If you take Chicago Blackhawks forward Taylor Raddysh at his word, he wasn’t thinking hat trick.
In the final minute against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday at the United Center, Raddysh was just trying to help run out the clock after the Bruins pulled goalie Linus Ullmark for a sixth attacker.
He got a stick down on Brad Marchand’s neutral-zone pass, causing Marchand to turn over the puck to Jujhar Khaira at center ice. Khaira sent it back to Raddysh on the right side for the empty-netter.
“Honestly, Juj kind of made a play the opposite way and I didn’t even know he knew I was there,” Raddysh said. “It was actually a really good play by him, making that (defenseman) shift over and giving me that line.”
The goal not only put the finishing touch on the Hawks’ 6-3 shocker over the league-leading Bruins, but Raddysh also reached the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career.
“The puck’s kind of finding its way in,” he said. “I’ve just got to keep going to the net and getting to those areas where the puck’s going to be, and the (defensemen) are getting their shots through.
“First one (of the hat trick) was a prime example of that, just kind of hacking away at it. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t.”
He’s the only Hawk to reach 20 goals this season, and with Patrick Kane, Max Domi and others traded before the March 3 deadline, he’ll likely be the only one in that club, outside of a potential hot streak by Andreas Athanasiou (14 goals).
The benchmark could be more than symbolic.
More Top Picks Best Amazon Prime Day Miele Vacuum Deals 2026
The offensive potential has been there for Raddysh, a 2016 second-round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He flashed that ability almost immediately after the Lightning traded him to the Hawks at last year’s deadline, along with Boris Katchouk and two conditional first-round picks, for Brandon Hagel and two fourth-round picks.
But Raddysh has gone through dry spells, lost several partners in 5-on-5 and the power play and has focused on rounding out his game by minding his defensive responsibilities.
“I find the times when you’re doing the right things, the puck will start going in,” Raddysh said Monday. “I know I started going through a rough patch the last 10 to 15 games before the trades.”
During a 15-game stretch from early February to early March, he had only two assists and a minus-5 rating.
In the last four games, he has six goals and an assist and a plus-2 rating.
“Just by doing the right things, getting in the right areas, I found some chemistry with Johnny (Tyler Johnson) and Gutty (Cole Guttman),” Raddysh said. “Just some good plays by them to set me up.”
That line produced six goals, including a three-game scoring streak last week against the Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers and Lightning. But the Hawks shut down Guttman for the season Monday because of a worsening shoulder injury.
More adversity.
Raddysh had teamed with main linemate Jonathan Toews on 12 goals, but Toews announced Feb. 19 he was taking an indefinite leave because of symptoms stemming from long COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome.
Raddysh and Domi combined on six power-play goals, but the Hawks traded Domi to the Dallas Stars on March 2.
You could argue that the front office’s roster purge to obtain a slew of high-round draft picks left Raddysh little choice but to step up and take the wheel of the offense. But he’s clicking lately because he’s doing a better job of taking care of business in all three zones.
Take the hat-trick goal, for example. That wouldn’t have happened if Raddysh hadn’t tipped Marchand’s pass attempt to force a turnover.
“As other players have left, it’s just more responsibility for him offensively,” coach Luke Richardson said, “but I count on him defensively too.
“Taylor’s a smart defensive player, and now with (center Jason) Dickinson out there, they were going out next if we didn’t get that empty-netter. That’s the responsibility that he’s earned. He’s going to make the right plays, he’s not going to ice the puck or miss his check defensively.
“So he’s got 20 goals, which is the first time for him, and a really fun night to have a hat trick. More importantly his all-around game is excelling. It’s good to see.”
Raddysh has 15 games left, starting with Thursday’s opener of a five-game trip in Nashville, to showcase his maturation.
Despite the exodus of playmakers, he doesn’t see himself as the Hawks’ de facto offensive leader, even if the numbers say otherwise. Besides his team-leading 20 goals, he has the highest shot percentage (18.5%) of any Hawk who has taken at least 10 shots on goal.
“I just keep trying to prove myself to the staff and the coaches, just to try to keep running my ice time,” Raddysh said. “And I wouldn’t say it’s set up for me or anybody. It’s just for us to know there’s opportunities out there and just to keep doing everything we can to try to earn more and more.”