The Chicago Blackhawks wrap up their current homestead on Sunday afternoon against the Anaheim Ducks, aiming to put an end to their five-game slide.

The Ducks have been one of the surprise stories of the season, charging out to one of their best starts in years. They currently sit at the top of the Pacific Division thanks to having the second best offense in the league, a production rate that is primarily derived from having one of the most productive under-25 groups this season. The defense and goaltending can still wobble, but the Ducks’ energy, defensive forward depth, and overall swagger have made them a genuine early-season threat — and, for the first time in a while, a team that looks capable of sticking in the playoff picture.

The Ducks’ forward group has four 23-or-younger players at the top in terms of production. Leo Carlsson is leading the way for Anaheim, piling up points at over a point-per-game pace (1.38) and looking every bit like the franchise centerpiece they’ve been banking on. Cutter Gauthier (1.17) isn’t far behind, matching Carlsson’s impact with a mix of goal scoring and playmaking that’s quickly turned him into one of the Ducks’ most dangerous forwards. Beckett Sennecke (0.75) and Mason McTavish (0.71) aren’t as prolific as the other two but are contributing at a top-six pace. The other two forwards that round out the top of the leaderboard are veterans Troy Terry (1.13) and Chris Kreider (0.85). This group of six formed the backbone of a resurgent Ducks offense that blends youth and experience, to create a dynamic group that can score in just about every situation.

Anaheim’s defense has been a mixed but promising group this season. Younger defensemen like Jackson LaCombe and Olen Zellweger provide the mobility and offensive spark while veterans like Jacob Trouba and Radko Gudas bring structure and physicality. The overall results remain inconsistent, with the Ducks still prone to coverage lapses and long stretches spent chasing in their own end, but there’s clear growth as the group settles into Joel Quenneville’s system.

One major area of weakness for the Ducks is their special teams: the power play is pretty average (20.7 percent, 16th in the league) while their penalty kill has been quite unsuccessful (75 percent, 28th).

The Ducks lines at practice on Saturday were the same as what they rolled in their most recent win — a come-from-behind 5-4 shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings. The only real question is who will be in net: starter Lukas Dostal (.904 save percentage) is out with an upper-body injury, so it most likely be old friend Petr Mrazek (.881) but Ville Husso is the most recent winner (.852).

The Blackhawks have obviously had a rough ride lately, losing their fifth straight game Friday — a stretch that’s left them reeling despite the overall closeness of all but one of those games. Offense hasn’t been great in this span (just 2.2 goals per game), but it also hasn’t been the only culprit: the defense has had major trouble holding leads or shutting down quality chances in at least one period every game, the goaltending has been average at best, and the team’s inconsistency in all facets has turned what could have been a modest run into a skid.

The Ducks will be a challenging opponent with their high-powered offense, but they can be beaten — and the Blackhawks already defeated them this season, a game back in mid-October when the Blackhawks edged the Ducks 2–1 in overtime. It wasn’t a perfect game from the Blackhawks: Chicago got on the board in the third, but a late delay-of-game penalty proved costly as Anaheim scored the 6-on-4 equalizer with under a minute left in regulation, and the Blackhawks needed overtime and a 38-save performance from Spencer Knight to nab the win. It was one of those games where the Blackhawks stayed close to their opponent mostly due to outstanding goaltending but, considering neither goalie has been putting up that type of performance the last five games, the Blackhawks will need to play a better collective game from start to finish if they want to pull off a win on Sunday.

The Blackhawks lines at Saturday’s practice were likely close to what they’ll roll out against the Ducks:

As noted, Teuvo Teravainen was absent from practice, and whether he plays Sunday will be a game-time decision for an undisclosed reason:

Teräväinen is questionable for tomorrow.

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) November 29, 2025

Also of note, the Blackhawks spent a big chunk of practice working on breakouts and transition play, which makes sense given how much trouble they’ve had with it in recent games:

Tale of the Tape

Blackhawks — Statistic — Ducks
46.46% (26th) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 51.05% (12th)
45.97% (27th) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 47.95% (25th)
3.13 (t-9th) — Goals per game — 3.63 (2nd)
2.88 (t-12th) — Goals against per game — 3.25 (24th)
46.8% (t-27th) — Faceoffs — 46.3% (29th)
22.9% (9th) — Power play — 20.7% (16th)
83.5% (7th) — Penalty kill — 75.0% (28th)
(All stats from this season)

How to watch

When: 2:30 p.m. CT
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: CHSN
Webstream: ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720