Blackhawks' Nick Foligno vocal on beating Canadiens after Winter Classic loss

01/04/2025 02:06 AM

Nick Foligno and the Chicago Blackhawks fell in the Winter Classic to the St. Louis Blues on New Year’s Eve. The Blackhawks are already near the bottom of the NHL, and Tuesday’s loss at Wrigley Field didn’t help. But Chicago picked up a big win over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night to help erase the sour taste of the Winter Classic defeat.

Foligno scored twice in the 4-2 win over Montreal on Friday. The Blackhawks are now 13-24-2 on the season with this victory. After the game, Foligno spoke with the media. The Blackhawks captain was outspoken about the loss at Wrigley Field. And he was just as passionate when discussing what this win meant to the team.

"Huge, huge," Foligno said, via NHL.com. "Just for our fans. We left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, ourselves mostly, in how we played in that Winter Classic. We want to make sure we're proud of the brand of hockey we're putting out there, and that's more the Blackhawk brand they're expecting to see. We'll fine-tune it and get a little bit better, but the momentum will hopefully carry over. Yeah, it was big to get one at home ice here. We have a nice little homestand, so let's take advantage of it."

Blackhawks, Canadiens with a familial affair

Nick Foligno and the Blackhawks picked up a big win over the Canadiens. However, the game was more significant than simply an early January outing between two rebuilding teams. The game featured a matchup between two brothers — Blackhawks forward Colton Dach against Canadiens forward — and former Chicago draft pick — Kirby Dach.

Colton Dach was drafted by the Blackhawks in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft. The younger Dach made his NHL debut on Friday night. Kirby Dach, meanwhile, is a former third overall pick from the 2019 NHL Draft. Kirby played for Chicago until 2022 when he was traded to the Canadiens at the draft that year.

Colton Dach did not score in his debut. But he will remember the moment nonetheless. "It was awesome," the Blackhawks forward said, via NHL.com. "Definitely a little nervous before I went on the ice for warmups, but it was all excitement. Emotions were flying. After that, I just started to play hockey. I was just trying to take it all in. All the guys here said, ‘Take your moment (with the pregame rookie lap) and go out there and have fun.’ That’s why I was trying to do.”

The Blackhawks ended a five-game losing streak with their win over Montreal. And Colton Dach received special bragging rights for the foreseeable future. Chicago retakes the ice on Sunday afternoon against the struggling New York Rangers.

The post Blackhawks’ Nick Foligno vocal on beating Canadiens after Winter Classic loss appeared first on ClutchPoints.