The Chicago Blackhawks did their usual red carpet ceremony prior to dropping the puck at the United Center for their home opener on Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks. The Hawks are coming off a mixed bag of a four-game season-opening road trip that saw them finish with a 1–2–1 record. The Hawks started Petr Mrazek in net against San Jose’s Vitek Vanecek. The Sharks played without 2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini, who landed on injured reserve earlier this week because of a lower-body injury.
First period
The Hawks scored first while both teams skated four aside. TJ Brodie made a quick outlet pass to Taylor Hall, who skated in 1-on-1 and snapped a wrist shot past Vanacek from the right faceoff dot to give Chicago a 1–0 lead. For Hall, it was his first of the season at the 4:20 mark.
lamp: lit🔥 pic.twitter.com/olZXPhe5TE
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 18, 2024
With 50 seconds to go in the period, Tyler Bertuzzi notched his first as a Blackhawk on the power play. Playing arguably his best game of the season, Bertuzzi deflected a shot-pass by Teuvo Teravainen from the blue line to give the Blackhawks a 2–0 lead, which they held after 20 minutes. It was a dominant first period for the Hawks, who had a 10–4 advantage in shots on goal.
bert! bert! bert! bert! pic.twitter.com/aXpqOauOZJ
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 18, 2024
Second period
The Hawks opened the period with some carryover power play time and they took advantage. Connor Bedard started a beautiful passing sequence with a no-look cross-ice feed to Teravainen, who passed it directly to Nick Foligno, who was parked in front of the net and deflected it in. Foligno scored his team-leading third of the season at the 43-second mark to give Chicago a 3–0 lead.
tic-tac-gooooooooal❌ pic.twitter.com/v2yvlGdfxj
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 18, 2024
With 1:43 left, the Sharks got on the board when Tyler Toffoli scored his second of the season. The Hawks failed to clear the zone and William Eklund found Toffoli on the doorstep and he tapped it in to cut the Hawks’ lead to 3–1. That would be the score through two periods.
Third period
The Hawks took a 4–1 lead early in the third when Jason Dickinson scored his first of the season. Joey Anderson won a board battle in the left corner and then fed Dickinson behind the net, and he skated in front and tucked it in past Vanecek at the 2:19 mark.
right place, right time, right guy pic.twitter.com/GQn56FHdSe
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 18, 2024
With a delayed penalty called against the Hawks, San Jose tied it 32 seconds later. Fabian Zetterland tipped a Mikael Granlund pass for his second of the season. The Hawks’ lead was cut to 4–2.
The Sharks pulled the goaltender with just over three minutes left in regulation trailing by two goals but could not take advantage. The Hawks took their home opener 4–2 over the Sharks.
Analysis
It was a strong effort by the Blackhawks, who jumped out to a quick start and built leads of 3–0 and 4–1. The power play contributed two goals, however, the Hawks came up empty on a pair of two-man advantages, each over a minute in length. The chemistry between new linemates Bedard and Teravainen continues to grow, as they each picked up a pair of assists and created numerous other scoring chances.
The Blackhawks continue their four-game home stand on Saturday night when they host the Buffalo Sabres. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CDT on CHSN with the radio call on 720 WGN.