The Chicago Blackhawks (12-11-6) return home following a four-game road trip and face the New York Rangers (15-12-4) in an Original Six matchup at the United Center on Wednesday. It’s the first of two meetings between the Blackhawks and Rangers in the 2025-26 season, with the second game scheduled for Mar. 27, 2026, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Last time out, the Blackhawks were thrashed in the back end of a back-to-back, falling 7-1 to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Goaltender Arvid Soderblom was hung out to dry by his teammates, and despite allowing seven goals, he made a career-high 46 saves at the Honda Center. It’s also the second-most saves recorded by an NHL goaltender this season. Tyler Bertuzzi scored the lone tally of the game for the Blackhawks, with Connor Bedard and Artyom Levshunov picking up the assists.
The Blackhawks were outscored 13-1 by the Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings in their weekend back-to-back and have a 2-6-2 record over the last 10 games. Despite some recent struggles, Chicago is still right in the mix for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. With 30 points through 29 games, the Blackhawks are one point behind the Utah Mammoth for the second wildcard position.
The Rangers are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere were the two goal scorers for New York in the game, while backup Jonathan Quick stopped 25 of 28 shots faced in goal. The Rangers have now dropped two consecutive games in overtime, but hold a sturdy 5-1-2 record in eight games since Nov. 24.
With 34 points through 31 games this season, the Rangers currently sit just outside of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It’s a clogged mix of teams in playoff contention out East, with 10 clubs sitting between 30-35 points. New York is one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wildcard position.
Here’s everything to note before the puck drops at 6:30 p.m. CT in Chicago.
Blackhawks Regular Season Notes (Last Five Games)
Connor Bedard exploded for his third four-point performance of the season to lift the Blackhawks to a 5-3 comeback victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Finally, the losing streak has ended.
For the fourth time in the last seven games, the Blackhawks squandered a third-period lead and lost by one goal. Some tough luck in Sin City also played a part in the 4-3 shootout defeat to the Vegas Golden Knights. Chicago is now 1-6 in overtime this season.
It got dicey towards the end, but the Blackhawks held off a late push from the Los Angeles Kings to win 2-1. Connor Bedard scored once again, while Spencer Knight had another lofty performance in goal.
In one of the few forgettable performances so far this season, the Blackhawks were steamrolled 6-0 by the Los Angeles Kings in the second matchup in three days. The game was close through 20 minutes, but the Blackhawks surrendered six unanswered goals in the final two periods.
For the second time in as many nights, the Blackhawks were on the wrong end of a one-sided affair, getting throttled 7-1 by the Anaheim Ducks. What a disastrous way to end the West Coast road trip.
Projected Blackhawks Lineup
Forward Lines
Ryan Greene — Connor Bedard – Andre Burakovsky
Tyler Bertuzzi — Frank Nazar — Oliver Moore
Teuvo Teravainen — Jason Dickinson — Ilya Mikheyev
Colton Dach — Ryan Donato — Sam Lafferty
Defensive Pairings
Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser-Connor Murphy
Matt Grzelcyk-Artyom Levshunov
Scratched
F — Dominic Toninato
Injured
F — Nick Foligno (hand)
***
The Blackhawks only have 19 healthy skaters on the NHL roster after assigning Sam Rinzel and Landon Slaggert to the AHL on Monday. Dominic Toninato, who was recalled from the AHL on Tuesday, is expected to be the lone healthy scratch against the Rangers.
Without Rinzel, the Blackhawks also have just six defensemen on the roster. Head coach Jeff Blashill has dressed seven defensemen in his lineup in all but three games so far this season, but that’s no longer an option. All three defensive pairings were also switched up for the first time this year in practice on Tuesday.
With his 15th goal of the season on Sunday, Tyler Bertuzzi now has points in four of his last five games. Bertuzzi also shares second in the NHL with eight power-play goals. He’s second on the Blackhawks in both goals and points this year.
