LAS VEGAS \u2014\u00a0Jeff Blashill figured it would take a little time for Oliver Moore and Frank Nazar to click, to learn each other\u2019s tendencies, to read each other\u2019s movements, to simply learn how to make their breathtaking speed work in the context of a three-man unit and a five-man team.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the Blackhawks\u2019 game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night, Blashill seemed to suggest the two could become a permanent pairing, future fixtures in the top six. But with time. Patience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be just chemistry and a matter of time, to be honest,\u201d Blashill said.<\/p>\n
It did indeed take some time. Eighty-three seconds, to be exact.<\/p>\n
OK, maybe there\u2019s still room for growth, but the potential of Moore and Nazar with the savvy veteran Tyler Bertuzzi paid off almost instantly in the Blackhawks\u2019 riveting, 4-3 shootout loss to Vegas, with Moore finishing off a three-on-two rush 1:23 into the first period with a wicked wrist shot past Carter Hart.<\/p>\n
early equalizer\u2705 pic.twitter.com\/2U5MKr3LRg<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n It was another tantalizing glimpse into the future during a season chock full of them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can put \u2018D\u2019 on their heels a good amount with our speed,\u201d Moore said. \u201cWe can drive in and we can forecheck hard. We have a lot of options, especially playing with a guy like Bert \u2014\u00a0he really supports us all over the ice. It\u2019s fun to play with them.\u201d<\/p>\n It was Moore\u2019s 14th game of the season, the 23rd of his career, and one of his best. Just a few minutes after his goal, Moore shot just wide off the rush. During a wild overtime, he got off a sneaky good shot that Hart was just able to corral. And he was his usual puck-hound self all over the ice.<\/p>\n While Connor Bedard and Nazar are entrenched as the top two centers, and Bertuzzi keeps pouring in goals, the rest of the Blackhawks\u2019 top six is largely up for grabs \u2014 especially beyond the short-term contracts of Teuvo Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen and Andr\u00e9 Burakovsky, each only signed through next season. Anton Frondell, the No. 3 pick this past June, could be there next season, and Nick Lardis surely will get his shot at some point this season. But for now, Moore \u2014 picked 18 spots after Bedard in the 2023 draft \u2014 has the inside track, and could get a long look as Nazar\u2019s wingman.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope, long-term, the speed of Moore and Nazar can be something over the course of the season that can be real effective,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cThey both play real fast. Bert is a really good, accountable, smart player who can put pucks into areas for those guys, and help sort the line a little bit. We\u2019ve used it a little bit. It hasn\u2019t come to fruition yet the way we\u2019d like it to, but we\u2019re hoping it gets there.\u201d<\/p>\n There aren\u2019t many players who can keep up with Nazar, but Moore is one of them. Blashill wants to see them use their speed to take opponents wide, rather than trying to barrel through the middle against bigger, stronger players. The two of them did that in the first period, generating several scoring chances. They tailed off a bit from there, but the promise is obvious.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s so fast,\u201d Nazar said. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to play with him. I had a few chances today (where) I should have found him. He\u2019s sneaky; he gets behind the guys. Just got to do a better job finding him. But he did a good job today, played a really good game and had a nice goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Moore was kicking himself after the game for a poorly timed change that led directly to Braeden Bowman\u2019s equalizer with just 2:28 left in the game. Moore called it \u201can awful change\u201d and \u201cthe difference between a winning game and a losing game.\u201d Blashill wasn\u2019t quite so severe, noting that several players shouldered the blame on the goal \u2014\u00a0Bertuzzi got lost in transition and Alex Vlasic and Louis Crevier lost track of the puck, forcing Spencer Knight to make two big stops before Bowman\u2019s third-chance goal.<\/p>\n But he also acknowledged that Moore can\u2019t change there, not when the Knights have the puck and are coming up the ice with numbers. It was another reminder that, exciting and surprising as these Blackhawks have been this season, they\u2019re still incredibly young and inexperienced.<\/p>\n So yes, time and patience.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s part of the learning process,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some young, young guys out there in critical moments and that\u2019s good, that\u2019s what this is about \u2014 continuing to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n Game observations<\/p>\n 1. It\u2019s becoming commonplace to see Bedard fire off a ridiculously difficult shot like it\u2019s nothing, but even by his standards, the go-ahead goal in the third period Tuesday night was something special. After entering the offensive zone with speed, Bedard turned Shea Theodore \u2014 one of the best defensemen in the NHL \u2014\u00a0inside-out before firing an unbelievable wrister against his own momentum to beat Hart top shelf on the far side.<\/p>\n Bedard could make shots like that in his first two seasons. What\u2019s different this year is his ability to create those shots for himself. He was more like a catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter his first two seasons, finding a soft spot and getting teed up by a teammate. Now, he\u2019s doing it all on his own, routinely walking defenders and breaking ankles on a nightly basis.<\/p>\n CONNOR BEDARD \ud83e\udd2f<\/p>\n We are running out of words to describe his goals. pic.twitter.com\/NAmN1YAdQm<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NHL (@NHL) December 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n It was Bedard\u2019s 17th goal in 26 games \u2014 a 53-goal pace.<\/p>\n \u201cHe definitely can create his own space,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cThat\u2019s a really good defenseman (against whom) he was able to create enough space to get the shot off. It\u2019s very impressive. I wasn\u2019t here a year ago, I can\u2019t speak to it, but he\u2019s definitely been able to self-create some of those situations.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. The Blackhawks are now 1-6 in games that go beyond regulation, with two shootout losses. But this was easily their best overtime of the season, as they dominated the first four minutes with high-end scoring chances for Ryan Greene, Moore, Ilya Mikheyev, Bedard and Nazar. (Knight made huge stops on Mark Stone and Noah Hanifin at the other end in the final minute).<\/p>\n \u201cOur record once it gets to (OT) isn\u2019t good enough right now,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cIf you flipped the record with us and Anaheim (6-1 in overtime and shootouts), for example, we\u2019d be right there. So we recognize that, but I will say, that overtime we did a great job. We certainly had all the chances. We just did everything but score.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Bertuzzi has built a career on using his skate to knock pucks into the net, bracing his stick with his foot for his close-range goals. He used that skill somewhat differently on Tuesday night. Midway through the second period, Hart came racing out of his net to play a loose puck in the slot, but Bertuzzi made a kick save on Hart\u2019s clearing attempt with his left foot, keeping the puck in the offensive zone. Bertuzzi got to the puck before Hart could scramble back to his net, giving him an open cage to fire the puck into for a 2-1 lead and his 14th goal of the season.<\/p>\n ope just gonna sneak past ya there pic.twitter.com\/ckFaolbPRn<\/a><\/p>\n