The Montreal Canadiens navigated a night of frequent video reviews and saw two of their own goals overturned, but ultimately persevered for a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at the Bell Centre on Thursday, December 18, 2025. The game's flow was repeatedly interrupted by challenges, with three apparent goals being disallowed after official reviews.
A Game of Patience and Video Reviews
The contest between these Original Six rivals felt disjointed from the start, with the pace shattered by multiple trips to the NHL's Situation Room in Toronto. The Canadiens had goals from Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson wiped off the board in the third period due to offside infractions. Chicago also lost an early goal when Ilya Mikheyev was ruled to have interfered with Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes.
"Obviously, it's tough when goals get called back," said rookie defenseman Lane Hutson, who recorded three assists in the win. "But the feeling on the bench is let's just get the next one. We have a pretty resilient group. We didn't take our foot off the gas."
Canadiens Capitalize on Opportunities
Despite the setbacks, Montreal found the back of the net with goals that counted. Zachary Bolduc scored twice, including his first career goal on home ice at the Bell Centre. Owen Beck was initially thought to have scored his first NHL goal, but it was later credited to defenseman Noah Dobson after a review of a deflection.
In net, Jakub Dobes was solid, stopping 14 of 15 shots for a .933 save percentage. The Canadiens dominated statistically, winning 66 percent of faceoffs and outhitting the Blackhawks 21-14. Chicago's only official goal came from Frank Nazar.
Blackhawks Struggle Without Bedard
The loss extended a difficult stretch for the visiting Blackhawks, who played their third consecutive game without superstar Connor Bedard. The 2023 first overall pick, who leads the team with 44 points, is sidelined with a shoulder injury. Chicago's record without Bedard fell to 3-13-1 over his career, and the team is now mired in a four-game losing skid.
Goaltender Spencer Knight, who allowed two quick goals in an eight-second span in Toronto earlier in the week, was spared further damage by the offside calls that negated the Montreal goals.
Bolduc, celebrating his breakthrough home-ice goal, summed up the team's mentality: "We stood up as a team and showed that we had character tonight. I've been waiting for that. It feels good to put that one behind me and just look forward to score more goals here in Montreal."
