The Chicago Blackhawks welcome the New York Rangers to the United Center on Wednesday night, kicking off the first of their two matchups this season and with both teams looking to get back in the win column.

The Rangers’ season so far has been defined by uneven stretches and a standings picture that changes every other night. They’re currently on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff race, but the Eastern Conference is so tightly packed that one good run — or one poorly timed slump — could swing their fortunes dramatically. Their recent 5-3-2 stretch over the last 10 games reflects that push-and-pull: solid enough to stay in the mix, not quite strong enough to create breathing room. The Rangers did pick up a point in six of their last eight games, but the margin for error is slim.

The most recent weekend didn’t do the Rangers any favors in the standings, dropping back-to-back games in fairly identical, frustrating fashion. They fell 3–2 in overtime to the Avalanche on Saturday, then followed it up with another 3–2 overtime loss on Sunday, this time to the Golden Knights Sunday night. Two points aren’t nothing, but dropping four potential ones stings, especially for a team hovering just outside the playoff picture. Both games had stretches of solid play, but the inability to finish chances or close things out late ended up defining the weekend.

However, the Rangers do come to Chicago leading the league with 12 wins on the road (12-4-1), so they’re hoping to hit a bit of momentum against the Blackhawks.

The Rangers have a solid top-six with each having hit double-digit point totals. Artemi Panarin continues to be the heartbeat of the Rangers’ offense, leading the team in points (32 in 31 games) and driving play pretty much every night. Mika Zibanejad isn’t too far behind (24 points), carrying much of the goal-scoring load (11) and helping keep the power play afloat even during the team’s more uneven stretches. Vincent Trocheck has played fewer games — just 17 as he missed time early with an upper-body injury — but has steady production at a 0.82 points-per-game rate. J.T. Miller (0.62 PPG) isn’t producing up to his expected value, but he’s still contributing. Alexis Lafrenière (0.55 PPG), and Will Cuylle (0.52 PPG) round out the top-six producers on the team. Together, they form the core that’s keeping New York competitive in a playoff race that feels like it’s tightening by the day.

On defense, Adam Fox is once again carrying the bulk of the offense from the Rangers’ blue line, leading all defensemen by a wide margin with 26 points (3 G, 23 A) and looking every bit like the team’s primary puck-mover. Behind him, Vladislav Gavrikov has chipped in with some steady two-way production (13 points), offering occasional scoring to go along with his defensive reliability. Beyond those two, the rest of the defense group hasn’t generated much in the way of points, which only underscores how crucial Fox’s playmaking is to keeping New York’s offense balanced.

The Rangers did not have a full team morning skate, but their lines from Tuesday’s practice were as follows:

#NYR lineup looks the same as it has the last few games, other than a rotation at 4RW:

Panarin – Zibanejad – Lafrenière
Sheary – Trocheck – Miller
Berard – Laba – Cuylle
Brodzinski – Carrick – Chmelař/Raddysh

Gavrikov – Schneider
Soucy – Borgen
Robertson – Morrow

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) December 9, 2025

It is also likely that Igor Shesterkin will be the starter against Chicago. He has a .913 save percentage in 24 stars. If there is a goalie change, Jonathan Quick has been quite good in his seven starts, putting up a .937 save percentage.

The Rangers are having an extras skate today. Matt Rempe (IR), Jonathan Quick, Taylor Raddysh and Urho Vaakanainen are here.

That means Chmelař, Morrow and company are staying in the lineup, barring last minute changes, and Igor Shesterkin will get the start in net. pic.twitter.com/Cww5Nd5fuZ

— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) December 10, 2025

Like the Rangers, the Blackhawks are just outside the playoff bubble, and they limped through the weekend with back-to-back losses, too. The difference is the losses for the Blackhawks were both blowouts, rather than being close like the Rangers’ ones, and the games served as a pretty stark reminder of how far the Blackhawks still have to go. