While some home crowd attendees may have been disappointed by the absence of Bedard in Sunday afternoon’s matchup, the Blackhawks successfully halted a five-game losing streak to secure their first victory of 2024.

Colin Blackwell, positioned on the 1st line, emerged as the catalyst, contributing significantly with a three-point performance (2 goals, 1 assist). Despite Calgary boasting their top players in the lineup, the Flames likely anticipated capitalizing on a weakened Blackhawks team. Instead, aiming to even their season with a win, the Flames suffered their second consecutive loss (preceded by the Flyers, followed by the Hawks).

Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports shared a video highlighting one of Blackwell’s two goals during the afternoon:

The triumph was a collective team effort, with the entire team seemingly embracing a pre-game coaching staff message emphasizing the importance of “the little things.” Beyond experiencing favorable “puck luck,” the Blackhawks dominated board battles, evident in their +7 on blocked shots and +6 on takeaways. This focus and hustle often translate into improved standings.

Despite a couple of tense moments, such as Philipp Kurashev’s apparent injᴜry and Alex Vlasic being struck in the neck by a puck, the Blackhawks navigated through challenges. Having recently made roster moves to acquire new players (Pitlick and Sanford), the team finds itself in uncharted territory in terms of roster construction.

With the victory, it becomes increasingly evident that this presents an excellent opportunity for less relied-upon players to step up and showcase additional facets of their game. Can Lukas Reichel rediscover his scoring touch? Will Colin Blackwell demonstrate he deserves a contract extension in the offseason? Can Jason Dickinson sustain his career-high scoring pace?

Looking ahead, the Blackhawks are set to face the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night, promising an anticipated one-on-one bɑttle between Colin Blackwell and Connor McDavid.