Friday night hockey at the United Center! The Chicago Blackhawks (2-2-1) return home after a quick trip to St. Louis and look to extend their two-game winning streak against the Vancouver Canucks (2-2-0).
Last time out, the Blackhawks posted perhaps their most promising performance since the start of the rebuild nearly four years ago. Several of the organization’s former first-round picks were at the forefront of an 8-3 beatdown over the rival Blues on Wednesday.
Connor Bedard (3A) and Lukas Reichel (2G, 1A) each tallied three points to lead the way in St. Louis. Frank Nazar also found the back of the net, while Alex Vlasic recorded two assists, and Ryan Greene potted his first NHL goal. Bedard’s three-point night ties him with Nazar (2G, 4A) and Teuvo Teravainen (1G, 5A) for the team lead in points through the opening five games. Reichel picked up his first career multi-goal game in just his second appearance of the season.
With his 29th multi-point outing of his young career on Wednesday, Bedard passed Jonathan Toews and tied Bobby Hull for the fifth-most by a Blackhawks skater before the age of 21. Bedard, a Vancouver native, has two assists in two career games against his hometown team at the United Center.
Teravainen enters Friday riding a three-game point streak, netting four assists during that stretch. The Finnish forward leads all Blackhawks’ skaters with five assists in five games. In his last 13 games versus the Canucks, Teravainen has 11 points (1G, 10A).
The Canucks are playing the back end of a back-to-back in Chicago, as they defeated the Stars 5-3 in Dallas on Thursday night. Quinn Hughes scored the empty-netter for his first goal of the season, while Thatcher Demko stopped 28 of 31 shots faced in net.
Through Vancouver’s opening four games, Brock Boeser, Filip Chytil, and Kiefer Sherwood have each already scored three goals. Funny enough, neither of the three players has recorded an assist on the season, as they are all tied for the team lead in points and goals. Conor Garland (1G, 2A) and Hughes (1G, 2A) also have three points through four games.
Here’s everything to note before the puck drops tonight in Chicago at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Blackhawks Regular Season Notes
The Blackhawks began the 2025-26 regular season with a 3-2 loss to the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. Frank Nazar, Teuvo Teravainen, and Tyler Bertuzzi each tallied two points in the loss.
Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar were stymied by Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo in overtime, leading to a 4-3 (OT) loss in Boston in the second game of the year. The Blackhawks let one slip out of their grasp at TD Garden.
In the home opener at the United Center, Kaiden Guhle scored the game-winning goal with only 15 seconds left in the third period. That gave the Blackhawks three consecutive losses to begin the season.
FINALLY, Jeff Blashill got his first win as the Blackhawks’ new head coach with a 3-1 victory over the Utah Mammoth on Monday night. Ilya Mikheyev led the way with two goals, while Spencer Knight was excellent once again in net.
The Young & Fun Blackhawks have officially arrived. Connor Bedard & Lukas Reichel each tallied three points in a dominant 8-3 win over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday. What a statement made on national television.
2024-25 Results vs. Canucks
The Blackhawks dropped all three games against the Canucks in the 2024-25 campaign, getting outscored 16-6 in the process. Ouch. Additionally, Vancouver has won each of the last ten meetings and 14 of the past 16, dating back to March 2019.
10/22/24 6-3 L, United Center
11/16/24 4-1 L, Rogers Arena
03/15/25 6-2 L, Rogers Arena
Projected Blackhawks Lineup
Forward Lines
Colton Dach-Connor Bedard-Andre Burakovsky
Teuvo Teravainen-Frank Nazar-Tyler Bertuzzi
Ryan Donato-Jason Dickinson-Ilya Mikheyev
Lukas Reichel-Ryan Greene
Defensive Pairings
Alex Vlasic-Sam Rinzel
Matt Grzelcyk-Connor Murphy
Wyatt Kaiser-Louis Crevier
Artyom Levshunov
Scratched
F — Nick Foligno*, F — Sam Lafferty
Injured
F – Joey Anderson (lower body), G – Laurent Brossoit (hip), F — Landon Slaggert (lower body)
***
Captain Nick Foligno will miss his second consecutive game while taking a leave of absence from the team.
At the morning skate, Landon Slaggert took part in line rushes on the fourth line with Lukas Reichel and Ryan Greene. However, Slaggert won’t make his season debut against Vancouver, as he’s not quite ready to return from his lower-body injury.
That sets up head coach Jeff Blashill to utilize the same 11-forward, seven-defenseman lineup as he did in St. Louis for the second consecutive game. Expect to see Bedard getting a handful of extra shifts along with Reichel and Greene, as that trio fared well in the win over the Blues on Wednesday.
Crevier and Levshunov will likely rotate in and out on the third pairing with Kaiser throughout Friday’s game.
Projected Canucks Lineup
Forward Lines
Drew O’Connor-Elias Pettersson-Conor Garland
Jake DeBrusk-Filip Chytil-Brock Boeser
Evander Kane-Aatu Ratu-Kiefer Sherwood
Arshdeep Bains-Max Sasson-Linus Karlsson
Defensive Pairings
Quinn Hughes-Filip Hronek
Elias Pettersson-Tyler Myers
Marcus Pettersson-Victor Mancini
Scratched
F — Jonathan Lekkerimaki
Injured
F — Teddy Blueger (undisclosed), D — Derek Forbort (undisclosed), F — Nils Hoglander (lower body), P.O. Joseph (lower body)
***
The Canucks did not hold a morning skate in Chicago after traveling late on Thursday night from Dallas. The projected forward lines and defensive pairings listed above are from their previous game against the Stars.
GOALTENDING MATCHUP
Kevin Lankinen (0-1-0, 4.09 GAA, .886 Sv%, 0 SO) vs. Spencer Knight (1-2-0, 2.35 GAA, .920 Sv%, 0 SO)
Lankinen, who began his NHL career with the Blackhawks and played for the team from 2020 to 2022, is expected to make his second start of the season for Vancouver. The 30-year-old netminder stopped 31 of 35 shots faced in a 5-2 loss to the Blues in his season debut on Monday. Lankinen is 3-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .934 Sv% in three career starts against the Blackhawks.
Knight has been excellent out of the gate for the Blackhawks and will make his fourth start of the season. The 24-year-old is 2-0-0 with a 0.96 GAA and .967 Sv% in two career starts versus Vancouver.
How To Watch, Listen, & Game Info
Vancouver Canucks (2-2-0) @ Chicago Blackhawks (2-2-1)
7:30 p.m. CT — United Center
TV/Stream: CHSN (Ball/Pang), SN1, TVAS
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Roumeliotis/Chelios)
For more Blackhawks news, visit Chicago Hockey Now and like our Facebook Page.
Follow us on X: