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Utah Carol: Blackhawks 3, Mammoth 2 (OT)

Tusked Up and Swept Up

Posted on by Steve Kwiatkowski
Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The Chicago Blackhawks collected another 3-2 overtime win over the Utah Mammoth on Thursday night, making it a series sweep — the first time the Hawks have swept a division opponent since 2016-17.

After a goalless first period, Dylan Guenther opened up scoring 5:47 into the second period. Andre Burakovsky made a brutal turnover at the offensive zone blueline, which led to a 2-on-1 with Logan Cooley carrying the puck and Guenther ready for the pass.

Just under two minutes into the third period, Sam Rinzel caught a high stick from Clayton Keller, which gave the Hawks a 4-on-3 power play. Both Utah and Chicago had been playing 4-on-4 due to coincidental roughing minors beforehand. Jeff Blashill iced an all-forward squad, and Connor Bedard found Tyler Bertuzzi to tie the game at one each.

At the 10:57 mark of the third period, Bertuzzi made a defensive zone takeaway, which initiated an attack into Utah’s zone. Bertuzzi’s shot rebounded, and Teuvo Teravainen made a smart kick-pass to Frank Nazar, who banged the puck into a wide-open net. The Hawks grabbed a 2-1 lead.

With 6:16 remaining in the third, Michael Carcone collected the puck from a brutal defensive zone turnover by Alex Vlasic. JJ Peterka had zero issues collecting a pass on the ensuing 2-on-1 and tied the game at 2-2.

Another overtime period (the Hawks’ fourth in five games) saw some excellent goaltending from Spencer Knight and, with 1:05 remaining, Nick Lardis passed the puck from above the right circle to Alex Vlasic in the high slot, whose shot rebounded off the post. Connor Bedard was there to send the puck home and score his 27th of the season.

Notes

Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? It feels good to not only send a division rival on a three-game losing streak (and being a part of two of those) but to sweep a team that was playing for something. I’m not sure that the Hawks put a dent in Utah’s playoff chase, as they’re still comfortably in that wild card spot. It’s just a nice glimpse into the future when both of these teams are fighting each other for the postseason.

The first period began with a lot of chip-and-chase play, and it took Frank Nazar to take the first shot on goal 8:22 into the game. The analytics don’t look good for the Hawks (a 34.62 percent shot attempt share and 28.22 percent expected goals share at 5-on-5), but it was generally low-event hockey in that opening frame. Shots on goal were 6-4 and scoring chances were 8-7, both in favor of Utah. There were a couple turnovers in the neutral zone and defensive zone that kept the Hawks pinned in their own end for some time.

The Hawks’ analytics improved only slightly in the second period, with a 43.24 percent shot attempt share and 36.26 percent expected goal share at 5-on-5. Utah opened the period strong with pressure in the Hawks’ zone, forcing Spencer Knight to make some incredible saves. There was the Burakovsky turnover that led to a Mammoth goal and a pretty gross turnover from Ryan Donato towards the end of the period.

Let’s take a second to talk about the reffing because that was egregious. Utah had 26 hits on the Hawks by the end of the second and were playing a very physical game. There were a lot of infractions that went uncalled, including Matt Grzelyck getting a high-stick to the face that should have been a four-minute power play. There were only two power plays throughout the entire game, both in the third period. That third period, by the way, ended with the numbers favoring Utah again (31.43 percent shot attempt share and a 42.12 percent expected goals share at 5-on-5 for the Hawks).

Wyatt Kaiser seems to have hurt his shoulder in the play below and, as of this writing, there aren’t any updates on Kaiser’s status for Saturday’s game in Vegas. The injury is a bummer because Kaiser has been excellent since his return from his prior injury and tonight was one of his best games. The numbers certainly don’t tell the story (a 21.63 percent expected goals share at 5-on-5 is … yikes), but he made strong plays with his stick, stood up at the blue line, forced turnovers, and played a mature game. Kaiser led defensemen with 22:34 of ice time.

While the eye test does justice for Kaiser, Andre Burakovsky doesn’t have the same excuse for his 31.49 percent expected goal share at 5-on-5. Beyond the giveaway that led to Utah’s first goal, Burakovsky made a dangerous giveaway in the neutral zone in the first period. I admire Blashill for believing in Burakovsky, but I do think it’s time to get another player on Bedard’s wing. That line as a whole (with Ryan Greene opposite Burakovsky) had mediocre numbers: they were out-attempted 17-10, outshot 5-3, outchanced 11-5 and gave up six high-danger chances while only generating one.

There’s a lot I want to talk about. Like Frank Nazar’s goal (eight points in five games), Artyom Levshunov’s solid play tonight (it wasn’t perfect!), or exploring the Crevier-Vlasic pairing a little more (both Alex Vlasic and Louis Crevier were above 55 percent in expected goal share at 5-on-5). I don’t want to keep you here too long, though — and I’m tired of writing so much about the damn Mammoth — but Spencer Knight, welcome back. He posted a .935 save percentage in all situations, stopped 11 of 12 high-danger shots, and allowed two goals with a 4.36 expected goals against — quite the busy night. If there had been some more responsible puck management, Knight could have gotten the shutout. Oh well, who’s going to complain with a win?

Game Charts

#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2026-03-12 #Blackhawks

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— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards.com) March 12, 2026 at 8:50 PM

Three Stars

  1. Connor Bedard (CHI) — 1 goal, 1 assist
  2. Spencer Knight (CHI) — .935 save percentage
  3. Frank Nazar (CHI) — 1 goal, 1 assist

What’s Next

The Blackhawks wrap up their two-game road trip against the Vegas Golden Knights Saturday night at 9 p.m. CT.

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