The Chicago Blackhawks were doing well heading into the first intermission. They were 1-0 up after Connor Bedard's strike and looked to maintain the momentum.
Then everything turned upside down. Again.
The Los Angeles Kings used three unanswered goals to beat the Hawks 3-1 on Sunday at the United Center. The defeat ended the game for the home team. points streak in five games.
“I thought we played really well in the first game (and) probably could have gone up by two,” Hawks coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought in Game 2 we hurt ourselves a little bit from a puck management standpoint and made the game less direct (and) less predictable for ourselves.”
The Kings (4-3-3) played the second half of back-to-back games after losing in a shootout to the Nashville Predators 5-4. However, the Hawks (4-3-2) lacked energy.
Sloppy offensive zone possessions turned into Kings breaks. The road team scored twice in less than two minutes, including a goal from left winger Kevin Fiala at the 4:54 mark of the second period.
Photo: The Chicago Blackhawks lost 3-1 to the Los Angeles Kings.
It was like Vancouver Canucks trip to United Center October 17. They scored two goals in the second period to win the shootout 3–2.
“The power play lost a little bit of momentum, then we didn't have a chance to come back and we felt like we were shooting ourselves in the foot,” center Jason Dickinson said. “It's so cliché, but we made mistakes that they capitalized on and that's really all it was.”
Blashill added: “Certainly disappointing. We'll have to keep that in mind more (when we're) in the back half so we can't use it as an excuse. We finished good first periods on both occasions and I thought we took our foot off the gas.”
In the final two periods, the Kings contained the Hawks' offense. Shots on goal made it 23-22 after the Hawks held an 11-6 lead after the first period.
Blashill knew how frustrating playing the Kings could be, given their size and strength. The players got personal experience.
“They play really boring. It's not like they're digging or anything, they sit back a lot and make it difficult to get into zones,” Bedard said. “We need to figure out how to hack it. It's a good learning experience for us.”
The power play has become a concern after becoming a bright spot in the 2024-25 season. The Hawks have now converted 15.9% of their power play opportunities, down from the 24.9% mark they had last year.
“I want to take a closer look at this without making a bunch of comments, (but) we are struggling with faceoffs,” Blashill said. “We needed to build momentum, but we didn’t feel like we built momentum today.”
The match featured Kings captain and center Anze Kopitar, who was brought off injured reserve Saturday ahead of the trip to Nashville. He returned from a foot injury suffered against the Minnesota Wild.
Kopitar, 38, announced that the 2025-26 season will be his final season in the NHL, making Sunday's game his final regular-season appearance at the United Center. The Hawks will travel to Los Angeles for two games on December 4th and 6th.
Kopitar has some Hawks experience from his 20 seasons with the Kings. Most notably, the Kings and Hawks faced each other in back-to-back Western Conference Finals.
In 2013, the Hawks beat the Kings in five games en route to another Stanley Cup. Patrick Kane capped Game 5 with a double-overtime goal for a hat trick.
Kopitar took revenge in the 2014 series, where the Kings beat the Hawks in seven games. The Kings defeated the New York Rangers in five games to win Kopitar's second Stanley Cup.
Kopitar played in 1,460 games, scored 440 goals and 842 assists for 1,282 points and a plus-112 rating. Skaters like Bedard and Frank Nazar may have been learning to walk when Kopitar debuted, so it was important for Blashill to get his team ready for No. 11.
“I don't know him personally, but honestly, he was one of my favorite players in the league, and it's amazing how good he is still after so many years in the league,” Blashill said at his team's morning skate. “He’s one of those great winners in our game.
“It's just important for us to focus on playing our game and doing what we have to do. I think Kopitar is a good model to see what that looks like and why he won two Stanley Cups.”
Right winger Ilya Mikheyev left the game in the third period after being knocked into the boards by forward Adrian Kempe. He reached the tunnel holding his shoulder, but Blashill said he didn't think it was anything serious.
Forward Tyler Bertuzzi did not play Sunday and his status for Tuesday's game against the Ottawa Senators is unclear. No injury was reported, but Blashill says he is fine.
