With two games left before the Olympic break and riding a five-game skid, the Chicago Blackhawks are looking to reset the tone-and fast. Friday’s matchup against the San Jose Sharks wasn’t just another date on the calendar. It brought together old friends, rising stars, and a team hungry to head into the break with some momentum.
Kurashev’s Return: Familiar Faces, New Sweater
Philipp Kurashev made his return to the United Center for the first time since leaving the Blackhawks this past offseason. After five seasons in Chicago-including a career-best 54-point campaign in 2023-24-he found himself without a qualifying offer and signed a one-year, $1.2 million deal with the Sharks.
There’s no bad blood, at least not publicly. Ahead of the game, Kurashev reflected on his time in Chicago with genuine appreciation.
“I grew here with these people,” he said after the Sharks' morning skate. “They gave me the opportunity to realize my dream and play in the NHL.
I’m really grateful for that.”
He even caught up with Connor Bedard and Colton Dach over lunch at Gibsons Italia-one of his favorite spots in the city. “Chicago’s probably the best city for food,” he added with a grin.
But once the puck dropped, it was all business. Kurashev is just two games removed from an upper-body injury that kept him sidelined for over a month, and while he admitted to having “a chip on his shoulder,” his focus was clear: “We need every point we can get.
That’s what the focus is on. I’m just going to do my best to help the team.”
It’s the mindset of a player who’s grateful for the past but fully dialed into the present.
Bedard vs. Celebrini: A Glimpse Into the NHL’s Future
The headline matchup? Macklin Celebrini vs.
Connor Bedard. Two No. 1 overall picks.
Two generational talents. And two guys who’ve spent plenty of hours on the same sheet of ice-just not in NHL uniforms.
Over the summer, the two trained together, sharpening their skills and pushing one another. Bedard praised Celebrini’s work ethic, saying, “It doesn’t happen by accident.
He puts a ton of time and effort in.” For Bedard, the summer skates were about competition and camaraderie-“always fun,” as he put it.
Celebrini echoed that sentiment, calling Bedard a “pretty special talent” and acknowledging how much he’s learned from him during their offseason battles. “Being able to take some things from him and apply it to my game has definitely helped me,” he said.
But don’t expect either of them to get caught up in the hype. “It’s Blackhawks versus Sharks,” Bedard said when asked about any extra motivation.
“Just another game.” Celebrini had a similar take: “We don’t need to get up any more than we already need to for other reasons.”
Still, make no mistake-this was a marquee matchup. The kind of game you circle on the calendar, even if the players themselves downplay it. It’s not just about the now-it’s a preview of what’s coming in the next decade of NHL hockey.
The Stakes: More Than Just a Game
Both teams came into this one outside the playoff picture, but the urgency is very real-especially with the Olympic break looming. The Sharks sit just two points out of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with 58 points. The Blackhawks, meanwhile, are at 51 and looking to salvage what they can before the league hits pause.
Blackhawks center Jason Dickinson didn’t sugarcoat the situation. “We played some poor hockey, and then we played some good periods, and it’s not enough to win,” he said. “I want us to play a full 60 [minutes], come out and play the way that we know we can, and let the results kind of speak for themselves.”
Chicago dropped two of three games to San Jose last season, and with their current losing streak, there’s no room left for moral victories. It’s about execution, consistency, and finding a way to finish strong before the break.
Final Thoughts
There was a lot to unpack heading into this Blackhawks-Sharks tilt-Kurashev’s emotional return, the Bedard-Celebrini showdown, and two teams grinding for relevance in a tightly packed Western Conference. For Chicago, it wasn’t just about snapping a losing streak. It was about proving they can still string together a complete game when it counts.
The storylines were rich, the stakes were real, and the future of the NHL was on full display. Business as usual?
Maybe. But this one had a little extra juice.