Jake Evans Scores Twice As Canadiens Beat Blackhawks 4-1

Jake Evans scored twice and added an assist as the Montréal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 at United Center on Friday, October 23, 2026. His shorthanded goal broke a second-period tie after he had erased Chicago’s early lead.

Kaiden Guhle added a goal and an assist, Jacob Fowler made 20 saves and Montréal scored the final four goals. The Canadiens killed all five Chicago power plays and allowed four shots on goal in the third period while protecting a 3-1 lead.

Evans Answers Bedard, Then Scores Shorthanded

Elapsed period time. EV = even strength; SH = shorthanded; EN = empty net. Running scores are explicitly MTL then CHI.

Connor Bedard put the Blackhawks ahead at 4:23 of the first period, with Patrick Kane assisting. Evans answered at 17:29 with assists from Kirby Dach and Owen Beck. The teams entered the first intermission tied 1-1, with nine shots apiece.

Chicago had two power plays in the first period and two more before the second was halfway over. Evans scored at 7:45 of the second while Montréal was killing Chris Kreider’s high-sticking penalty. Guhle assisted on the shorthanded goal, which gave the Canadiens their first lead and proved to be the winner.

Guhle made it 3-1 at 18:26 of the second, with assists from Evans and Alexandre Carrier. The Canadiens outshot Chicago 11-8 in that period and 8-4 in the third. Mike Matheson completed the scoring into the empty net at 17:22 of the third, assisted by Phillip Danault.

SOG = shots on goal, including goals.

The Penalty Kill Produces The Decisive Goal

Neither power play scored: Montréal finished 0-for-3 and Chicago 0-for-5. The difference on special teams was Evans’s goal while shorthanded. A late Montréal bench minor was assessed at the final horn, so it added to the Canadiens’ 12 penalty minutes without creating another played Chicago power-play opportunity.

Montréal won 42 of 67 faceoffs, including 14 of 19 taken by Danault. Evans won seven of 12 and Oliver Kapanen 11 of 18. The Canadiens also finished with 23 hits to Chicago’s 11, though their 20 giveaways exceeded the Blackhawks’ 11.

Official event counts. Montreal’s 20:00 third-period bench minor counts in PIM, with no further power-play opportunity played. Chicago’s 11 giveaways include one charged to goalie Spencer Knight; its skater rows total 10.

St-Louis Cites Collective Play; Blashill Sees Costly Errors

Asked how established team principles had prepared Montréal to play without captain Nick Suzuki, coach Martin St-Louis stressed the habits that remain when personnel change. He said talent improves a team’s chances, but described shared responsibilities as the foundation that lets the group keep playing through absences.

“What keeps you going always is the collective game on both sides of the puck,” St-Louis said in his postgame interview. Asked to define that collective game, he described offensive support in predictable locations and the need to preserve defensive balance. He used Montréal’s first goal as an example of players having immediate passing options, while saying the structure does not guarantee a chance.

“It always starts with the balance on the ice,” St-Louis said.

Chicago coach Jeff Blashill disputed the suggestion that a good start had simply slipped away. In his postgame availability, he identified the first Montréal goal and the shorthanded goal as mistakes the Blackhawks had brought on themselves. He believed Chicago generated more chances, an assessment separate from the official shot totals, and called for more pucks near the net.

“We’re not scoring at all right now, so we have no room for error,” Blashill said.

Blashill also resisted reducing the odd-man rushes against Chicago’s power play to the use of a forward at the point. He left open the possibility of adjustments. Asked about exchanging Kane and Tyler Bertuzzi on their lines, he said the temporary change had not produced enough: “Not enough, so I flipped them back.” That was a description of his in-game decision, rather than an announced lineup for the next game.

Evans And Bedard On The Lead And The Power Play

In his postgame interview, Evans emphasized fewer turnovers and mental mistakes. Asked whether third-period puck management showed how Montréal could win more games, he acknowledged earlier situations in which the team had failed to keep a lead and said it could correct those problems. The aim was to “play a mature game, and we did that.”

Bedard’s concern was the risk Chicago allowed while it had an extra skater. Asked about the importance of the shorthanded goal in his postgame availability, he said the power play had created chances but also exposed Knight to odd-man rushes. “They had probably two or three two-on-ones that obviously can’t happen,” Bedard said.

Bedard credited Knight for stopping earlier chances and acknowledged that Montréal’s third-period breakouts left Chicago creating little late. He also criticized his own emotional penalty. The official record charged him with elbowing Guhle at 4:49 of the first, shortly after his opening goal.

Guhle praised the Canadiens’ simpler third period, including putting pucks deep and following with a forecheck, in his postgame interview. He also credited the Evans line’s puck battles. Fowler similarly pointed to the work in front of him and the penalty kill, while acknowledging in his interview that Chicago hit posts or crossbars and that he wanted Bedard’s first shot back. His account did not portray the night as free of dangerous Chicago chances.

For Chicago, Ian Cole emphasized sustaining habits across the entire game in his postgame availability. He contrasted the team’s opening stretch with the consistency needed over 60 minutes. Asked about confidence, he connected it to repeating those habits; he declined to diagnose the power play before reviewing the video.

