CHICAGO (AP) — Charlie Coyle had his second career hat trick, Mathieu Olivier added a goal and an assist and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Friday night.
The win was Columbus’ fourth straight and eighth in the last nine games (8-0-1). The Blackhawks lost in regulation for the third time in five games (0-3-2).
Coyle set up Olivier’s goal, the eventual winner, for his third point of the game. It gave the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead 6:47 into the second period.
Coyle, with five goals and nine points in his last three games, finished off his second career three-goal effort with an empty-netter with 1:03 left. He scored Columbus’ first two goals, beating Spencer Knight from the doorstep on a power play with 47 seconds left in the first period, and on a hard wrist shot over Knight’s glove 1:23 into the second.
In between, Connor Bedard whistled a wrist shot past Elvis Merzlikins with 2.7 seconds left in the first. Bedard set up Chicago’s other goal, matched with a perfect feed to Frank Nazar on a 3-on-2 break four minutes after Olivier’s goal. Nazar beat Merzlikins from 25 feet.
Merzlikins stopped 22 shots, and Knight made 22 saves.
Columbus blanked the Blackhawks on their two power-play chances, running their string of futility to 26 man-advantages and 10 games without a goal. Chicago’s last power-play goal was in Nashville on Jan. 10.
The Blackhawks called up defenseman Sam Rinzel from Rockford before the game, benching defenseman Artyom Levshunov, who was a minus-5 in Thursday’s 6-2 loss at Pittsburgh and is minus-11 in his last eight games.
Blue Jackets: At St. Louis on Saturday.
Blackhawks: Host San Jose on Monday.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
What the Constitution Means to Me Read moreWhat The Constitution Means To Me
The local FOUR CHAPLAINS CEREMONY commemorates the bravery, heroism and sacrifice of the fou… Read moreJan 31, 2026 FOUR CHAPLAINS CEREMONY
Imagine the rock and roll of Jimi Hendrix, the wild abandon of Janis Joplin’s vocals, and th… Read morePacifica Performances presents…Dirty Cello
Providing Feedback said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.