The Chicago Blackhawks’ 4–3 loss to the Nashville Predators on Friday night at the United Center marked their fifth straight loss. Not great, Bob.

The Blackhawks opened the scoring with 50 seconds left in the first, thanks to a sharp little sequence in transition. Sam Rinzel pushed the puck ahead from the neutral zone, springing Ryan Donato, who stepped into the top of the circle and ripped a snap shot home.

The Predators answered quickly to start the second. Just 1:46 in, Matthew Wood took a stretch pass from Nicolas Hague, cruised into the circle, and fired a wrister that beat Arvid Soderblom short side to even things up 1-1.

Steven Stamkos put the Predators ahead 2-1 at 7:18 of the period, finishing a slick give-and-go with Nick Blankenburg by tipping in a backhand saucer pass from the right circle.

Ryan Greene tied the game back up late in the frame, cashing in on the power play with just under five minutes to go. Oliver Moore found him with a pass from behind the net and Greene buried it from in front to make it 2–2.

The tie didn’t last long. About a minute later, Stamkos got the puck to Luke Evangelista in the slot and he repositioned himself to the circle before snapping a wrister past Soderblom and making it 3-2 Predators.

The Predators doubled their lead about seven minutes into the third. Evangelista threaded a perfect feed from the right-wing boards to a wide open, streaking Ryan O’Reilly, who finished in close for a 4–2 advantage.

The Blackhawks pulled back within one on a fortunate bounce off the end boards that popped right to Teuvo Teravainen, and he buried the puck into an open net.

Unfortunately, that was the closest the comeback got, and the Blackhawks fell 4–3 to the Predators.

Notes

The first period was a little odd, mostly because the team only played 13:35 of 5-on-5 hockey. Still, the Blackhawks did just enough to come out up a goal. Both teams traded stretches of control — Chicago carried the early minutes, then Nashville settled in and pushed back. Shot attempts finished perfectly even at 12–12, but the Hawks trailed in shots (8–7) and expected goals (43.71 percent). Not exactly a banner opening frame, but scoring right after the double minor expired made the difference, and sometimes “good enough” is plenty.

Then came the second period, which went about as well as most Blackhawks second periods this season — meaning it fell apart immediately. The Predators dictated a lot this period: the Blackhawks owned just 38.1 percent of attempts, 28.57 percent of shots, and 32.16 percent of expected goals. Just another second period filled with defensive breakdowns, turnovers, missed coverages, and enough wide-open Predators to populate a nature documentary. The Blackhawks still generated a few chances, but the defensive chaos was so loud you almost missed them. Honestly, they were lucky to escape the period down only one.

There was still a path back, though: a one-goal deficit is salvageable, assuming the Blackhawks really work for it. The third started with some honest back-and-forth before the Predators cashed in, which wasn’t great, but also wasn’t world-ending just yet. Now, the Blackhawks did control play for several straight minutes and eventually earned a goal, but it did feel like it was too little, too late to overcome the mistakes from the second period. And yes, the Blackhawks’ luck with officiating remains cosmically bad, but the Blackhawks have to start playing as full of a 60-minute game as possible. Chicago finished the period ahead in attempts (63.89 percent), shots (60 percent), and expected goals (67.22 percent), which is nice to see, but a lot of this was due to score effects as it came after the Predators fourth goal.

Andre Burakovsky: “Today, we just made it hard for ourselves. I think Nashville is a team that we should and can beat. We just mentally didn’t want it enough today, I guess.”

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 29, 2025

Despite the early-season highs, this team is very much in the rebuilding phase, and learning how to handle adversity remains one of the biggest boxes the Blackhawks need to check for long-term success. If they can figure out how to not allow a single period to derail a whole game and clean up some really obnoxiously bad mistakes, they should be able to course correct and get back to winning. The Blackhawks are on a five-game losing streak, but four of those games have been one-goal decisions — making less defensive mistakes absolutely will make a difference.

Jeff Blashill will have a challenge managing the Blackhawks’ shaken confidence after five straight losses.

“Only the most mentally tough survive this league, so we’re going to have to be mentally tough and dig in.”

Postgame story: https://t.co/il9qdGOFwI

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 29, 2025

The Blackhawks top line was easily the best this game, especially Green and Connor Bedard. Greene led the team in attempts (7) and scoring chances (5), and he and Bedard were tied for the lead in shots on goal (3) at 5-on-5. When those two and Andre Burakovsky were on the ice together, the Blackhawks owned 60 percent of the shot attempts and, while their expected goals share was lower (40.46 percent), it feels like they were quite dangerous, especially early on. Burakovsky had three attempts as well, but only one on goal, but Greene and Bedard were really the driving force — especially Greene, who also excelled defensively.

Greene may not be a long-term solution for the top line, but he’s absolutely proving he can be the type of player who can move up and down the lineup when needed.

The second line of Teuvo Teravainen, Frank Nazar, and Tyler Bertuzzi held their own — 57.14 percent of shot attempts and 48.28 percent of expected goals — but they weren’t nearly as noticeable as the top line. Whatever spark that trio had earlier in the season seems to have faded.

Ryan Donato was the other forward who had some nice impact: he finished second among forwards in shot attempts (6) and turned that into two shots on goal at 5-on-5. Moore and Colton Dach had their moments — Moore’s slick power-play assist being the highlight — but there wasn’t much cohesion to their game tonight, which probably has something to do with the fact that both played fewer than nine minutes at even strength.

The defense, collectively, had a rough night in their own end and through the neutral zone. Missed coverages, shaky exits, and some truly head-scratching decisions dragged the entire group down. Rinzel had a few positive offensive flashes, mostly with his playmaking, but — like most of the roster — struggled to get his attempts (6) on net (1). Defensively, he and Artyom Levshunov had a handful of rookie mistakes. Growing pains are expected, but a touch more consistency from both would go a long way.

Wyatt Kaiser had some offensive impact as well, mostly through his transition work. He was the only defender consistently able to get the puck moving north, even if his performance didn’t pop quite like some of his early-season outings. His overall game score suffered because of the players around him, not because he was part of the problem. Alex Vlasic, Louis Crevier, and Connor Murphy all had slow, lukewarm games — and that might be generous.

As for the goaltending, this one really wasn’t on Arvid Soderblom: yes, the eventual game-winner was absolutely soft, but the other three goals were the result of the skaters in front of him completely collapsing against one of the league’s lowest-ranked teams. Soderblom also did make some strong stops, even if you’d like a bit more from him. But at this point, even Spencer Knight hasn’t been able to compensate for the team’s defensive issues — neither goalie is getting the help they need.

Three Stars

Steven Stamkos (NSH) – 1 goal, 1 assist

Ryan O’Reilly (NSH) – 1 goal, 1 assist

Luke Evangelista (NSH) – 1 goal, 1 assist

What’s Next

The Blackhawks wrap up their current homestead by facing the Anaheim Ducks at the United Center on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.