Evans Scores Twice as Canadiens Beat Blackhawks 4-1 in Chicago
Montreal's Jake Evans added a short-handed goal and an assist, and Chicago went 0-for-5 on the power play.
The Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 at the United Center on Friday night, with Jake Evans scoring twice and Chicago failing to convert any of its five power plays.
How the scoring went
Chicago struck first. NHL.com reports that Connor Bedard scored at 4:23 of the first period with a wrist shot, set up by a backhand feed from Patrick Kane. Evans tied it at 17:29 of the period, finishing a one-touch pass from Kirby Dach.
Evans put Montreal ahead at 7:45 of the second period with a short-handed goal on a 2-on-1 rush. Kaiden Guhle made it 3-1 at 18:26 with a wrist shot from the left point, with Josh Anderson screening the goalie. Mike Matheson added an empty-net goal at 17:22 of the third, his first of the season.
Evans finished with two goals and an assist, and Guhle had a goal and an assist. In goal, Jacob Fowler made 20 saves for Montreal and Spencer Knight stopped 24 for Chicago.
Special teams told the story
Chicago went 0-for-5 with the man advantage, and Montreal was 0-for-3, per NHL.com. Second City Hockey's account of the game says the Blackhawks' power-play units gave up two 2-on-1 rushes on one of their opportunities, and Evans' short-handed goal came on the second of them. The same report noted that Chicago, playing after a five-day break, did not register a shot on goal in the third period until just over 12 minutes had passed, and finished that period with four shots.
Quotes
Evans, discussing the team's habit of letting leads slip, said: "We're lucky it's early in the year and we can correct it." Montreal had blown a two-goal third-period lead in its previous game, a 4-3 overtime loss to San Jose. Bedard said of Chicago's play: "Maybe you're trying to do too much, myself included."
Records and roster notes
Montreal improved to 5-3-2 and is 2-0-1 in its last three games. Chicago dropped to 3-7-0 and has lost two straight.
Montreal played without captain Nick Suzuki, who NHL.com says is out two to four weeks with an upper-body injury; it was the first NHL game he has missed since his 2019-20 debut. Matheson returned after missing four games with a lower-body injury. For Chicago, defenceman Bowen Byram missed a third straight game with an upper-body injury and is day to day, while Andrew Mangiapane was activated from injured reserve after missing eight games. Ian Cole played his 1,000th NHL game.
Montreal next plays Winnipeg in the 2026 Heritage Classic on Sunday. Chicago hosts the Florida Panthers the same day at 2 p.m.
Torch Newsroom. Sources: NHL.com, Second City Hockey.