Forsberg Strips Burakovsky and Scores 65 Seconds Into OT as Predators Edge Blackhawks 3-2

Game Summary

Andre Burakovsky played one of his best games as a Blackhawk on Sunday afternoon. And then, 65 seconds into overtime, it all went sideways. Filip Forsberg stripped Burakovsky of the puck behind the Chicago net, skated to the front, and lifted a shot past Spencer Knight to give the Nashville Predators a 3-2 overtime win at the United Center. It was Forsberg's second goal of the afternoon and his 350th career goal — making him the sixth Swedish player in NHL history to reach that milestone. The Blackhawks fall to 26-31-13.

The first period was scoreless but not without incident — Matt Grzelcyk left the game at 4:49 after a shoving match with Erik Haula and didn't return. Blashill confirmed post-game that Grzelcyk has an upper-body injury and will miss the entire upcoming four-game road trip. That left the Blackhawks down to five defensemen for the final 55 minutes.

Nick Lardis broke the ice at 4:34 of the second, capping a 2-on-1 with a wrist shot from the left circle that deflected into the net off the stick of Nashville defenseman Nicolas Hague. It was his 6th of the season. Forsberg answered less than two minutes later at 6:31, finishing a give-and-go with Jonathan Marchessault by sweeping the puck in as he cut through the slot. Then Bedard gave Chicago the lead back at 13:57 with one of his better individual efforts of the season — he took a stretch pass from Ryan Greene, moved in on Juuse Saros, and went backhand to forehand for his team-leading 29th goal.

The lead held until 9:43 of the third. Connor Bedard had been called for high-sticking on Steven Stamkos at 7:32, and while the penalty technically expired before the goal, Nashville was still set up in its power play formation. Forsberg fed Stamkos in the left circle and he redirected it off the right post and in — his 34th of the season, third in two games, and his 373rd career even-strength goal, tying Mats Sundin for 29th all-time. The game went to overtime from there, and Forsberg ended it almost immediately with the Burakovsky strip.

Three Stars

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This one stings because the Blackhawks did more than enough to win this game. They led twice, got a highlight-reel goal from Bedard, and competed for 60-plus minutes against a Nashville team riding a hot streak and playing its second game in two nights. Blashill's frustration was pointed at the overtime specifically: "Overtimes are so much, you get three guys on the ice ... it comes down to guys making plays. We lost the puck. And next thing you know, it's in our net." He was quick to note that Burakovsky had played well all night — "a little bit unfortunate" — and he's right. Sometimes the best player on the ice makes the play that costs you.

Losing Grzelcyk at 4:49 of the first forced the remaining five defensemen into heavy minutes for the rest of the game. Alex Vlasic logged a game-high 26:34, Levshunov played 24:27, Kaiser 23:02, and Rinzel 21:44. That's a lot of ice time for a young blue line, and to their credit they held up — Nashville had 33 shots but Chicago limited high-danger chances for most of the afternoon. Knight was solid with 30 saves on 33 shots. Louis Crevier returned to the lineup after missing Friday's game with his injury from Thursday in Minnesota and played 18:03 across 28 shifts, giving the back end some much-needed depth once Grzelcyk went down.

Bedard's breakaway goal was the play of the game from Chicago's perspective. Greene spotted him with a stretch pass, Bedard went in alone on Saros, and the backhand-to-forehand deke was as clean as it gets. That's 29 goals on the season now, and the Bedard-Greene chemistry continues to produce. Lardis had an active game as well — his 6th goal opened the scoring, and he looked dangerous on that 2-on-1 with Nazar. The power play went 0-for-3 again, which is becoming a theme, but it's hard to fault the effort level in this one. Chicago was competing. They just ran into a veteran in Forsberg who made them pay twice.

Looking Ahead

The Blackhawks hit the road for a four-game trip starting Tuesday at the New York Islanders (6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN). They'll be without Grzelcyk for the duration and Mangiapane remains out. On the positive side, Blashill said before Sunday's game that Anton Frondell — the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft — should join the team on the road this week. The arrival of Sacha Boisvert, one of Chicago's three first-round picks from 2024, remains undetermined as he awaits immigration clearance. At 26-31-13 and 65 points, Chicago remains last in the Central with roughly 12 games to play. Nashville took three of four in the season series and has climbed to 75 points and the second wild card — a remarkable turnaround for a team that was dead last in the NHL on Dec. 8.