Blackhawks Postgame
Frank Nazar’s Hat Trick Leads Blackhawks To 4-1 Win Over Wild
The Blackhawks finished off the “Chicago Sweep” by defeating the Minnesota Wild 4-1 for their second preseason win of the weekend. The Blackhawks joined the Bears, Cubs, AND White Sox in earning a victory on Sunday. How about that?!
Frank Nazar led the way with a dominant performance, recording the first hat trick of the NHL preseason. Ryan Donato tallied the other goal for the Blackhawks, while Connor Bedard recorded a must-see primary assist.
Teuvo Teravainen, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Wyatt Kaiser each had multi-point performances, and Drew Commesso stopped 28 of 29 shots faced in his preseason debut to earn the win in net.
Let’s dive into the recap, highlights, and the best & worst players.
FIRST PERIOD
The Blackhawks kicked off the scoring for the first time in the preseason, with Nazar finishing off a beautiful pass from Teravainen on the power play. The play wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for an incredible keep-in by Bertuzzi at the blue line to maintain possession in the offensive zone.
Nolan Allan made his presence felt early and often on Sunday, and he drilled Wild defenseman Matt Kiersted hard into the boards behind the Blackhawks’ net. That couldn’t have felt too good.
SECOND PERIOD
Just moments after Bedard had a semi-breakaway stopped by Filip Gustavsson, Nazar wheeled into the offensive zone and ripped home his second goal of the game to double the Blackhawks’ lead. Bertuzzi perfectly led Nazar with the pass while entering the offensive zone with a full head of steam.
Less than ten minutes later, Nazar nearly capped off the natural hat trick on a semi-breakaway chance of his own. Unfortunately, he lost the puck while trying to pull it to his backhand.
The lone tally of the night for Minnesota came late in the second period, as Tyler Pitlick set up Hunter Haight to cut the Blackhawks’ lead in half. Alex Vlasic and Sam Rinzel appeared to momentarily lose sight of the puck when it was flipped high into the defensive zone.
THIRD PERIOD
Speaking of Vlasic, the Blackhawks were without the 24-year-old defenseman for the final 20 minutes of Sunday’s game. Head coach Jeff Blashill didn’t provide much of an update following the contest. The team is expected to know more on Monday about the situation.
With the Wild making their best surge of the game early in the third period, the Blackhawks needed someone to step up and make a play to seal the victory. That’s when Bedard entered the chat.
Bedard skated into the offensive zone and made an incredible spinning pass on his backhand to find Donato at the left circle. Donato snuck the shot past Gustavsson to extend the Blackhawks’ lead to 3-1. What a dish from Bedard!
With the Wild net empty for the extra attacker, Blashill threw Nazar on the ice for a chance at the hat trick. The 21-year-old forward forced a turnover at center ice and tossed a shot into the yawning cage to cap off an epic performance.
Two road preseason wins in as many days for the Blackhawks! Victory Monday is going to be sweet — for whichever Chicago team you cheer for.
Blackhawks Studs
The 2nd Line
Blashill trotted out the Bertuzzi-Nazar-Teravainen trio for the first time in preseason action, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. The three players combined for seven points on the night and made something happen seemingly every time they were on the ice.
While Nazar will get all the shine, Bertuzzi was also exceptional for Chicago on Sunday. A notoriously slow starter, Bertuzzi and Blashill are familiar with each other from their time together in Detroit. There’s been an added emphasis on getting off to a faster start this season for “Bert”, and this performance was definitely a positive sign of that. He recorded an assist on each of Nazar’s first two goals.
Teravainen also had a sturdy preseason debut, recording two assists with a plus-two rating in 16:18 of ice time.
Connor Bedard
Bedard’s highlight-reel assist was his best moment of the game, but I thought he was arguably just as dominant as Nazar. Bedard led the Blackhawks with five shots on goal and created tons of opportunities for himself and his linemates. His uptick in speed continues to be very noticeable and should help him tremendously in his third NHL season.
Sunday was also the first look at the top line of Donato, Bedard, and Burakovsky, and I thought Bedard was the driving force for that group all night long. He added two hits and won six of 14 faceoffs in 17:20.
Nolan Allan
Allan was back in the Blackhawks’ lineup for the second time in as many days, but the big left-handed defenseman showed no signs of fatigue. The 2021 first-round pick didn’t shy away from contact whatsoever, leading the team with five hits in 18:18 of ice time while on the third pairing with Kevin Korchinski.
In my opinion, Allan was certainly the more noticeable of the two, as his physical presence played a pivotal role in the defensive zone. It’s still likely that Allan begins the season in the AHL with Rockford, but this was an excellent showing.
Kaiser-Levshunov Pairing
After a rocky outing together in the preseason opener against the Red Wings, both Kaiser and Artyom Levshunov bounced back in Sunday’s win, which was great to see.
Kaiser finished with two assists, one shot on goal, and a plus-three rating while leading the Blackhawks with 25:30 of time on ice. He made several nifty plays through transition and showed off his strong skating ability.
Darren Pang mentioned on the broadcast in the first period that this was a significant game for Levshunov, and I agreed with him. It hasn’t been a particularly great start to training camp and the preseason for Levshunov, which perhaps put his NHL roster spot in jeopardy. Well, Levshunov responded with a great game against the Wild, as he broke up multiple plays in the defensive zone with his body and an active stick.
All together, Levshunov tallied two hits, one blocked shot, and a plus-two rating in 22:34.
Blackhawks Duds
Andre Burakovsky
Burakovsky looked sharp in training camp on the top line with Bedard and Donato, but that didn’t really translate to Sunday’s game. The two-time Stanley Cup champion forward committed both the Blackhawks’ penalties on the night and had only one shot on goal in 16:21. Both Bedard and Donato ended up notching a point and were noticeable, while Burakovsky didn’t make much of an impact.
A.J. Spellacy
To be fair, Spellacy only had one day of practice before making his preseason debut. The 2024 third-round pick was absent at training camp until Friday because of an injury he suffered at the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase. I’m probably being a little harsh on the kid by putting him in this section, as he played only 11:10 while skating on the fourth line.
Still, I didn’t notice Spellacy much on Sunday, and he finished with only one hit. Usually more involved physically, even in a small role, that part of his game wasn’t on display against the Wild. Meanwhile, his linemates, Nick Foligno and Samuel Savoie, each recorded four hits.
UP NEXT
The Blackhawks return to action on Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings for the first 2025-26 preseason game at the United Center. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and will be televised on CHSN+, the CHSN app, and the Blackhawks team website.
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