Justin Brazeau's hat trick helps Penguins blitz Blackhawks out of break

Jason Mackey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Dec 28, 2025

Published in Hockey

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CHICAGO — There was no late collapse for the Penguins this time. Only what they’ll hope is momentum built toward the rest of their season coming out of the Christmas break.

Despite losing nine of their previous 10, including a few games where they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, Justin Brazeau, Bryan Rust and others ensured the Penguins wouldn’t get blown over in the Windy City, Pittsburgh earning a 7-3 victory against the Blackhawks on Sunday at United Center.

Brazeau notched his first career hat trick, as 13 of the 18 Penguins skaters contributed points. Rust added two goals, and Arturs Silovs fared well enough in a wild game that didn’t lack for offense or entertainment.

The Penguins (16-12-9) built a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes and set a season-high in goals, an effort that matched what coach Dan Muse wanted to see with his team playing for the first time since Dec. 23.

“First part of the first period, you definitely want to get yourself into it, where you’re getting back into playing connected, supporting each other and reading off of each other,” Muse said.

It would’ve been tough for the Penguins to script a better start to this one, the first period featuring four goals, some dreadful play from the Blackhawks and a few lucky bounces.

The avalanche actually started when Silovs stopped a two-on-one bid from forward Andre Burakovsky.

Anthony Mantha then swept the rebound of a Jack St. Ivany shot through goaltender Spencer Knight’s five-hole at 1:38. It was the 12th goal of the season for Mantha, who’s on pace for a career-high 26.

Chicago failing to cash in on a chance also spurred the Penguins’ second goal. Nick Lardis found fellow forward Ryan Greene alone in the slot. Greene’s shot hit the post.

At the other end, Sidney Crosby backhanded a pass to Rust, who used his skate to corral it. Laser of a shot from the left circle, 2-0 Penguins at 7:17 of the first on Rust’s 14th.

At that point, the Blackhawks were rattled. And it only got worse.

Mantha made a nifty play behind the net and set up Brazeau for an easy tap-in at 8:20. With Pittsburgh scoring three goals on six shots, Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill was forced to use his timeout.

It didn’t work.

Chicago, which had been one for its previous 19 on the power play, couldn’t convert on a Rust minor. When the penalty ended, Rust joined the rush and threw a puck toward the net from the circle that Knight clearly misread for a 4-0 Penguins lead at 12:03.

That was it for Knight, who was replaced by Arvid Soderblom.

The Blackhawks perked up when forward Nick Foligno, left alone in front for way too long, jammed a rebound past Pittsburgh’s goaltender. But Brazeau answered with his second and third goals to complete the hat trick.

The first came eight seconds into a Blackhawks penalty, a backhander at 12:20 of the second that snuck past Soderblom. The second was a smart tip of Connor Dewar’s shot at 13:17.

Emblematic of this wacky game, Wyatt Kaiser and Noel Acciari both scored goals that were assisted by the lively boards here. Kaiser’s banked off Silovs. Acciari had a little more time to stuff his past Soderblom.

The game obviously wasn’t perfect for the Penguins. But they preyed on a struggling team and didn’t hesitate to put the puck on net. They also jumped out to a lead and handled it appropriately, which is never a bad thing.

It was over when …

Brazeau answered Foligno’s goal with his power-play tally, essentially thwarting any momentum the Blackhawks had gained.

Stat of the game

4: The Penguins have scored at least four goals in five of their last eight games, although they’re only 2-1-2 in those games.

Around the boards

• With Blake Lizotte activated from injured reserve, the Penguins placed Danton Heinen on waivers to clear the necessary roster spot. Teams have until 2 p.m. Monday to claim Heinen.

• The Penguins’ healthy scratches were Kevin Hayes, Connor Clifton and Ryan Graves.

• Sunday marked the second multi-goal game of the season for Rust. His other one came Oct. 27 against the Blues. Rust now has points in five consecutive games against the Blackhawks, amassing four goals and seven points during that time. In 14 career games when facing Chicago, Rust has nine goals and 14 points.

• Despite giving up a good five inches, Acciari took down Connor Murphy in a fight at the end of the first period.

• Sunday marked the Penguins’ first regulation road win since Dec. 4 at Tampa. The last time they went longer without a regulation road win was 2011, per team historian Bob Grove.

Up next

The Penguins are scheduled to practice on Monday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. They’ll host the Hurricanes on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena.

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