in the crease.
Soderblom appeared in five games and posted a .913 SV% and 2.63 GAA. In a recent game against the Detroit Red Wings, the 26-year-old made a career-high 45 saves in 46 saves, finishing with a .978 SV% in a 5-1 win.
Knight and Soderblom form a great tandem at the crease, which is something these young Blackhawks need to help them build confidence and be more successful.
Blackhawks’ drive for success; Blashill pushes the right buttons
As mentioned above, the road trip hasn’t been smooth sailing for the Blackhawks. But they rallied, fought back, and ended the trip with three straight wins. The same goes for their home start. They had a slightly lackluster performance against the Devils, but still managed to score a point in overtime, losing 4-3. Captain Nick Foligno put it well when asked about their first game back at home:
I think that’s the hard part for me because, like I told you, I don’t really like moral victories. But it’s hard not to say, yes, we have grown. This is a game that, probably if I had been here a few years ago, we would have lost by three or four points because it would have collapsed on us. So I’m encouraged by that, but I still don’t want to accept not winning this game. That’s the message here, like a great job battle, we just didn’t play our best and maybe we were missing some guys. But every team is missing players, and every team doesn’t have its best players. But good teams always find a way to win, and that’s the message. Maybe the bad taste in everyone’s mouth is that even if we don’t play our best, we should still find a way to win. We have to do that and be that team and when we do that, it’s going to be very exciting.
The Blackhawks seem to really start to believe in each other and they have a chance to win every night.
Coach Blashear’s footprints are also all over here. I’ve quoted him several times in this article because he seems to push all the right buttons and get the best out of his players. He preaches winning habits, and the Blackhawks want to develop winning habits. Blashill was asked about taking advantage of home field advantage and he gave a good perspective:
Generally speaking, winning on the road is more difficult. Not always, but usually. So you want to take advantage of your home games, and of course you want to take advantage of a home court like this. But I think one of the good things about this team is we don’t get ahead of ourselves too much.
We will go into tomorrow’s game and learn from this game. That’s the approach we take… It’s good for people to come home after being away for a long time. But from a hockey standpoint, we don’t really look at it as a long homestand, we really look at it as the next game. That may sound like a coach’s words, but it’s reality. I think our team does a really good job with that.
So, the Blackhawks are taking it day by day. They will regroup this Saturday (November 15th) and try their best to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs. Then they’ll face the Calgary Flames on November 18th, then the Seattle Kraken on November 20th…you get the idea.
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Once the dust settles, we’ll see how many home games the Blackhawks will win and how much they’ve grown and improved. But it is undeniable that this home court provides them with an excellent opportunity.
