Canadiens 4, Blackhawks 1: Evans Scores Twice, One Short-Handed

October 23, 2026 - Chicago - Connor Bedard took a backhand from Patrick Kane in the neutral zone, walked in, and roofed a wrist shot over Jacob Fowler’s glove. United Center had 1-0 at 4:23 of the first. It did not have it at the horn.

The Montréal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1. Montreal is 5-3-2, 2-0-1 in its last three, the NHL recap said. The Associated Press recap had Montreal 4-1-1 in its last six. Chicago is 3-7-0, two losses in a row, and four of six in the AP recap. Shots were 28-21 Montreal. Kaiden Guhle, Kirby Dach, Owen Beck, Jacob Fowler, Connor Bedard, and Arber Xhekaj are not seeded on AthX player pages, so those names stay unlinked.

Jake Evans scored twice and added an assist. Guhle had a goal and an assist. Mike Matheson scored into the empty net. Fowler stopped 20 of 21. Spencer Knight stopped 24 of 27. The empty-netter did not go on Knight. Josh Anderson screened the 3-1 goal and did not get a point.

Bedard roofs it, then Evans ties it

Bedard’s opener was his second of the season. Kane’s helper was his fifth. Bedard told NHL.com the first two periods felt like Chicago’s, then Montreal buried a chance the other way.

Evans tied it at 17:29. Dach one-touched it along the goal line to the left of the net. Evans swung out front and beat Knight glove side. Beck the other assist. First goal of Evans’s season. 1-1.

Chicago’s power play went 0-for-5. Montreal went 0-for-3. Fowler, the AP recap said, was lightly tested after the first and needed only three saves in the third.

Ian Cole played his 1,000th NHL game, the NHL notes said. He is the second defenseman from the 2007 draft to get there, after Ryan McDonagh. Cole finished minus-1 with two blocks in 18:22. McDonagh is not seeded on AthX player pages.

A 2-on-1 on the kill, then Guhle through traffic

Evans’s second came at 7:45 of the second. The NHL landing tags it sh. The box shorthandedGoals row is empty. We score the bonus from the landing. The Associated Press recap had 7:51. The gamecenter time is 7:45.

Evans went down the left side on a 2-on-1 and wristed it from the left face-off dot, over Knight’s stick. Guhle the helper. 2-1. Bedard, on NHL.com: something we can’t do. He thought the power play was snapping it around, then they gave up two or three 2-on-1s.

Guhle made it 3-1 at 18:26. Wrist from the left point through traffic. Anderson the screen. Evans and Alexandre Carrier the assists. Evans’s third point matched his career high, the AP recap said.

Guhle told NHL.com the first period was shaky, then they came alive in the second, got a lead, and kept it. That’s the way you script a road win.

Matheson had missed the previous four games with a lower-body injury, the NHL recap said. He scored his first of the season at 17:22 of the third, empty net, Phillip Danault the helper. 4-1.

Suzuki out, a smarter third, Heritage Classic next

Nick Suzuki missed the game. The NHL recap said he is out 2-4 weeks with an upper-body injury, the first NHL game he has missed since his 2019-20 debut. Evans told NHL.com everybody felt they needed to take another step. It was not the prettiest win. He was happy they played a smarter game and did not give Chicago too much.

Evans also talked about holding a lead after Montreal blew a two-goal third in a 4-3 overtime loss at San Jose on Tuesday. Lucky it’s early, he said. You have to be in a good position in the third. We did that.

Bowen Byram missed a third straight game with an upper-body injury and is day to day, the NHL notes said. Chicago activated Andrew Mangiapane off injured reserve. He missed eight games after a lower-body injury in the opener on Sept. 29 and was a healthy scratch.

Bedard: maybe you’re trying to do too much, myself included. Frustrating to lose whenever you lose.

AthX Engine on a short-handed 4-1

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) scored Evans at 12.70: two goals, one assist, two shots, plus the landing short-handed bonus. The public daily skater board has him at 11.70. Guhle is 8.70 and unlinked. Matheson is 6.30. Fowler’s 20-save win is 9.80, also unlinked. Knight is 6.00. Montreal’s club line is 19.80. Chicago’s regulation loss floors at 0.00.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what the market will pay for Evans after a three-point night without Suzuki, and for a Blackhawks club that had looks and buried one. They move together. They are not the same number.

Track Evans, Matheson, Knight, and both clubs on the marketplace. Montreal plays Winnipeg on Sunday in the Heritage Classic at Princess Auto Stadium. Matheson told NHL.com it is his 11th year and he has never played in one. Chicago hosts Florida that afternoon.

*Sources: AP recap (ESPN), ESPN box score, NHL.com recap, NHL.com scoreboard, ESPN NHL scoreboard. AthX Engine fantasy points scored from NHL gamecenter box 2026020166. Evans’s short-handed bonus is from the landing (strength sh); the box shorthandedGoals row is empty. Information only; not financial advice.*