x

Already member? Login first!

Comments / New

All I Wanted: Blackhawks 3, Predators 0

More like Commess-no, amirite?

Posted on by Dave Melton
Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Thanks in large part to its goaltending, Chicago picked up two more vital points with a 3-0 win on the road over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.

After a scoreless first period, the Hawks took the lead for good at the 6:41 mark of the second, when Connor Bedard evaded some Nashville defenders and found Tyler Bertuzzi in his usual spot for a tap-in goal:

In the middle of third, Chicago doubled its advantage when Bedard hit Nick Lardis with a perfect pass and Lardis did the rest:

Let’s watch that one again from another angle, shall we?

Then Ryan Greene put the game out of reach with this empty-netter:

Notes

We can now commence with the Drew Commesso highlight portion of the recap:

Commesso may have surrendered a soft goal or two on Friday night but wasn’t helped out a ton by the team in front of him. The help didn’t improve too much in this game, as Nashville outshot Chicago 36-21 and generated a whopping 4.3 expected goals across all strengths. Yet Commesso never wilted under all that pressure, with perhaps his best sequence of the game coming in the third period during a lengthy period of sustained pressure by Nashville which saw Commesso’s stick end up near the boards. He never appeared flustered by it, though, staying square to the puck as it moved around the zone and he was the one who ultimately stopped the play by making a save and holding on to it for a whistle. An excellent outing from Commesso when the team needed it. Nice for Commesso to have youth on his side, allowing him to handle back-to-back starts with a flight in between. But this win is one that the Hawks simply do not have without Commesso’s efforts.

Safe to say that Bedard is either at or extremely close to his old self based on the way he shook away from those Nashville defenders on the Bertuzzi goal and found Lardis for that goal. Should be fun to watch him go toe-to-toe with that other Connor on Monday night now.

Speaking of Lardis, he’s up to three points (2 G, 1 A) in the last three games now and continues to look more and more like someone who’s not going back to the AHL anytime soon — if ever. Bedard’s obviously the primary scoring threat here and hopefully Nazar rediscovers his scoring touch when he returns, but no team has ever complained about having too many scorers, and Lardis certainly offers hope that he could be another legitimate offensive threat based on the way he finds open spaces and fires pucks on net. His passing shouldn’t go ignored, either:

Here’s the nightly Levshunov moment from this game:

Levshunov’s D partner had a few moments himself, too:

That Kaiser/Levshunov pairing seems to be a way to bring the best out of each player. Kaiser’s steadiness is a perfect foil for Levshunov’s chaotic brand of hockey, while Kaiser has just enough skating and puck-moving ability that he can compliment the pace at which Levshunov seems to play best. Not going to claim that duo needs to be joined at the hip for the next decade but it is certainly worth longer looks for the rest of this season to see if it warrants long-term consideration.

Sometimes, circumstances that have little to do with hockey conspire and make the already difficult task of winning an NHL game feel like a borderline impossible objective. With the Hawks still fighting a flu bug, missing both of their usual goalies and playing for the second time in as many nights, it would have been understandable for the Hawks to let this one get away. Good teams figure out how to win those games, though. This doesn’t mean the Hawks are a good team now, of course, but this is a key part of the journey towards that destination.

Man, that's a hell of a win for the sickly Blackhawks. Third-stringer Drew Commesso, playing for the second straight night after a rough game last night, with a 36-save shutout. Chicago and Anaheim are now even in the standings through 45 games. Did not see that one coming.

— Mark Lazerus (@marklazerus.bsky.social) January 10, 2026 at 9:40 PM

Game Charts

Three Stars

  1. Drew Commesso (CHI) — 36-save shutout
  2. Connor Bedard (CHI) — 2 assists
  3. Nick Lardis (CHI) — 1 goal

What’s Next

The Blackhawks return to the United Center on Monday night to host the Edmonton Oilers at 7:30 p.m.

LOGIN SIGN UP

Talking Points