Connor Bedard picked up the primary assist on Bertuzzi’s tally against the Ducks, giving him 40 points now on the season. Bedard became the second-fastest Blackhawks player since 1995-96 to reach 40 points in a season, trailing only Patrick Kane in 2015-16 and 2021-22. The 2023 No. 1 overall pick is sixth in the NHL in points entering Wednesday.
Rangers Projected Lineup
Forward Lines
Artemi Panarin — Mika Zibanejad — Alexis Lafreniere
Conor Sheary — Vincent Trocheck — J.T. Miller
Will Cuylle — Noah Laba — Brett Berard
Jonny Brodzinski — Sam Carrick — Taylor Raddysh
Defensive Pairings
Vladislav Gavrikov-Braden Schneider
Carson Soucy-Will Borgen
Matthew Robertson-Scott Morrow
Scratched
F — Jaroslav Chmelar, D — Urho Vaakanainen
Injured
F — Adam Edstrom (lower body), D — Adam Fox (upper body), F — Matt Rempe (upper body)
***
It’s been a struggle for the Rangers on home ice this season, with a mere 3-8-3 record at Madison Square Garden. However, they’ve oddly had no issues with playing on the road, as New York leads the NHL with 12 road victories and is second with 25 road points. The Blueshirts also have a league-best plus-19 goal differential on the road.
Former Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin leads the Rangers in points (32), is second in goals (10) and assists (22), and has recorded 12 points (4G, 8A) in his last seven games entering Wednesday. In 13 career games against the Blackhawks since departing the organization, Panarin has tallied 21 points (8G, 13A).
Another former Blackhawk set to return to the United Center on Wednesday is Taylor Raddysh. Through 30 games in his first season with the Rangers, Raddysh has recorded five goals and two assists for seven points. Raddysh recorded his second career hat trick on Oct. 23, 2025, in a 6-5 loss to the San Jose Sharks.
Projected Goaltending Matchup
Spencer Knight (9-6-5, 2.62 GAA, .914 Sv%, 1 SO) vs. Igor Shesterkin (12-9-3, 2.46 GAA, .909 Sv%, 2 SO)
Knight will make his 21st start of the season in net for the Blackhawks. The 24-year-old netminder allowed six goals on 32 shots faced in his most recent outing on Saturday against the Kings. Knight is 0-2-0 with a 4.14 GAA and .846 Sv% in two career games versus the Rangers.
Shesterkin is expected to make his 25th start of the season for the Rangers. The 29-year-old former Vezina Trophy winner stopped 39 of 42 shots faced in an overtime loss last time out against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Shesterkin is 4-1-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .936 Sv% in five career games against Chicago.
2024-25 Results vs. Rangers
The Blackhawks and Rangers split the two meetings in the 2024-25 campaign, with the road team winning each matchup. Chicago has earned a point in nine of its last 16 games (7-7-2) against New York.
12/09/24 — 2-1 W, Madison Square Garden
01/05/25 — 6-2 L, United Center
2025-26 Team Stats & Leaders
Chicago Blackhawks:
Goals — Connor Bedard (18)
Assists — Connor Bedard (22)
Points — Connor Bedard (40)
GF/GP — 2.97 (19th)
GA/GP — 3.07 (18th)
PP% — 23% (9th)
PK% — 83.3% (6th)
FOW% — 46.9% (29th)
New York Rangers:
Goals — Mika Zibanejad (11)
Assists — Adam Fox (23)
Points — Artemi Panarin (32)
GF/GP — 2.65 (28th)
GA/GP — 2.61 (6th)
PP% — 18.8% (17th)
PK% — 80.2% (19th)
FOW% — 53.6% (3rd)
How To Watch, Listen, & Game Info
New York Rangers (15-12-4, 34 points) @ Chicago Blackhawks (12-11-6, 30 points)
6:30 p.m. CT — United Center
Head Coaches — Mike Sullivan (NYR), Jeff Blashill (CHI)
TV/Stream: TNT (Burke/Hnidy/Mason, HBO MAX, truTV, TVAS
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)
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