{"id":425129,"date":"2026-01-20T09:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T09:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425129\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T09:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T09:06:08","slug":"caleb-williams-pete-crow-armstrong-watch-connor-bedards-blackhawks-shut-out-jets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425129\/","title":{"rendered":"Caleb Williams, Pete Crow-Armstrong watch Connor Bedard’s Blackhawks shut out Jets"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Blackhawks<\/a> fans saluted one of Chicago\u2019s legendary athletes of the 2010s in Jonathan Toews on Monday at the United Center, three of the city\u2019s up-and-coming stars were also in the building.<\/p>\n

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong watched Connor Bedard and the Hawks beat the Jets 2-0 from front-row seats in Section 120.<\/p>\n

The roars for both \u2014 from the sellout crowd of 19,894 \u2014 nearly rivaled those for the salute to Toews in volume, albeit not in duration.<\/p>\n

They enjoyed a rock-solid performance by goalie Spencer Knight, who made 32 saves to earn his third shutout of the season and help the Hawks snap a three-game losing streak.<\/p>\n

A goal by Jason Dickinson in the second period held up until Bedard sealed the result with an empty-net goal, his first since returning from a shoulder injury.<\/p>\n

Offense has been scarce lately for the Hawks, but they at least anticipated and game-planned for that against terrific Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck (22 saves). The Hawks\u2019 top defensive pairing of Alex Vlasic and Louis Crevier was particularly impressive, shutting down the Jets\u2019 top forward line.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game, so we took the chances that were given to us and tried our best to shut down their offense,\u2019\u2019 Vlasic said. \u2018\u2018We\u2019ve got to learn how to win those games.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Said coach Jeff Blashill: \u2018\u2018We checked really hard tonight. We were hard in the slot area. We did a much better job of not giving up anything easy, and when we did give up chances, Spencer was excellent.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Star support<\/p>\n

Williams, just one day removed from the Bears\u2019 dramatic, devastating playoff loss to the Rams, pumped his fist when he was shown on the videoboard. He wore a black Bedard jersey, and Crow-Armstrong wore a red Connor Murphy sweater.<\/p>\n

The two hung out in the Hawks\u2019 locker room after the game, mingling with the team before spending some extra time joking around with a group that included Bedard, Nick Foligno, Frank Nazar (who\u2019s nearing a return from injury) and Nick Lardis.<\/p>\n

As they were leaving, rookie forward Oliver Moore shouted, \u2018\u2018Bye, Caleb!\u2019\u2019 Then he muttered quietly to reporters, \u2018\u2018Pretty cool to get to say that.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The camaraderie among the stars of the city\u2019s various teams is cool to see. Chicagoans still are waiting for the Hawks to mimic the Cubs\u2019 and Bears\u2019 revivals into playoff teams, however.<\/p>\n

Toews\u2019 adjustment<\/p>\n

Toews talked early Monday about hoping to be able to compartmentalize the emotions around his Chicago return<\/a> enough to focus on the game. He ended up generating several good looks in a little more than 18 minutes of ice time, but he failed to crack Knight.<\/p>\n

The Jets, who have the NHL\u2019s second-worst record a season after claiming the 2025 Presidents\u2019 Trophy, need every victory they can get to make a playoff push. They\u2019re three points behind the Hawks and seven points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

Things haven\u2019t been entirely sunny for Toews this season, either. Before a recent hot streak highlighted by goals in four consecutive games, he struggled badly throughout November and December.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018[This season has] definitely been an adjustment,\u2019\u2019 Toews said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things I didn\u2019t really predict or foresee. Even acclimating to a new group is something that I wasn\u2019t really quite expecting. The game\u2019s always changing. The league\u2019s getting better.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018But as time went along, I\u2019ve been able to feel more comfortable, find my game, settle in and find a role on this team, as well.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Blackhawks fans saluted one of Chicago\u2019s legendary athletes of the 2010s in Jonathan Toews on Monday at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-425129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}