Greenway scores Blackhawks 1st goal of the season, but the Hawks fall 5-2 to the Golden Knights

The 2026-27 season has finally begun! On Tuesday (Sept. 29), the Chicago Blackhawks faced the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena for their home-opener. It was the third game of a triple-header to start the season, and Blackhawk's fans had to stay up late to see their favorite team suit up for the first time.

Unfortunately, the Blackhawks fell 5-2 in this contest. Let's get to the lineup notes and game highlights.

Blackhawks lineup & special teams

Oliver Moore - Roman Kantserov - Patrick Kane

Ryan Donato - Frank Nazar - Nick Lardis

Tyler Bertuzzi - Anton Frondell - *Andrew Mangiapane

Cole Smith - Ryan Greene - Jordan Greenway

Alex Vlasic - Bowen Byram

Wyatt Kaiser - Artyom Levshunov

Ian Cole - Sam Rinzel

Spencer Knight/ Arvid Soderblom

Scratches: Teuvo Teravainen, Ethan Del Mastro, Kevin Korchinski, Connor Bedard (injured reserve)

The Blackhawks went with a little bit different forward lineup than they've had through most of training camp. This featured Kantserov at center with Moore also on the top line. Nazar slotted down to 2C, while Donato moved up to the second line. Bertuzzi, Frondell and Mangiapane comprised the new-look shutdown line, while the fourth line remained the same.

The defensive pairings remained the same as well, with Korchinski and Del Mastro the odd men out. Teravainen was also a scratch at forward, but head coach Jeff Blasill says he'll play at some point on this three-game road trip.

Knight was in net, with Soderblom serving as his backup.

Power Play Units

PP1: Bertuzzi, Kane - Kantserov - Frondell, Byram

PP2: Donato, Moore -Nazar - Lardis. Rinzel

Penalty Kill Units

PK1: Smith, Cole, Vlasic, Greenway

PK2: Nazar, Levshunov, Kaiser, Greene

Other PK participants: Frondell, Byram

Blackhawks Game Notes

• The Blackhawks got off to a slow start, with Mangiapane committing a tripping penalty At the 10:31 mark of the game, the Hawks were hit with too many men on the ice to give Vegas yet another power play. Victor Olofsson found the back of the net to make it 1-0 for the Golden Knights. Levshunov didn't exactly provide the best coverage on the play.

• Then add insult to injury, rookie Trevor Connelly scored off a Knight rebound to make it 2-0 for Vegas. It was the 20-year-old's first NHL goal.

• The Golden Knights registered eight shots on goal before the Blackhawks even had one (by Lardis at the 7:42 mark). At the end of first frame, the Blackhawks had just six shots on goal to the Golden Knight's 15. It was a very disjointed period for Chicago.

• *Blackhawk's Mangiapane left the game early in the second period and did not return for the rest of the game. He played just 5:23 minutes.

• About halfway through the second period, Parker Wotherspoon sat for roughing Lardis, giving the Blackhawks a much-needed power play. Unfortunately, all it really led to was a couple breakaway chances for Golden Knights.

• However, 28 seconds after the power play expired, none other than fourth-liner Greenway scored the first goal of the season for the Blackhawks to cut the lead in half! 2-1, still Vegas. The assists were provided by Greene and Kaiser.

• Alas, the Golden Knights scored shortly thereafter to make it 3-1. Jack Eichel was in a good spot in front of the net and tipped it in.

• Kane gave the Blackhawks some life early in the third period with a pretty goal. He found his way through D-man Wotherspoon and deked it past goaltender Carter Hart. It was great to see Kaner score in his first game back with the Blackhawks since 2023.

• Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Noah Hanifin scored a mere 39 seconds later to give the Golden Knights a 4-2 lead.

• Late in the third period, Rinzel delivered a massive but clean hit to Golden Knight's Braeden Bowman. Marc Gatcomb took exception, giving the Blackhawks their second power play of the game. They managed just two shots on goal and weren't able to convert.

• The Blackhawks emptied their net with about 2:40 to go in an attempt to get back in the game. But Vegas's Mark Stone scored the empty net goal to make it 5-2. This ended up being the final score of the contest.

• Greenway had himself a night! He scored a goal, led all Blackhawks with five shots on goal, and was second only to Kane with seven shot attempts. (Kane registers four shots and eight shot attempts). Greenway also delivered three hits in 14:08 total minutes of ice time.

• With Mangiapane out, Kane picked up most of the extra minutes in his stead. "Showtime" logged 21:36 minutes to lead all forwards. According to Natural Stat Trick, the trio of Kane, Bertuzzi and Nazar were credited with four shots for and six shots attempts compared to zero for the opposition. This was in just 1:28 minutes of ice time together.

• All in all, the Blackhawks struggled to stop Vegas from having their way all night, and couldn't seem to create much of their own. They ended the night registering just 25 shots on goal to the Golden Knight's 36. If they're going to win games, they'll need to generate more.

The Blackhawks will continue their three game road trip against the Utah Mammoth Thursday and the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. It's a tough lot for the Hawks, as both are home-openers for the opposing team just like it was for Vegas. Hopefully they can learn from this game and bring a better effort moving

Chicago will finally get to host their own home-opener on Tuesday, Oct. 6, versus the St. Louis Blues.

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