Bowen Byram marked his first appearance for the Chicago Blackhawks with a hat-trick, the last of them 29 seconds into overtime, as Chicago beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in preseason at the United Center on Monday, September 21.
The defenceman opened his account at 2:48 of the second period with a wrist shot into the top corner from a Ryan Greene pass, then made it 3-1 just 24 seconds into the third when an attempted backdoor pass deflected in off a Minnesota defender. His overtime winner came from the left circle past Calvin Pickard. Byram finished with a team-high five shots and 23:31 of ice time. Nick Lardis added a goal and an assist for Chicago, while Bobby Brink scored twice for Minnesota.
In the rest of the night’s preseason schedule, New Jersey beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on a Jack Hughes goal with 2:12 left, Washington beat Philadelphia 5-2 behind two Jonny Brodzinski goals, Pittsburgh beat Buffalo 4-1, Columbus edged Detroit 1-0 in a shootout with Jet Greaves stopping all 16 shots in regulation, Winnipeg beat Colorado 3-1 as Stuart Skinner made 31 saves on debut, and Dallas beat St. Louis 2-1.
The Capitals, meanwhile, confirmed Alex Ovechkin is day to day with a lower-body injury and may not feature in preseason at all. The 41-year-old, entering his 22nd NHL season, missed a second consecutive practice on Monday. “Right now, we’ll see how it goes this week,” head coach Spencer Carbery said. “We’ll be off tomorrow and then we’ll come back and have two practice days, so I’ll be able to give you a more accurate update.” Washington have two preseason games left, at home to Boston on Friday, September 25 and at Philadelphia on Saturday, September 26.
Elsewhere, Toronto defenceman Morgan Rielly returned to full practice after a virus kept him out of the preseason opener, while St. Louis defenceman Tyler Tucker is a doubt for the regular-season opener against Dallas on October 2 after hurting his knee in practice.
