The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the St. Louis Blues 8-3 at Enterprise Center. It was an offensive explosion for the Blackhawks, who hadn’t scored more than three goals through the first four games of the season.
The big story on offense was the play of Lukas Reichel, who scored two goals and had one assist. He was in the lineup in place of Nick Foligno, and he took full advantage of the opportunity.
Reichel doesn’t have to be a bona fide top-six center to be successful in the NHL. It doesn’t matter where he was drafted. It matters how he helps the team win. The skill is there for him to make an impact, which was on display on Wednesday night in St. Louis.
Connor Bedard was one of the forwards being double-shifted as a result of dressing 11 forwards and seven defensemen. He had one assist on the power play, which was a beautiful cross-ice feed to Teuvo Teravainen, who put one on net that Tyler Bertuzzi deflected in.
The other two assists came by chipping in on goals scored by fourth liners in Lukas Reichel and Ryan Greene. Jeff Blashill admitted after their win over the Utah Mammoth that they will be going 11/7 often this season, which is a great way to develop the defenseman, but it also gets guys like Bedard more touches.
Greene’s goal was his first in the National Hockey League. This was his seventh career game in the big leagues, and the mostly defensive center finally has his first.
When Greene was at Boston University, he proved that he could make plays, which would make him an even more valuable bottom-six forward in the long term. Right now, it’s the right decision to have him on the team out of camp.
Blackhawks: Ryan Greene Scores His First Career NHL Goal
Chicago Blackhawks forward Ryan Greene scored his first career NHL goal, which made it 8-3 Blackhawks in the third period.
Connor Bedard doesn’t have to do it all by himself anymore. There are some good wingers on the team, like Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, and Ryan Donato, but now they have a two-headed monster down the middle. Frank Nazar is turning into a star.
During this win, Nazar scored a beautiful goal on the rush, which gave the Blackhawks some insurance at a time when the game was much closer. He made contact with Blues goalie Joel Hofer after the puck entered the net, which caused a get-together, but he held his own and still managed to celebrate the goal when it was all said and done.
After the game was over, TNT had both Bedard and Nazar on the postgame show from the bench for an interview. They were very candid with their answers, while also displaying some confidence in their abilities.
Connor Bedard said that he knows he’s a good hockey player and that they want to make the playoffs now, not in three years. Those are strong words, but it is the mindset that any team wants their players to have. Finding a winning mentality is half the battle in the NHL, and that was on display on Wednesday night, both on and off the ice.
Arvid Soderblom made his second start of the season in this win. He made 23 saves on 26 shots. That’s not the typical great Soderblom performance, but he did his job well enough to win. None of the goals against were necessarily his fault, but there will be times when the Blackhawks need him at a higher level.
If there was ever a win for a young team to build on, it would be this one. They defeated their biggest rival, who swept them last year, in their first meeting of the 2025-26 season. Nazar mentioned the loss at Wrigley Field in the Winter Classic being used as fuel every time they play them going forward, and it worked.
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