The phrase "Blackhawks game" is trending because the Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 at United Center on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in their 100th home opener. The result was Chicago's first win of the 2026-27 season, lifting the team to 1-3-0. What made the night bigger than a single result was Patrick Kane playing at home in a Blackhawks sweater for the first time since Feb. 21, 2023, a gap of 1,324 days. A sellout crowd of 20,270 watched it happen.
This was the club's 100th home opener, a milestone that framed the night before the puck even dropped. Home openers are the first regular-season home game of a campaign, and reaching 100 of them marks roughly a century of Blackhawks hockey in Chicago. The building was full, with 20,270 tickets sold, and the crowd's energy was tied mostly to Kane's return. Both the opponent and the setting gave a mid-October game unusual weight.
St. Louis struck first when Mason McTavish scored at 15:38 of the first period, putting the Blues up 1-0. Chicago had to play from behind for the rest of the opening frame. Going down early at home can drain the momentum of a celebration night, so the response in the second period mattered. The goal also set up the pattern of the game, with Chicago answering rather than leading.
Sam Rinzel evened the score at 5:40 of the second period with a power-play goal, making it 1-1. A power play means the opposing team has a player in the penalty box, so the attacking side skates with an extra skater. Rinzel is a young Blackhawks defenseman, and scoring on the man advantage is a valued skill for that position. The goal changed the game's shape and gave Chicago its first real foothold.
Anton Frondell scored at 7:40 of the second period to give Chicago a 2-1 lead. That quick follow-up, roughly two minutes after Rinzel's goal, turned a tied game into a lead Chicago never gave back. Frondell also picked up an assist, finishing the night with a goal and a helper. According to the transcript, he now has four points in two games.
Cole Smith made it 3-1 at 18:51 of the third period with a shorthanded empty-net goal. Short-handed means Chicago was killing a penalty, so they had one fewer skater; an empty net means the opposing goalie had been pulled for an extra attacker. Scoring in that situation is uncommon because the shooting team is outnumbered. It gave Chicago breathing room late in a one-goal game.
Connor McMichael scored on a 6-on-4 power play at 19:22 of the third to cut Chicago's lead to 3-2. The 6-on-4 situation comes from pulling the goalie for a sixth skater while the opponent has a player in the box. McMichael had already assisted on St. Louis's first goal, so he finished with a goal and an assist. His goal briefly put the outcome back in doubt.
Frank Nazar scored an empty-net goal at 19:56 of the third period to finish the scoring at 4-2. Like Frondell, Nazar ended the night with a goal and an assist. Empty-net goals are often overlooked, but they close out games by removing any realistic chance of a late tie. The final margin reflected how tight the game had been until the last minute.
Spencer Knight made 26 saves for Chicago in the win. Joel Hofer stopped 17 shots for St. Louis, which fell to 1-2-0. Save totals alone don't tell you how difficult the shots were, but Knight faced more work and still allowed only two goals. Hofer's lighter workload came partly from Chicago's shot volume across the night.
Patrick Kane, 37, logged 20:55 of ice time, third among Blackhawks skaters behind Alex Vlasic at 21:48 and Bowen Byram at 21:22. He recorded two shots on goal and one hit, and he was held off the scoresheet. A player's stat line can look quiet even when the night carries a larger meaning. Kane's return was about the occasion as much as the numbers.
Kane received a video tribute and a loud ovation from the home crowd. That reaction is typical when a longtime star returns to a former team's building, and it framed the emotional tone of the evening. Jonathan Toews and Niklas Hjalmarsson were also present, which connected the night to the Blackhawks' championship-era core. Kane's second stint with Chicago is the reason he was in the building at all.
Feb. 21, 2023 was the last time Kane had played at United Center in a Blackhawks sweater before this game, a span of 1,324 days. He had since played elsewhere and then returned to Chicago. Measuring the gap in days highlights how long the absence actually was. For fans, the date comparison is the plainest way to see the scale of the return.
Kane signed a two-year, $16 million contract with an average annual value of $8 million. Sources disagree on the signing date, with NHL.com's recap giving July 23, 2026, and a separate NHL.com feature giving June 23, 2026, so the exact date remains unsettled. He scored in his first game back, on Sept. 29 at Vegas. The contract structure means Chicago has committed to him for two seasons at a fixed cap hit.
Teuvo Teravainen left in the second period with an apparent lower-body injury to the ankle or knee area. Coach Jeff Blashill said more would be known "in the next couple of days," and Teravainen was not scheduled to travel to Thursday's game. Lower-body injuries can range from minor to serious, so the team's caution about the timeline is reasonable. No diagnosis had been made public as of the reporting.
Andrew Mangiapane is listed as week-to-week, a designation that typically means a player will miss multiple games rather than just one. Combined with Teravainen's early exit, Chicago finished the win with a thinner forward group than it started with. Week-to-week status is not the same as a long-term injury designation, and teams often update it as recovery progresses. Both absences affect how the roster is built for the next game.
The win moved Chicago to 1-3-0 on the young season, while St. Louis dropped to 1-2-0. Records this early are shaped by a handful of games, so they say more about which teams have found rhythm than about how the season will end. Chicago's first victory removes the pressure of an 0-4 start. The Blues, meanwhile, lost a game they had led in the first period.
Chicago's next game is on the road against the New York Islanders on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time at UBS Arena. The Central Time start means 7:30 p.m. Eastern for viewers in New York. Road games after an emotional home night can be a test of focus. Travel and injury questions will shape how the lineup looks.
An NHL game tends to trend when a result, a milestone and a storyline land on the same night. Here, the elements were a first win, a 100th home opener and a beloved former star's return in a new contract year. Trending topics are usually driven by fan searches for the same explanation at the same time. Anyone looking for the reason needs all three pieces to make sense of it.
The game details, scoring, goalies and Kane's stat line come from NHL.com recaps, while the injury updates, Kane's ice time breakdown and the contract reporting come from the Chicago Sun-Times. NHL.com is the league's own outlet; the Sun-Times is a Chicago newspaper covering the team closely. Where sources conflict, as with the signing date, that disagreement is worth noting rather than smoothing over. Keeping the outlet attached to each claim is what makes a summary checkable.
The short version is that Chicago won 4-2 for its first victory of 2026-27, in its 100th home opener, on the night Kane returned to United Center for the first time in 1,324 days. Frondell and Nazar each had a goal and an assist, and Knight made 26 saves. Two injuries left the team short, and the next test comes Thursday on the road in New York. The story is both a result and a homecoming.
