The Chicago Blackhawks began their post-Winter Olympics stretch run on the road in Music City against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night. This was the first game for the Hawks since Feb. 4 when they dropped a 4-0 road decision to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Hawks started Spencer Knight in net against Nashville’s Justus Annunen.
First period
Despite six minutes of early power play time, the Hawks found themselves trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes. Artyom Levshanov turned the puck over along the boards and Filip Forsberg picked it up in the slot and fired a wrist shot top shelf for his 25th of the season at 13:50.
Second period
Connor Bedard tied the game at 1-1 with his career-high 24th of the season at the 4:13 mark. Ryan Greene snuck a pass from the half boards to Bedard in the slot, who snapped one past Annunen. The game would remain tied through two frames.
Connor Bedard for a career-high 24 goals‼️🔥 pic.twitter.com/TLz6vyNy7G
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 27, 2026
Third period
The Blackhawks finally cashed in on their fourth power play of the game when Tyler Bertuzzi scored his 26th of the season at 3:16. Teuvo Teravainen lobbed a puck on net with Bertuzzi setting a screen. A rebound came right to Bertuzzi, who scored on the rebound to give Chicago a 2-1 lead.
Bertuzzi on the power play✅ pic.twitter.com/5sbJQbRKJu
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 27, 2026
The Preds responded with a power-play goal of their own when Matthew Wood scored his 10th of the season at 7:12. Erik Haula retrieved the puck behind the net and found Wood open in the right circle and he snapped a shot past Knight to tie the game at 2-2.
With 3:15 left in regulatjon, Ryan O’Reilly broke the tie with his 21st of the season. Roman Josi led the rush and from the right circle, he threaded the needle and found O’Reilly, who tipped it past Knight to give the Preds a 3-2 lead.
With the Hawks’ net empty and the extra attacker on, Steven Stamkos forced a turnover on Frank Nazar at the Hawks’ blue line and fired the puck into the empty net for his 29th of the season at 19:12 to give the Preds a 4-2 lead, which was the final.
Analysis
Collectively, the Hawks looked rusty, as their puck management was awful throughout the game. The Hawks committed multiple turnovers, including two that led directly to Nashville goals. On the plus side, Knight had a strong game and Bedard was arguably the best player on the ice, as he looked refreshed and showed a ton of speed entering the zone.
The Rink would also like to congratulate Dana Grey, manager of communications and broadcasting for the Rockford IceHogs, who made his NHL debut calling the game on 720 WGN.
The Hawks will play the second game of this four-game road trip on Saturday in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche. Puck drop is at 5 p.m. CST on CHSN with the radio call on 720 WGN.