Evans' Shorthanded Double Sinks Chicago — Montreal Finds Life Without Suzuki
GOATIFYMontreal arrived in Chicago without its captain and leading center, then fell behind to Connor Bedard before finding an unlikely answer. Jake Evans, usually valued for the less glamorous parts of a hockey game, scored twice and helped create another goal as the Canadiens beat the Blackhawks 4-1 on Friday night. One of his goals came while Montreal was short-handed. That detail matters more than the final margin: a penalty kill became the play that changed the contest.
The victory was Montreal's first on the road since opening night and moved its recent run to 4-1-1 over six games. Chicago, meanwhile, squandered five power-play opportunities and watched a promising early lead unravel. The Canadiens did not replace Nick Suzuki's playmaking with one spectacular substitute. They won because the players lower in the lineup supplied offense, the defense contributed at both ends, and Jacob Fowler handled the moments when the game could have swung back.
Bedard struck first, but Evans changed the first period
For the opening minutes, the Blackhawks looked ready to control the evening. Chicago's Connor Bedard scored at 4:23 of the first period, snapping a shot from outside the left circle after Patrick Kane collected a puck that had taken an unusual deflection off a linesman. Kane moved it into the path of the accelerating Bedard, and Chicago had the kind of early lead that should have helped it dictate matchups at home.
Montreal's first few shifts offered little indication of a comeback. The Canadiens waited more than three minutes for their first shot and then went another stretch without testing Spencer Knight. The difficulty was understandable in context: Suzuki was unavailable with an upper-body injury, and the lineup had to be rearranged without the player normally entrusted with so much of its offensive direction. It was not merely a question of replacing one scorer. Montreal needed different lines to generate entries, sustain pressure and finish chances.
That is where Evans changed the story. At 17:29, Kirby Dach found him near the front of the net, and Evans finished with a wrist shot to make it 1-1. Owen Beck was also credited with an assist. The goal was Evans' first of the season, a timely contribution from a player whose value is often measured in faceoffs, defensive responsibility and difficult shifts rather than highlight packages. Instead of chasing the game into the intermission, Montreal had restored parity.
The sequence also gave the Canadiens a useful template for playing without their captain. They did not need to manufacture an imitation of Suzuki's skill set. Dach could move the puck, Evans could arrive in a dangerous area, and the supporting forwards could do the work required to keep a possession alive. That kind of shared responsibility is less glamorous than asking a star to take over, but it can make a lineup more difficult to predict.
Chicago's early goal was still important evidence of Bedard's finishing threat. Yet the first period finished as a reminder that a fast start is not the same as sustained control. Montreal weathered its slow opening, found a goal through a different part of the lineup, and entered the second period with the score reset. Evans had only begun to influence the night.
A short-handed strike exposed Chicago's power-play gamble
The decisive play came at 7:45 of the second period, with Montreal down a skater. Chicago had deployed five forwards on the power play, a setup designed to put more offensive talent on the ice but one that can become vulnerable when possession breaks down. A Kane shot attempt glanced off Tyler Bertuzzi's skate, and the Canadiens turned the loose puck into an odd-man opportunity. Evans carried down the left side and beat Knight from the circle.
The short-handed goal did two jobs at once. It put Montreal ahead 2-1 and turned one of Chicago's best opportunities to regain control into a costly defensive failure. The Blackhawks had the extra attacker and the expectation of creating the next dangerous chance; instead, their positioning and recovery became the story. The five-forward arrangement is not automatically reckless, but its margin for error narrows when a shot is blocked or redirected and the opponent can attack open ice.
Evans' finish was excellent, but the more instructive part of the play was how quickly the Canadiens recognized the opening. Penalty killing is often described as survival: protect the middle, clear the puck and wait for the clock to expire. Here, Montreal read the change of possession as an invitation to attack. That does not mean every penalty kill should chase offense. It means disciplined teams can turn the opponent's aggressive deployment against it when the opportunity is clear.
Chicago ended the night 0-for-5 with the man advantage. Montreal also failed on its three power plays, so neither side could point to a conventional power-play goal as the difference. But the Canadiens scored while short-handed, which made the special-teams balance unmistakable. The Blackhawks not only missed five chances to score; on one of them, they conceded the goal that gave their opponents a lead they would not relinquish.
There was still time for Chicago to respond. A rush involving Roman Kantserov and Kane soon forced Fowler into important saves, demonstrating that the Blackhawks were not without attacking moments. But their opportunities lacked the finishing touch they needed. For a team trying to establish consistency, the concern is bigger than one unlucky bounce. A power play should relieve pressure on a struggling five-on-five attack, not become another route by which the opposition finds momentum.
