A Tyler Bertuzzi hat trick sparked the Hawks to their third straight win, this one a 3-2 overtime victory over the Golden Knights at the United Center on Sunday night.
On Saturday, it was Dylan Strome. On Sunday, Brandon Saad was the old friend scoring against the Hawks, winning a stick battle with Louis Crevier in front of the net to move this puck into the net near the middle of the first period for the first goal of the game:
Brandon Saad opens the scoring for Vegas pic.twitter.com/jlaBwwkH32
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 5, 2026
About two minutes later, Tyler Bertuzzi tied the game at one with his 20th goal of the season:
GOAL: Tyler Bertuzzi rips a shot from the circle to tie the game! pic.twitter.com/NyeaexIjPi
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 5, 2026
During the first minute of the second period, Mark Stone put Vegas ahead 2-1 when he finished off this odd-man rush as a late arrival to the party:
Mark Stone scores for Vegas pic.twitter.com/aqbkALBbbt
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 5, 2026
In the third period, Ryan Greene set up Bertuzzi on the back door for Bertuzzi’s second goal of the game:
GOAL: Tyler Bertuzzi jams in his second of the game off a feed from Ryan Greene pic.twitter.com/9TGHstxhzv
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 5, 2026
And Bertuzzi completed the hat trick in overtime, tapping home this pass from Ilya Mikheyev:
Tyler Bertuzzi OT WINNER FOR THE HAT TRICK! pic.twitter.com/JPnXHuyzgB
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 5, 2026
Three in a row!
Notes
A game of inches, they say.
Just barely… https://t.co/E9FjidbrSX pic.twitter.com/Hkv8iZnYVE
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 5, 2026
Full credit where it’s due: Tyler Bertuzzi has been excellent this season, and that trend came well before his hat trick in this game. With 22 goals now, he’s on pace for about 43 goals this season, which would blow away his career best mark of 30 goals in 68 games with the ’21-22 Red Wings. So many of Bertuzzi’s goals last season seemed to come at inconsequential times, but he’s been scoring vital ones through the first half of this season. His trio this evening high on the list, because he’s one of the players who need to step forward with the team affected by injuries. He has one of the biggest salaries on this roster and he’s earning that paycheck this season.
It was a relatively low-event game, but Bertuzzi’s line with Greene and Burakovsky was Chicago’s best in this one, with advantages of 9-8 in shot attempts, 5-3 in scoring chances and 3-2 in high-danger chances. It also scored twice without giving a goal and put together an expected goal share of 81.99 percent. Excellent, excellent work from a line that was given the most offensive zone starts among Chicago lines in this game and made the most of those fortuitous starts.
Speaking of Greene: while this play is probably another exhibit in the arguments related to Greene’s lack of goal scoring prowess that was discussed after Saturday’s game …
Greene got a good shot off but Schmid made an even better save https://t.co/ceA7eidpY0 pic.twitter.com/aJg6z2myEv
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 5, 2026
… one of the things he has displayed is poise with the puck, and that trait helped him re-gather the puck and take a second attempt at the pass to Bertuzzi for the game-tying goal, which was sent perfectly through the skates of Stone. He has plenty of NHL-level attributes, even if goal scoring isn’t one of them.
Here was this game’s sample of Levshunov doing things around the blue line that ended up not being a problem but would probably be a 2-on-0 the other way if anyone else tried to do it:
Another nice move by Arty on the line pic.twitter.com/9p4Tlz6eDH
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 5, 2026
Oliver Moore is going to be just fine at the NHL level if he consistently uses his speed and vision to set up prime opportunities like this. It’s a shame Levshunov couldn’t get this puck on net because it’s probably a goal if he does:
Moore wheels in and feeds Levshunov who puts it wide pic.twitter.com/Bj7kUVYIlQ
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 5, 2026
A decent outing from Arvid Soderblom, who wasn’t too busy in this game but made just enough saves to get the Hawks a win, which isn’t something he’s always done this season.
Big stop from Arvid on Sissons pic.twitter.com/OuqfAewOlH
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 5, 2026
Feels good to put that second game of a back-to-back narrative to bed, doesn’t it? Three straight wins and suddenly the Hawks are back into the thick of things in the conference standings. We’re into the back half of the season and Chicago is still very much a part of playoff considerations. Feels like it’s been forever since we could say that.
Before we go, a quick World Juniors update: Anton Frondell scored the decisive shootout goal to send Sweden into the gold medal game — on his third attempt!
Five-hole SNIPE to win it pic.twitter.com/6EXBnhakiV https://t.co/RTfzeaWReB
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 5, 2026
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Tyler Bertuzzi (CHI) — Hat trick
- Andre Burakovsky (CHI) — 2 assists
- Ryan Greene (CHI) — 1 assist
What’s Next
The Hawks remain at home and take a few days off before hosting the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m.