The Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks faced off at Rogers Arena for their second matchup of the season on Nov. 5. The Canucks took the first contest between these two teams by a score of 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 17. Also, Lukas Reichel was recently traded from the Blackhawks to the Canucks. These were the big stories headed into this matchup. But the Blackhawks flipped the script and ran away with a big 5-2 victory. It was their first win in their fourth game of a six-game road trip. Let’s get to some takeaways.
Bertuzzi’s 3rd Period Hat Trick
Tyler Bertuzzi stole the show in this one. After two hard-fought periods and no goals on either side, “Bert” got the job done in the third. He scored three unanswered goals (with an Ilya Mikheyev goal in between) for his fourth career hat trick. It was also the 20th multi-point game in his 10-year career.
The 30-year-old scored at the 3:06 mark of the third period to start out the scoring for the game, and then again on the power play. His third goal of the night gave the Blackhawks a 4-0 lead.
Bertuzzi signature net front presence earns him those much-needed greasy goals on the team. Two of his tallies in this games were of that variety. He’s also a great team player, despite his crusty outward persona. Head coach Jeff Blashill recently said of the wily veteran,
Tyler is a foxhole guy, man. I’ll take him all day, every day, on any team I’ve ever coached. He’s a foxhole guy, and you want him in your foxhole. And he’ll stick up for himself, stick up for his teammates. He kind of embodies what we want to be as a group … he’s a big piece of what we want to be here. And I’ve been really, really impressed with him and his start and what he’s done and his approach. Again, I’ve known him a long time and he’s been dialed in this year, for sure.
Bertuzzi came into the league when Blashill coached the Detroit Red Wings, so there is a history there between player and coach. The two are certainly proving to be a good combination in Chicago, with Blashill pushing all the right buttons and Bertuzzi being “dialed in”. So far, so good.
Bedard Extends Point Streak to 6 Games
Don’t look now, but Connor Bedard is playing some of the best hockey of his young career. Now in his third NHL season, the 20-year-old has matured both on and off the ice, plus his much-discussed offseason training seems to be paying off. Everything is clicking right now for Bedard.
Coming into this contest, Bedard hadn’t scored a goal against his hometown Canucks in five career games against them. Well, he finally got that monkey off his back, even if it was an empty net goal.
Connor Bedard scores the empty-netter to seal the deal in his hometown of Vancouver. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/0pKqdcEIDM
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 6, 2025
Bedard also provided the primary assist on Bertuzzi’s power play goal for a two-point outing. All in all, he was credited with five shots on goal and 13 shot attempts in this game. He’s also currently on a six-game point streak, having registered five goals and 11 points in that span, including his first career hat trick on against the Ottawa Senators (Oct. 28). Blashill touted the tone Bedard is setting for the team.
The thing I’d say about Connor is his compete every single day is outstanding. I can’t think of a game where he hasn’t kind of been on his game, to be honest with you. That doesn’t mean it always looks great; doesn’t mean it always goes his way. His compete has been outstanding. I asked him at the beginning of the year, as one of the better players on the team, to be a great leader in terms of playing winning hockey. He’s done that consistently.
On the season, Bedard leads the team in all three categories with seven goals, 11 assists and 18 points in 14 games. The young star finally seems to be putting all the pieces together, and that’s great news for the Blackhawks.
Knight’s Stellar Play Continues
Let’s face it; the Blackhawks wouldn’t have a 6-5-3 record right now without Spencer Knight in net. The 24-year-old has covered up for a lot of the team’s defensive deficiencies, giving them a chance to win every night. This was certainly the case in this contest against the Canucks. Knight stopped a whopping 43-of-45 shots, including 21 high-danger chances, for a stellar .956 save percentage. To top it all off, he also provided the primary assist on Bedard’s empty net goal shown above. It was his fourth career assist.
Through 10 games played, Knight currently boasts a .919 save percentage and a 2.56 goals against average. He’s faced 320 shots, which is sixth in the league, and stopped 294 of them, which is good for fifth in the league. If Knight can keep this up, it’s safe to say the Blackhawks have found their elite franchise goaltender.
Other Blackhawks News & Notes
- 20-year-old forward Oliver Moore was recently called up by the Blackhawks, and this was his second game of the season with the big club. Through these two contests, Moore has played on the third line alongside Mikheyev and Ryan Donato.
Related – Blackhawks Could Get Spark From Oliver Moore’s Recall From IceHogs
Moore provided the secondary assist on Mikheyev’s goal (No. 11 below), and has registered three shots on goal, five shot attempts, one hit, one blocked shot and one takeaway while averaging 13:50 minutes of ice time. He’s off to a solid start.
Ilya Mikheyev scores against his former team for his 4th goal of the season.
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 6, 2025
That's 3 third-period goals in a span of 4:33 for Chicago. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/Cldz7TP120
- Sticking with this third line, Donato has been solid so far this season. He snapped a three-game pointless streak by providing two assists in this game. His six goals is tied with Bertuzzi for second on the team, and his 10 points is tied with both Bertuzzi and Andre Burakovsky for third on the team.
- Defenseman Artyom Levshunov earned his sixth assist of the season on Bertuzzi’s power play goal, which leads all D-men in both assists and points. Ironically, he’s still searching for his first NHL goal.
Related – Blackhawks News & Rumors: Bedard, Nazar, Blashill, Rockford, Reichel & More
The Blackhawks are currently 1-2-1 on this six-game road trip, with the struggling Calgary Flames on tap this Friday (Nov. 7) and the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday (Nov. 9). Let’s see if they can collect two more wins and end the trip on a high note.
