- Bowen Byram scored three goals in his first game wearing a Blackhawks sweater
- His hat trick goal came 29 seconds into overtime and beat the Wild 4-3
- Read below for how the goals went in and what Chicago gave up to get him
Bowen Byram could not have scripted a better first night in Chicago.
The Blackhawks defenseman scored a hat trick in his preseason debut Monday at the United Center, finishing it off with the game-winner 29 seconds into overtime in a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild. He skated the puck around Bobby Brink and beat Calvin Pickard with a wrist shot from the left circle.
Watch the hatty land in overtime:
Number one arrived at 2:48 of the second period. Ryan Greene found him with a lane to the net and Byram ripped a wrist shot past Pickard for a 2-1 lead.
Take a look at the first one in a Chicago sweater:
Goal two needed some help. Twenty-four seconds into the third, Byram tried a no-look pass toward Roman Kantserov that clipped the stick of Wild defenseman Daemon Hunt and went in.
Chicago paid a steep price for this guy. Buffalo received the No. 4 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft as part of the June 23 trade, and the Blackhawks then handed Byram a six-year, $75 million contract on July 1 that carries a $12.5 million cap hit. Plenty of people called it too much.
He logged 23:31 and put five shots on net in the opener.
Nothing else about the night was clean. Brink redirected a point shot past Spencer Knight just 15 seconds into the game.
Nick Lardis answered late in the first, stepping out of the penalty box, stripping a Wild defender and burying the breakaway.
That 3-1 cushion disappeared in the third on goals from Maxim Shabanov and Brink again. Knight stopped 19, Pickard 16.
Here’s how the three stars shook out:
It was the second exhibition meeting between the clubs in three days. Minnesota, dressing mostly AHL players, took the first one 3-2 in overtime Saturday in St. Paul.
A playoff berth has eluded the Blackhawks since the 2020 bubble. A 25-year-old defenseman with a Stanley Cup ring and top-pair minutes is supposed to be the piece that changes that, alongside a young core that named Connor Bedard captain last week.
Three goals in September do not count for anything in the standings. Blackhawks fans will take the introduction anyway.