How The Actual Combinations Performed

Evans, Dach and Beck shared 6:51 at five-on-five, with Montréal recording four shots on goal and Chicago one during their time together. They were on for one Canadiens goal and none against. Evans’s shorthanded winner is outside that sample: the trio’s five-on-five goal was the first-period equalizer.

Montréal’s most-used forward trio, Cole Caufield, Kapanen and Juraj Slafkovský, shared 9:52, with shots 6-8 and goals 0-1. Chicago’s Kane, Bedard and Roman Kantserov combination played 9:07 together, with shots 6-4 and goals 1-1. Those lines’ game totals included other combinations and strengths; their individual ice time is not interchangeable with shared trio time.

Source: NHL TV/TH actual shift intersections, official PL event-on-ice personnel and primary play-by-play situation/goalie identities, checked against Final box TOI/SOG/goals. Regulation five-on-five only, exactly five skaters plus one goalie on each team. Eligible game sample:44:41 (2,681 seconds). SF/SA include goals; PP, SH, empty-net and other strengths excluded. Each row is that named unit’s actual shared time. Rows selected by greatest shared TOI separately for each team; other combinations remain in the full private source dataset. One game is a small sample, not a durable unit ranking.

Among Montréal’s defensive pairs, Carrier and Guhle shared 11:16 at five-on-five, with shots 6-2 and goals 1-0. Matheson and Lane Hutson shared 9:59, with shots 7-1 and goals 1-0. Chicago’s most-used pair, Wyatt Kaiser and Artyom Levshunov, played 12:58 together, with shots even at six apiece and goals 1-0.

These are the combinations actually used, ordered by shared ice time within each club. The underlying eligible sample was 44:41 with five skaters and a goalie on both sides. Power plays, penalty kills and empty-net play are separate. The results describe this game’s limited samples and do not establish a lasting ranking of the units.

Source: NHL TV/TH actual shift intersections, official PL event-on-ice personnel and primary play-by-play situation/goalie identities, checked against Final box TOI/SOG/goals. Regulation five-on-five only, exactly five skaters plus one goalie on each team. Eligible game sample:44:41 (2,681 seconds). SF/SA include goals; PP, SH, empty-net and other strengths excluded. Each row is that named unit’s actual shared time. Rows selected by greatest shared TOI separately for each team; other combinations remain in the full private source dataset. One game is a small sample, not a durable unit ranking.

Complete Player Statistics And Penalties

Fowler stopped 20 of 21 shots in 59:55. Spencer Knight made 24 saves on 27 shots in 59:14; Matheson’s empty-net goal was charged to Chicago’s team total rather than to Knight. Jakub Dobes and Arvid Soderblom were the unused backups.

Unused backups did not play. Knight faced 27 of Montréal’s 28 SOG; Matheson’s empty-net goal is a team goal allowed, not a goalie goal allowed.

Open complete Montréal and Chicago skater statistics and penalties

MTL Complete Skater Box Score

Player	#	Pos	G	A	PTS	PPG	+/−	SOG	TOI	Shifts	Hits	Blocks	PIM	Giveaways	Takeaways	FO won/taken	FO%
Cole Caufield	13	R	0	0	0	0	-1	4	16:11	21	1	0	0	2	0	1/1	100.0
Alex Newhook	15	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	15:12	19	1	0	2	0	0	8/14	57.1
Josh Anderson	17	R	0	0	0	0	2	3	13:19	20	3	0	0	0	0	0/0	Not taken
Juraj Slafkovský	20	L	0	0	0	0	-1	3	16:03	22	0	1	4	0	0	0/1	0.0
Chris Kreider	22	L	0	0	0	0	1	1	11:19	18	0	0	2	1	0	0/0	Not taken
Phillip Danault	24	C	0	1	1	0	2	3	18:15	26	0	0	0	2	0	14/19	73.7
Owen Beck	62	C	0	1	1	0	1	2	10:25	14	4	1	0	3	1	1/1	100.0
Jake Evans	71	C	2	1	3	0	4	2	17:12	21	0	0	0	1	1	7/12	58.3
Zachary Bolduc	76	R	0	0	0	0	0	1	13:08	18	3	0	2	2	0	0/1	0.0
Kirby Dach	77	C	0	1	1	0	1	1	11:32	15	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	Not taken
Alexandre Texier	85	L	0	0	0	0	0	0	13:36	17	1	0	0	1	0	0/0	Not taken
Oliver Kapanen	91	C	0	0	0	0	-1	0	15:04	21	1	0	0	1	0	11/18	61.1
Mike Matheson	8	D	1	0	1	0	1	3	20:15	26	1	1	0	1	0	0/0	Not taken
Kaiden Guhle	21	D	1	1	2	0	2	2	23:30	26	3	2	0	1	0	0/0	Not taken
Alexandre Carrier	45	D	0	1	1	0	2	0	22:40	27	1	3	0	0	1	0/0	Not taken
Lane Hutson	48	D	0	0	0	0	1	0	22:04	24	0	0	0	4	1	0/0	Not taken
Noah Dobson	53	D	0	0	0	0	0	2	19:48	21	0	2	0	1	0	0/0	Not taken
Arber Xhekaj	72	D	0	0	0	0	0	1	10:38	13	3	1	0	0	0	0/0	Not taken

All 18 participating skaters. Faceoff counts calculated from the complete official play-by-play; TOI includes all strengths. PPG = power-play goals; FO = faceoffs.

