After the Blackhawks were embaressed by the Montreal Candiens on Friday night, things needed to change. Jeff Blashill had some words with this players on Saturday. The Blashill speech must have been good because the Hawks came with a better effort. Blashill also made some change to the lineup. Oliver Moore was a health scratch, while the long-benched Kevin Korchinski made a start.
Chicago had a much better effort, but unfortunately, a costly line change late in the third period proved to be the difference, leading to the game-winning goal.
First period
Chicago got off to a great start in this game. Ryan Greene was able swat a puck out of the air for the game’s first goal and his first of the season.
GOAL: Ryan Greene bats in a puck in front to open the scoring. https://t.co/k7W6U2dyRH
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 25, 2026
Later in the period, Sandis Vilmanis of Florida tied the game at 1-1.
Matthew Tkachuk gave the Panthers the lead with a power-play goal late in the first period.
Second period
Roman Kantserov noted the game at 2-2 for the Blackhawks.
GOAL: Kane to Kantserov to tie the game. https://t.co/Dpz4QTbQUH
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 25, 2026
Third period
In the third period, the Hawks played the Panthers tough. The young defensemen of Sam Rinzel and Korchinski made an ill-advised change that led to the Lars Ellers game-winner. Rinzel and Korchinski had been playing well in the game before the bad change.
Analysis
This game will go into the scorebook as a loss but perhaps this game is the start of the change. The Hawks were engaged and competitive in the third period of this game. Based on the numbers, the Hawks played Florida even for the game.
Expected goals today, per Natural Stat Trick:
Chicago: 3.4
Florida: 3.38Even game. Power play going 0-for-7 was the difference. Not having Bowen Byram up top has been tough. Obviously another loss is frustrating but hard to be mad about the effort. #Blackhawks
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 25, 2026
I believe we can take a few things from this loss. The most important thing is this effort needs to be there night in and night out. When the Hawks bring the effort, they can play with the top teams in this league. If they would have any puck luck on any of Ryan Donato’s chances, the result might have been different.
The second thing is that Hawks have to get better on the power play. Without Bowen Byram, the power play has had to adjust its deployment but it’s clear it is still not working. They were 0-7 today and 0-6 against Montreal; that’s 0-13 in their last two games. The last two games, the unit has been five forwards: Connor Bedard, Patrick Kane, Teuvo Teravainen, Kantserov and Tyler Bertuzzi. I think it’s time for that composition to change.
The final thing is that when given a chance, Korchinski can play in this league. With a team starved for offense, a young offensive-minded defenseman might be able to help. Blashill said Korchinski “did a lot of good things today.” Hopefully the effort of this game will continue throughout the rest of the season.
The Hawks’ next game is Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings.