The Chicago Blackhawks played only two games this past week, but they made the most of it — earning 3 of 4 points with a solid 1-0-1 record. It was a tighter schedule, but the team showed good habits and resilience as they continue building toward a strong first quarter of the season.
Down in Rockford, it was a tougher stretch for the IceHogs, who battled hard but couldn’t find the consistent offense they needed.
Every Monday, we bring you the Blackhawks Weekly Recap, breaking down everything happening across the organization — from the NHL roster to the Rockford IceHogs and the prospects developing throughout the system. We look back at the week’s results, highlight the standout performers, and finish with our Three Stars of the Week.
NHL: Blackhawks Keep Momentum Rolling With 1–0–1 (Week 6)
Game 1: Blackhawks 3 – Devils 4 (OT)
The Blackhawks opened Week 6 at the United Center in a fast-paced, back-and-forth battle that ended in a 4-3 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils. Chicago had chances to close this one out — leading three different times — but defensive lapses and a late push from New Jersey cost them the extra point.
Chicago struck first late in the opening period on a 5-on-3 power play. Connor Bedard hammered a one-timer from the left circle off a perfect setup from Teuvo Teravainen, extending his point streak to nine games. The Hawks carried that 1–0 lead into intermission, but the game tilted heavily toward New Jersey in the second. The Devils outshot Chicago 14–3 in the middle frame and forced sustained pressure until Simon Nemec finally tied it with 15 seconds left, beating Spencer Knight with a backhand from the faceoff circle.
The Hawks responded early in the third. Newly recalled forward Landon Slaggert tipped in a Louis Crevier point shot to put Chicago up 2–1, a nice moment for the rookie in his season debut. But the Devils kept coming. Dawson Mercer finished a sharp one-timer midway through the period to even it again, and although Sam Lafferty restored the lead for Chicago on a slick backhand move, the Hawks couldn’t lock it down. With under five minutes remaining, Nemec struck again, burying a one-timer from the left side to make it 3–3.
Overtime didn’t last long. Just past the three-minute mark, Devils goaltender Jacob Markström fired a long stretch pass onto the tape of Nemec, who walked in alone and completed his first NHL hat trick with a glove-side finish. It was a tough ending for Chicago after leading throughout the night, but the Hawks still came away with a point and saw their best players contribute again.
Coach’s Take:
This was a game where Chicago let details slip away. Too much time defending, too many second-chance opportunities for New Jersey, and the Devils dictated pace for long stretches. The Hawks showed compete and scored timely goals, but you can’t give up three leads and expect to escape. Bedard was sharp, Slaggert brought good energy, and the power play delivered, but the group has to tighten defensively in key moments.
Game 2: Blackhawks 3 – Maple Leafs 2
The Blackhawks wrapped up their two-game week with a strong 3–2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the United Center, earning a hard-fought victory in one of their most structured performances of the season. Chicago didn’t dominate from start to finish, but they played a composed, mature game that showed how far this young team has come.
Chicago opened the scoring midway through the first period on a great passing sequence between Artyom Levshunov and Ryan Greene. Levshunov spotted Greene drifting into space between the circles and zipped a perfect feed across, and Greene hammered it past Joseph Woll for his second goal of the year. It was exactly the kind of confident release the Hawks want to see from the 21-year-old center.
The Leafs tied the game in the final minute of the period. Spencer Knight made the initial stop on Tavares, but the rebound popped into the slot, and Nicholas Robertson jumped on it to make it 1–1. It was a tough bounce for Knight, who otherwise looked sharp through the opening frame.
Toronto grabbed their only lead of the night in the second on a deflection from the point. Chicago challenged for goaltender interference, but the call stood and the Leafs took a 2–1 advantage. Instead of sagging, the Hawks pushed back with their best stretch of the night, generating long offensive-zone shifts and forcing Woll into a few difficult stops.
That momentum carried into the third. Just over five minutes in, Frank Nazar gained the zone with speed, drew two defenders, and slipped a slick backhand pass to Teuvo Teräväinen. Teräväinen held it, opened up the angle, and beat Woll far side to tie the game 2–2. It was a veteran finish and another example of Nazar creating offense with pace and poise.
The game-winner came at 15:35 on a play straight off the whiteboard. Louis Crevier fired a low, heavy shot from the right point, and Colton Dach got inside positioning and deflected it home for a huge late-goal. Dach’s reaction said it all — confidence, emotion, and a player who is earning more opportunity by the week.
Chicago shut it down from there. Knight stood tall in the final minutes, finishing with 31 saves and making several key stops to seal the win. It was the type of mature third period the Hawks struggled with early in the season, but they handled it with calm execution and good detail.