CHI Complete Skater Box Score

Player	#	Pos	G	A	PTS	PPG	+/−	SOG	TOI	Shifts	Hits	Blocks	PIM	Giveaways	Takeaways	FO won/taken	FO%
Ryan Donato	8	C	0	0	0	0	0	1	13:33	18	0	0	0	0	0	0/1	0.0
Oliver Moore	11	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	11:07	16	0	0	0	2	1	0/1	0.0
Jordan Greenway	12	L	0	0	0	0	-1	2	13:16	17	2	0	0	0	0	0/0	Not taken
Anton Frondell	16	C	0	0	0	0	0	1	14:06	20	1	0	0	0	0	2/14	14.3
Ryan Greene	20	C	0	0	0	0	-1	3	12:46	18	0	1	0	0	1	7/12	58.3
Cole Smith	22	R	0	0	0	0	-1	2	13:27	18	2	0	0	1	1	0/0	Not taken
Tyler Bertuzzi	59	L	0	0	0	0	-2	0	16:46	20	0	0	0	2	0	0/0	Not taken
Roman Kantserov	80	R	0	0	0	0	-2	4	19:39	24	0	0	0	2	0	4/10	40.0
Teuvo Teravainen	86	C	0	0	0	0	-2	2	15:24	24	0	1	2	0	0	0/0	Not taken
Patrick Kane	88	R	0	1	1	0	-2	3	20:53	25	1	0	2	0	0	0/0	Not taken
Frank Nazar	91	C	0	0	0	0	-1	0	17:53	24	1	0	0	1	0	7/14	50.0
Connor Bedard	98	C	1	0	1	0	-2	1	20:06	25	0	0	2	1	0	5/15	33.3
Sam Rinzel	6	D	0	0	0	0	-1	0	17:17	20	2	0	0	0	0	0/0	Not taken
Ian Cole	28	D	0	0	0	0	-1	0	18:22	24	0	2	0	1	0	0/0	Not taken
Ethan Del Mastro	38	D	0	0	0	0	-2	1	10:05	12	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	Not taken
Wyatt Kaiser	44	D	0	0	0	0	1	0	19:02	20	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	Not taken
Artyom Levshunov	55	D	0	0	0	0	1	1	19:24	21	1	1	0	0	0	0/0	Not taken
Alex Vlasic	72	D	0	0	0	0	0	0	21:40	27	0	3	0	0	0	0/0	Not taken

All 18 participating skaters. Faceoff counts calculated from the complete official play-by-play; TOI includes all strengths. PPG = power-play goals; FO = faceoffs.

Complete Penalty Summary

Period	Time	Team	Player / bench	Infraction	Minutes
1	04:49	CHI	Connor Bedard	elbowing	2
1	12:10	MTL	Juraj Slafkovský	elbowing	2
1	19:44	MTL	Alex Newhook	tripping	2
2	03:59	MTL	Zachary Bolduc	tripping	2
2	06:36	MTL	Chris Kreider	high sticking	2
2	11:24	CHI	Patrick Kane	hooking	2
3	13:46	MTL	Juraj Slafkovský	hooking	2
3	14:08	CHI	Teuvo Teravainen	interference	2
3	20:00	MTL	Team bench	too many men on the ice	2

Elapsed period times. PIM = penalty minutes; G = goals; A = assists; PTS = points; PPG = power-play goals; SOG = shots on goal; TOI = ice time; FO = faceoffs; SF/SA = shots on goal for/against; GF/GA = goals for/against. Goalie SA = shots faced; SV% = save percentage. Montréal’s bench minor at 20:00 of the third period did not produce additional played power-play time.

Next: The Heritage Classic For Montréal, Florida For Chicago

Montréal next plays the Winnipeg Jets in the Heritage Classic at Princess Auto Stadium on Sunday, October 25, at 5 p.m. MDT. Chicago hosts the Florida Panthers at United Center that day at 1 p.m. MDT.

Suzuki and Adam Engstrom were listed as Montréal’s scratches for this game. Chicago’s scratches were Andrew Mangiapane, Bowen Byram and Kevin Korchinski. Those game-day listings do not establish who will be available Sunday.

Official Video And Game Records

Official key-action videos: Connor Bedard (period 1, 04:23) · Jake Evans (period 1, 17:29) · Jake Evans (shorthanded, period 2, 07:45) · Kaiden Guhle (period 2, 18:26) · Mike Matheson (empty net, period 3, 17:22). These open the NHL’s original video pages.

Official records: NHL Gamecenter · NHL play-by-play and on-ice personnel · Montréal shifts · Chicago shifts. Postgame interview links appear with the reported comments above.