Connor Bedard, NHL's Third Star, leads Blackhawks against Golden Knights

Chicago Blackhawks (11-9-5, 25 pts) @ Vegas Golden Knights (11-6-8, 30 pts)
9 pm CT – T-Mobile Arena
TV: ESPN+ (Levy/Weekes)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)

The Chicago Blackhawks start the month of December and their four-game winning streak tonight in Sin City. Tonight is the first of three games against the Vegas Golden Knights, with them making only one trip to Chicago.

Even though November featured a season-high five-game losing streak, the Blackhawks had a better record than they did in October. They went 6-5-3 last month after going 5-4-2 in the opening month of the season.

The Golden Knights enter tonight’s game with just one win in their last five games. They have the same number of regulation wins as the Blackhawks, with 11. They have benefited from points in eight overtime losses. They are 1-8 in games that have gone past 60 minutes this season. Former Blackhawk Brandon Saad returns to their lineup after being a healthy scratch over the weekend. He has one goal and four points in 24 games this season.

Connor Bedard Named Third Star

Earlier today, Connor Bedard was named the NHL’s Third Star for November. He had 10 goals and 23 points in his 14 games. He factored in 23 of the Blackhawks’ 44 goals in the month. Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche was named First Star with 11 goals and 25 points. Dallas Stars’ Jason Robertson was the Second Star with a league-leading 13 goals in 15 games.

Bedard has two goals and five points in six career games against the Golden Knights. His first-ever goal at the United Center came at their expense back in the 2023-24 home opener.

Line Shuffle for the Road Trip

Oliver Moore will be back on the second line with Frank Nazar and Tyler Bertuzzi. Teuvo Teravainen will drop down to the third line with Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev. Head coach Jeff Blashill says having Teravainen on the third line gives him three reliable defenders on the same line. With the next four games on the road, Blashill said he can put himself in better situations with this line, since the Blackhawks have the first change.

Blashill knows how fast Moore and Nazar are and wants to see them use it as a weapon on the ice. Bertuzzi’s smarts make him an excellent running mate for the two speedsters.

“We hope, long-term, that the speed of Moore and Nazar over the course of the season can be really effective.” He said. “They both play really fast. Bert is a really good, accountable, and smart player who can put pucks in the area for those guys. We’ve used it a little bit. It hasn’t come to fruition yet – the way we’d like it to, but we’re hoping to get there.”

Carter Hart to Debut

Carter Hart will make his debut for the Golden Knights tonight. This will be his first NHL game since Jan. 20, 2024, with the Philadelphia Flyers. He has been out of the league due to his involvement with the Team Canada sexual assault case. He is the first of the five players to play in the NHL since their acquittal in July.

Hart went 1-2-0 in his AHL conditioning stint, with a 3.07 goals-against average (GAA), and .839 save percentage (SV%). He is 2-1-0 in his three career starts against the Blackhawks, with a 2.36 GAA and .930 SV%. Only three current Blackhawks have goals against Hart. Bertuzzi and Teravainen have two, while Matt Grzelcyk has one.

Season Series

12/2 @ VGK
1/4 vs VGK
3/14 @ VGK

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Connor Bedard (16)
A-Bedard (21)
P-Bedard (37)
PPG-Tyler Bertuzzi (7)
GWG-Bedard (3)
SOG-Bedard (85)
PIM-Colton Dach (32)

Golden Knights Team Leaders

G-Jack Eichel/Tomas Hertl/Pavel Dorofeyev (11)
A-Eichel (21)
P-Eichel (32)
PPG-Dorofeyev (7)
GWG-Eichel/Hertl (2)
SOG-Eichel (103)
PIM-Jeremy Lauzon (28)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-3.20 (9th)
GA/G-2.88 (12th)
PP%-24.3 (6th)
PK%-84.1 (5th)
SOG/G-25.2 (28th)
SA/G-30.3 (27th)
FO%-46.7 (28th)
PIM/G-11:57 (30th)

Golden Knights Team Stats

GF/G-3.04 (14th)
GA/G-2.96 (14th)
PP%-24.1 (8th)
PK%-79.7 (20th)
SOG/G-29.9 (6th)
SA/G-24.8 (3rd)
FO%-54.4 (3rd)
PIM/G-7:12 (2nd)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Ryan Greene-Connor Bedard-Andre Burakovsky
Oliver Moore-Frank Nazar-Tyler Bertuzzi
Teuvo Teravainen-Jason Dickinson-Ilya Mikheyev
Colton Dach-Ryan Donato

Defensemen
Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser-Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk-Connor Murphy
Sam Rinzel

Scratched
F-Sam Lafferty, F-Landon Slaggert

Injured
F-Nick Foligno (hand)

Golden Knights Probable Lines

Forwards
Ivan Barbashev-Jack Eichel-Branden Bowman
Mitch Marner-Brett Howden-Mark Stone
Brandon Saad-Tomas Hertl-Pavel Dorofeyev
Cole Reinhardt-Colton Sissons-Keegan Kolesar

Defensemen
Brayden McNabb-Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin-Zach Whitecloud
Ben Hutton-Kaedan Korczak

Scratched
F-Alexander Holtz, F-Reilly Smith

Injured
G-Adin Hill (lower body), D-Jeremy Lauzon (undisclosed), F-William Karlsson (lower body)

Goaltending Matchup

Spencer Knight (8-5-4, 2.51 GAA, .9 SV%, 1 SO) vs Carter Hart (season debut)