The Stanley Cup Final is set. The Western Conference Champion Vegas Golden Knights are going to take on the Eastern Conference Champion Carolina Hurricanes.
This has the makings of an incredibly entertaining hockey series between two teams that have tremendous skill while also being great at shutting down their opponents.
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It has been a while since the Chicago Blackhawks have made it to the playoffs, let alone sniff the Stanley Cup Final. When the Blackhawks faced these two teams in the regular season, however, they held their own most of the time.
Vs Vegas
The Chicago Blackhawks, as fellow members of the Western Conference, played against the Vegas Golden Knights three times. In those games, they went a modest 1-1-1. Taking three points out of six is not bad, but all three games came before the Knights started to look like the team they are now.
On December 2nd, the Golden Knights won 4-3 via the shootout in Las Vegas. Connor Bedard was still on his early-season heater, and his 17th of the season gave them a lead before Braeden Bowman eventually tied it late. Shea Theodore earned the shootout winner to send the home fans away with a smile.
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On January 4th, Vegas’ only trip to Chicago, the Blackhawks got the best of them 3-2 in overtime. It was Tyler Bertuzzi who scored his 22nd goal of the season in the extra frame to secure the win. This was his third goal of the game to complete a hat trick. Bertuzzi reached the 30-goal plateau in 2025-26, and this game was huge in that quest.
It wasn’t until March 14th back in Las Vegas that either team earned a decisive victory, as the Golden Knights won 4-0. At that point, Vegas hadn’t made the coaching change yet or started to look like the machine that made their way to the final, but there were signs.
Vs Carolina
Both of Chicago’s matchups with the Carolina Hurricanes came in the second half of the season. Chicago went 1-1-0 against the eventual winners of the East.
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The first game was a victory for the Blackhawks in Raleigh on January 22nd. Despite being outshot, the Blackhawks found a way to hang in there. Frank Nazar and Connor Bedard were back from their mid-season injuries, but it was Nick Lardis and Oliver Moore who stole the show.
Tied up at three, this match needed a shootout. Eventually, Moore secured the win for Chicago. Little did they know at the time that they had just beaten the eventual Eastern Conference Champions. The shootout goal doesn’t count as a real goal, but he did have an assist and a fight to go with the shootout winner, so it was a lite version of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
The second game was a tough look for the Blackhawks on home ice. On April 9th, with just four remaining in the season, it was one of their more lopsided losses of the season. Anton Frondell scored twice, but those were the only two goals for the Hawks in a 7-2 rout that favored the Hurricanes.
With a large portion of their core sitting out to rest up for the playoffs after already clinching the division, they still found a way to take care of their business against the Hawks in a big way.
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Conclusion
Spencer Knight started four out of the five games against these two teams. Arvid Soderblom started the fifth one, which was the home-ice win over the Golden Knights on January 4th.
It wasn’t the best set of games for Knight, who had a tremendous breakout year as the number one starter, but it was clear that these two good teams were a lot for Chicago’s defense to handle in front of their star goalie.
The Blackhawks went 2-2-1 against the two teams competing for the Stanley Cup this week. To go NHL .500 against teams like that is impressive, but there is important context.
All but one of these games took place before things really fell apart for Chicago in the final month of the season.
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The Blackhawks overachieved at times this year, and that included playing up to their competition. That certainly didn’t help them avoid coming in 31st place.
A lot of improvement to their roster and player development is needed before they are truly competing with these types of teams in playoff-like atmospheres.
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