Bertuzzi's late hat trick powers Blackhawks past Canucks

VANCOUVER -- Tyler Bertuzzi scored a hat trick in the third period and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 at Rogers Arena on Wednesday.

Spencer Knight made 43 saves and Connor Bedard extended his point streak to six games with a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks (6-5-3), who ended a three-game winless streak (0-2-1) that started a six-game road trip.

Vancouver had won 11 straight against the Blackhawks dating back to Jan. 31, 2022 and outshot them 19-8 in the second period, but Chicago broke out with five goals in the third.

“Knight kept us in it like he always does and gave us a chance in the third to come out and put our foot down and put some in the net,” Bertuzzi said.

Aatu Raty and Evander Kane scored late and Kevin Lankinen made 23 saves for the Canucks (7-8-0), who were coming off a 2-1-0 road trip and have alternated between a win and a loss for six straight games.

“The first two periods we doubled them in chances, I think we all saw that,” Canucks coach Adam Foote said. “I think one of those goes in, there’s a pretty good chance we win that hockey game. Little mishap on the first one they got, defensively we made a mistake and I think we just got off a little bit from there. I don’t know if it was fatigue from the trip, coming back. We just over pressed. And you guys saw the rest.”

Vancouver appeared to open the scoring 8:34 into the second period when forward Drew O'Connor stuffed a rebound underneath a sprawling Knight, but the Blackhawks challenged successfully for goalie interference because O’Connor contacted Knight in the crease on the initial shot.

“That was a big moment, obviously,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said. “You win that challenge and now it stays 0-0, to get goals off the board is a huge thing.”

Bertuzzi made it 1-0 just 3:06 into the third period when a backdoor pass from the left boards by defenseman Matt Grzelcyk bounced in off his skates at the far side of the crease.

Bertuzzi doubled the lead on Chicago’s first power play of the game less than four minutes later, this time dropping to one knee in the same spot on the far post and redirecting a backdoor pass from Bedard just outside the left face-off dot and past a diving Lankinen at 6:46.

“[Bedard] knows where I am and I think the 'D' kind of know too,” Bertuzzi said of parking himself on the back post. “We talked about it in the second intermission, when it gets rimmed around, you can just sling it on net and [Grzelcyk] made a great play. Head up, [Nick Foligno] was in front too screening, and it was just a good play.”

Ilya Mikheyev made it 3-0 on a short-side wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle at 7:39, and Bertuzzi completed his fourth NHL hat trick by converting a rebound past a diving Lankinen from the same spot at 11:37 to make it 4-0.

“He's a guy you appreciate more from ice level than you might from up top,” Blashill said of Bertuzzi. “Skating doesn't always look great, but man, he wins pucks, and that's kind of who he's always been for me. He's great on that back post. He's really learned over the years how to build a wall on that back post and people shoot for it and they go in. It's a great way to score. 'Bert,' for me, has been very good all season, and he had another good one tonight.”

Raty scored off the rush at 16:49 of the third period to end Knight’s shutout at 4-1, and Kane scored on a screened point shot with Lankinen pulled for an extra attacker at 18:00 to make it 4-2.

“We played well enough to win,” Kane said. “Obviously dominated the first two periods. A little soft in front of our net, they got a few lucky bounces and capitalized on the power play there. So, tough but a lot of positive signs in terms of how we played tonight.”

Bedard scored into an empty net at 19:00 for the 5-2 final, giving him 11 points (five goals, six assists) during a six-game point streak that is the second-longest of his NHL career behind a nine-game streak last season (Dec. 21, 2024 - Jan. 10, 2025). It is also the first time Bedard has scored a goal in his hometown of Vancouver since making his NHL debut in 2023.

“Connor has been consistently game in and game out committed to winning hockey,” Blashill said. “He's competed extraordinarily hard, he's done all the kind of winning things. He hasn't been perfect but, man, he's done a lot of good winning hockey habits, and he's been rewarded offensively because of it, and I think we've been rewarded as a team because of it.”

NOTES: Bedard, who doesn’t turn 21 until after this season, has 146 NHL points, tying Bobby Hull for the fourth-most by a Blackhawks player before age 21. Eddie Olczyk leads the list with 180. … Bedard had 12 points (four goals, eight assists) during his NHL career best nine-game streak last season. … Bertuzzi is the seventh Chicago player in the past 30 years to score a hat trick in a single period, and the sixth player in NHL history to score a hat trick for three Original Six teams after also doing it with the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.