Coach’s Take:
This was one of Chicago’s most disciplined games of the year. They didn’t panic after falling behind, they managed the puck well in the third, and the young core was outstanding. Ryan Greene scored, Nazar made a big play, Teräväinen delivered in a pressure moment, and Colton Dach came through with a clutch tip. Spencer Knight was solid again and gave the team stability when Toronto pressed. Losing Foligno hurts, but the group responded the right way.
Blackhawks Notes of the Week
Tyler Bertuzzi did not dress and missed the game.
Nick Foligno left the game and is expected to miss a minimum of one month.
Frank Nazar returned to the lineup after missing time.
Jeff Blashill went back to a traditional six-defensemen setup, making Sam Rinzel a healthy scratch.
Blackhawks Team Performance Overview
| Category | Week 6 | Season | NHL Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | 1-0-1 | 9-5-4 | Div: 4 — Conf: 7 — League: 12 |
| Goals For | 6 | 59 | 13th |
| Goals Against | 6 | 46 | 3rd |
| Goal Differential | 0 | 13 | 4th |
| GF/GP | 3.00 | 3.28 | 8th |
| GA/GP | 3.00 | 2.56 | 5th |
| Power Play | 20.0% | 25.0% | 7th |
| Penalty Kill | 100% | 84.9% | 6th |
| Shots/GP | 26 | 25.3 | 28th |
| Shots Against/GP | 35 | 31.9 | 32nd |
| Faceoff % | 40.6% | 46.7% | 27th |
Blackhawks Player Highlights (week)
- Louis Crevier: 3 A | 3 PTS | 3 SOG
- Nick Foligno: 2 A | 2 PTS | 11 SOG
- Connor Bedard: 1 G 1 PTS | 7 SOG
- Artyom Levshunov: 1 A | 1 PTS 4 SOG
- Teuvo Teravainen: 1 G | 1 A | 2 PTS 5 SOG
- Spencer Knight: 1–0–1 | 3.00 GAA | .914 SV%
AHL: IceHogs Can’t Finish Chances in 0–2–1 Week
GAME 1 — IceHogs Fall 3–2 to Manitoba
The Rockford IceHogs came out flying, but once again they couldn’t turn a good start into a complete 60-minute effort. Despite grabbing a 2–0 lead early in the first period, Rockford ended up losing 3–2 to the Manitoba Moose in a frustrating matchup at the BMO Center.
The opening minutes were exactly what the Hogs needed. Marcel Marcel drove the net hard and buried his own rebound to make it 1–0, and just moments later rookie Aidan Thompson snapped one in off the glove to push the lead to 2–0. The crowd was buzzing, the Hogs had momentum — and then the offense disappeared.
Manitoba chipped away with a power-play goal late in the first, cutting the lead in half. Rockford had three opportunities to answer on the power play in the second, but instead it was the Moose who turned the tide. A turnover at the blue line sent Manitoba the other way, and former IceHog Isaak Phillips stung his old team with a short-handed goal to tie the game 2–2 with seconds left in the period.
That goal completely flipped the script.
Early in the third, Manitoba took advantage of a screen and fired a long shot past Drew Commesso for a 3–2 lead. Rockford tried to push back in the final minutes, but the offense once again went dry — a theme that has followed them throughout this cold stretch.
GAME 2 — IceHogs Outplayed in 5–2 Loss to Manitoba
If Game 1 was frustrating, Game 2 was a punch to the gut for the Rockford IceHogs. Once again, they grabbed the first goal… and once again, the game slipped away fast. Manitoba controlled long stretches of the night and skated out of the BMO Center with a 5–2 win, handing Rockford another tough loss on home ice.
The start was promising. Connor Mylymok jumped on a loose puck in front and hammered in his second of the year to put the Hogs up 1–0. Ryan Mast and Jamie Engelbert did the work on the wall to create the chance, exactly the type of “blue-collar” play Rockford needs more of.
But the second period turned into a disaster.
Two minutes in, a point shot hit Martin Misiak in front and redirected past Stanislav Berezhnoy. A few shifts later, Manitoba caught the Hogs flat-footed and took the lead when a half-slapper slipped through Berezhnoy’s pads for 2–1.
Rockford briefly showed life when Nick Lardis — playing through a nagging injury — made a slick pass from below the goal line to Brett Seney for the tap-in goal. That tied the game 2–2… but it didn’t last long.
The Moose took full control in the back half of the period, striking twice. First, a shorthanded rush ended up in the back of the net, then a clean breakaway finish made it 4–2. The IceHogs had no pushback, no momentum, and no answers.
Manitoba added another early in the third to make it 5–2, and from there the Hogs never threatened. The crowd watched the final minutes in silence — the team just couldn’t generate anything dangerous.
GAME 3 — SHOOTOUT LOSS VS TEXAS (3–2 SO)
The IceHogs came into Sunday afternoon desperate to stop the slide, and honestly, they played well enough to win. But again, the same story: they start strong, they fade late, and they don’t finish their chances.