Guhle and Fowler supplied the structure behind the win
Montreal's two-goal cushion arrived late in the second period. At 18:26, Kaiden Guhle sent a wrist shot from the point through traffic and past Knight for his first goal of the season. Evans assisted, giving him three points on the night, and Alexandre Carrier also received an assist. The play mattered because it pushed the game beyond a single fortunate short-handed break. Montreal had created offense from the blue line as well as from its checking forwards.
Guhle's goal was a useful complement to his work on Evans' short-handed winner. Defensemen can change games without appearing at the top of the scoring chart every night, but this was a case where the contributions were visible in the result. He helped create the lead and then extended it. With Suzuki unavailable, those extra sources of offense reduced the burden on Montreal's established scorers and made Chicago defend threats from more than one area of the ice.
Fowler's final line was 20 saves on 21 shots. The number is modest compared with a 40-save performance, but it would be misleading to treat it as an easy night. His stops on the Chicago rush shortly after Evans' short-handed goal preserved a narrow 2-1 advantage at the moment the Blackhawks most needed an immediate reply. By the third period, Montreal had limited Chicago's opportunities enough that Fowler faced only a handful of shots. That combination of timely goaltending and tighter team defense is more sustainable than relying on a goalie to rescue every breakdown.
The lineup context made the result more meaningful. Suzuki was expected to miss two to four weeks after sustaining an upper-body injury earlier in the week, according to the pregame team information. Montreal was also managing other absences, while Matheson returned after missing four games with a lower-body issue. Matheson later scored into the empty net at 17:22 of the third period, closing the scoring at 4-1. His return did not solve every problem, but it gave the defense another experienced option.
There is a limit to what one win can prove. Montreal cannot assume Evans will score twice every night or that its penalty kill will regularly provide the winning goal. What the Chicago performance did show is a workable way to survive the immediate stretch without Suzuki: share puck-moving duties, find offense from the supporting lines, defend the dangerous areas and make the opponent earn its chances. Those habits can travel even when the scoring heroes change.
Chicago's missed chances leave both teams with a revealing next test
For Chicago, Bedard's early goal and Kane's assist were reminders of what the top of the lineup can produce. The Blackhawks did not lose because their most recognizable attackers were invisible. They lost because the advantage those players created was not sustained and because the special-teams opportunities that followed were wasted. Knight stopped 24 shots, but the four goals against included a short-handed rush and a late empty-netter, so the final score alone does not explain the shape of the game.
The Blackhawks finished the night 2-3-0 on their seven-game homestand. They had moments of pressure and stretches when Montreal was forced to defend, yet the five unsuccessful power plays stand out. The fifth was particularly brief: a Chicago advantage ended after only 22 seconds when Teuvo Teravainen took an interference penalty following a hooking call against Juraj Slafkovsky. That sequence captured a frustrating theme. Even when the Blackhawks were handed a chance to build momentum, they could not turn it into sustained pressure.
There is a tactical decision for Chicago's staff to examine. Using five forwards on the power play can be a productive way to maximize passing and shooting options, but it requires clean puck management and immediate awareness when a shot changes direction. Against Montreal, the downside became painfully visible. The answer need not be abandoning the formation entirely; it may be improving the positioning behind the puck and the decisions made after a failed attempt. The goal is to prevent a scoring chance from turning into a race the other way.
Montreal's next challenge arrives quickly. The Canadiens are scheduled to visit Winnipeg on Sunday for the outdoor Heritage Classic, a very different setting from a Friday-night game in Chicago. An outdoor event can bring unusual conditions and plenty of distractions, but the more practical question is whether the same supporting cast can maintain its contribution against a new opponent. A disciplined defensive structure and reliable goaltending will matter regardless of the surroundings.
Chicago is due to host Florida on Sunday, giving the Blackhawks little time to revisit the loss. The immediate task is straightforward: convert more of their special-teams possession into dangerous chances, limit the openings that follow turnovers, and keep Bedard's offensive contributions from being isolated events. Montreal leaves with a useful proof of concept, while Chicago leaves with a warning that opportunities on paper mean little unless they are executed on the ice.
Evans' two goals and assist will headline the highlights, and rightly so. His short-handed winner was the turning point, while Guhle's goal and Fowler's saves made sure Montreal kept the advantage. The Canadiens won 4-1 without Suzuki, but the broader takeaway is not that their captain is easily replaced. It is that a team with enough collective discipline can find different ways to win during an injury stretch.
Chicago's lesson is the opposite side of the same game. Bedard provided the early spark, but five power plays produced no goals and one decisive concession. The next test for both clubs is whether they can turn Friday's evidence into repeatable habits rather than treating it as a one-off result.
