Evans Erupts, Montreal Flips the Script on Chicago

Jake Evans scored twice and added an assist for 3 points, single-handedly turning a 1-0 deficit into a Montreal lead that Chicago never recovered from. The Canadiens walked out of Chicago with a 4-1 win, outscoring the Blackhawks 4-0 after the first period.

Chicago looked sharp early. Connor Bedard snapped one past Jacob Fowler at 4:23 of the first — his second goal of the season, set up by Patrick Kane — and the Blackhawks had the lead they wanted on home ice. That 1-0 margin is where the turning point lives: it was the largest single score-margin shift of the night, and it briefly looked like Chicago might be able to protect it. They couldn't. Evans answered at 17:29 of the first, converting a wrist shot off feeds from Kirby Dach and Owen Beck to knot it at 1-1 heading into the first intermission.

The second period is where Montreal took the game by the throat. Evans struck again at 7:45 — another wrist shot, this time assisted by Kaiden Guhle — to put the Canadiens ahead 2-1. Then, with under two minutes left in the period, Guhle returned the favor: he buried a wrist shot of his own at 18:26, with Evans picking up the helper alongside Alexandre Carrier, to push it to 3-1. That's four unanswered goals on the night for Montreal, and the story of the night was clearly the Evans-Guhle connection doing damage in both directions. Spencer Knight made 24 saves on 27 shots for Chicago — he kept the score from getting uglier sooner, but the Blackhawks' offense gave him nothing to work with after Bedard's early strike.

Mike Matheson iced it at 17:22 of the third with a snap shot, assisted by Phillip Danault, making it 4-1 final. On the other end, Jacob Fowler was nearly untouchable — 20 saves on 21 shots, allowing only Bedard's early goal. Montreal's goaltending appears to have been a non-issue all night; the bigger story looks like the Canadiens' ability to generate sustained offensive pressure across all three zones once they found their footing. Chicago's power play, depth scoring, and overall five-on-five structure will need examination after this one. For Montreal, Evans's 3-point night is the kind of performance that shifts how a team is perceived early in a season — whether that holds up is a different question, but tonight it was undeniable.