Rockford opened the scoring for the fourth game in a row, this time on a delayed penalty. Aidan Thompson drove the middle, Joey Anderson jumped on the rebound, and boom—1-0 Hogs. Early energy, good pace, great forecheck.
Right at the start of the 2nd, Brett Seney made a veteran play dropping the puck to Thompson, who ripped it far side for a 2-0 lead. With that assist, Seney moved into third all-time in IceHogs AHL points (174)—a big career milestone.
But after that? The pushback faded.
Texas got on the board with a seeing-eye shot, and the Hogs couldn’t bury a third goal to create separation. In the final minutes, with the Stars’ goalie pulled, Rockford sat back too much and Texas tied it 2-2.
Overtime solved nothing, and the shootout wasn’t kind. Cameron Hughes scored the only goal, and Rockford settled for just one point, losing 3–2.
Not terrible… but not enough.
Weekend Summary – Rockford IceHogs
That’s the story for the IceHogs this week — three games with three different looks, but the same theme running through all of them. This young group battles hard, they start games the right way, and they show flashes of real skill, but they’re still learning how to close out games at the pro level. They led in all three matchups but couldn’t lock any of them down. In Game 1 and Game 3, Commesso gave them enough to stay in the fight, but in the 5–2 loss to Manitoba, the Hogs didn’t get the key saves they needed to stop the momentum swing in that rough second period. That’s part of the growing pains with a young roster — consistency isn’t there yet, whether it’s scoring, defending, or goaltending.
Rockford finishes the week 0-2-1, and their season record drops to 7-7-1-1, sitting 5th in the Central Division. And as if the week wasn’t challenging enough on the ice, the Hogs are getting dinged up off it too. Dillon Boucher is now day-to-day with a lower-body injury, Ryan Gagnier is day-to-day with an upper-body issue, and Nick Lardis remains day-to-day as well. None of these look like long-term setbacks, but when you’re already fighting to score and trying to build chemistry with such a young lineup, every missing body tightens the margins even more. It’s just another layer Rockford has to push through as they work to get back on track.
Blackhawks Three Stars of the Week
Blackhawks
1️⃣ Louis Crevier 3 A | 3 PTS | 3 SOG
2️⃣ Spencer Knight: 1–0–1 | 3.00 GAA | .914 SV%
3️⃣ Teuvo Teravainen: 1 G | 1 A | 2 PTS 5 SOG
IceHogs
1️⃣ Aidan Thompson – 2 G | 1 A | 3 PTS | 9 SOG
2️⃣ Brett Seney – 1 G | 3 A | 4 PTS | 5 SOG
3️⃣ Drew Commesso – 0–1–1 | 2.50 GAA | .917 SV%
Prospects
1️⃣ Marek Vanacker – 1 G | 1 A | 2 PTS
2️⃣ Adam Gajan – 1–1–0 | 2.00 GAA | ..913 SV%
3️⃣ Julius Sumpf – 1 G | 1 PTS 1st NCAA goal
Final Thoughts: Blackhawks gain confidence
Week 6 gave the Blackhawks a small sample size, but they made the most of it. Chicago picked up three of four points, stayed competitive in both games, and got important contributions from their young core. Colton Dach sealed the win over Toronto with a confident late third-period finish, Ryan Greene added his second of the season, and Artyom Levshunov continued to look like the organization’s most polished prospect on the back end. Even with Nick Foligno going down long-term, the Hawks handled the adversity well and kept their structure intact.
Unfortunately, the story in Rockford was the complete opposite. The IceHogs earned just one point out of six this week and struggled badly to generate any consistent offense. Defensive lapses, slow starts, and a lack of finish cost them in every game. Goaltending kept things from becoming blowouts, but overall it was a discouraging stretch — one where they simply didn’t look sharp, didn’t dictate play, and couldn’t find momentum.
As the Blackhawks prepare for a busy homestand and the IceHogs regroup from a tough week, the organization sits at a crossroads. Chicago is trending upward with young players taking ownership, while Rockford needs a reset before the early-season slide becomes something harder to dig out of. Week 7 will tell us a lot about how both groups respond.
This Week’s Schedule
Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Tue, Nov 18 — vs Calgary Flames — 8:30 PM CT
Thu, Nov 20 — vs Seattle Kraken — 6:00 PM CT
Fri, Nov 21 — vs @ Buffalo Sabres — 6:00 PM CT
Sun, Nov 23 — vs Colorado Avalanche — 6:00 PM CT
Rockford IceHogs (AHL)
Wed, Nov 19 — vs Grand Rapids Griffins — 7:00 PM CT
KEEP READING:
Blackhawks Weekly Recap: (Week 1)
Blackhawks Weekly Recap (Week 2)
Blackhawks Weekly Recap (Week 3)
Blackhawks Weekly Recap (Week 4)
Blackhawks Weekly Recap (Week 5)
Blackhawks October Report Card
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