The Chicago Blackhawks took on the Utah Hockey Club at the United Center on the NHL trade deadline day. While the Hawks made two moves on the day, only one move affected the NHL roster. The Hawks moved Craig Smith and Petr Mrazek for Joseph Veleno. Veleno did not join the Hawks in their game against Utah.
With Smith gone, Philipp Kurashev was activated off the injured reserve to take his place. Spencer Knight got his second start in net after joining the Hawks in the Seth Jones trade. In addition to Knight, Ryan Donato remained in the Hawks’ lineup after not being moved at the deadline.
Here were the lines:
Blackhawks lines in warmups vs Utah:
Dach-Bedard-Nazar
Teravainen-Donato-Mikheyev
Slaggert-Foligno-Bertuzzi
Maroon-Reichel-KurashevVlasic-Crevier
Del Mastro-Murphy
Kaiser-MartinezKnight
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 8, 2025
First period
Utah jumped all over the Hawks early. The puck poked into the slot and was blasted home by former Blackhawk forward Nick Schmaltz. Later in the period, Knight robbed Schmaltz of his second goal of the game. Knight saved the other six shots he saw in the first period. After one, Utah led 1–0.
Second period
At the midway point of the second period, Wyatt Kaiser tied the game up with a blast of his own.
Connor Bedard with a quick shot that goes off the crossbar, but he sticks with the play and sets up Kaiser who scores
Bedard’s seven game pointless streak is over pic.twitter.com/JpqaXSm1DJ
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) March 8, 2025
Less than three minutes later, Ilya Mikheyev put the Hawks on top 2–1.
OH, MICKEY!!!😤 pic.twitter.com/sQpZrI1oac
— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) March 8, 2025
With less than two minutes gone by, Frank Nazar drew a penalty shot. Nazar danced his way past Karel Vejmelka for the goal.
I’M JUST DANCIN’ ON MY OWN‼️
Tune in: https://t.co/TmhS1QKV7D pic.twitter.com/nxGA5rbUsb
— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) March 8, 2025
The Hawks finished the second period with a 3–1 lead.
Third period
Early in the third period, John Marino got Utah on the board with his first goal this season. Seven minutes later, Clayton Keller buried the power-play chance to tie the game at 3–3.
The third ended with the game tied.
Overtime
In overtime, Connor Bedard ended his goal drought with the game winner.
CONNOR BEDARD CALLS GAME pic.twitter.com/2jSuieyOrD
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) March 8, 2025
Analysis
Since the Knight trade, the Hawks have points in their last four games with three wins and one overtime loss. Knight is 2–0 with a 1.95 goals against average and a .951 save percentage with Chicago. Knight’s addition and the subtraction of Jones, has given the Blackhawks a new feel on the ice. The team appears to be playing looser and with more confidence since Jones’ departure.
With Knight being in the fold, the Hawks felt comfortable dealing Mrazek to the Wings. Mrazek was great last season and struggled a ton this season.
Another positive from tonight victory was the scoring of Bedard. Since the 4 Nations Face-Off, Bedard had been pointless in seven games. With a goal and an assist, Bedard has ended that slump. Bedard might be happy that one of his favorite teammates in Donato remains a Blackhawks. Donato was not traded as many people speculated. Kyle Davidson never got an offer that met their asking price.
The streaking Hawks’ next game is against the Nashville Predators on Saturday at 7 p.m. CST.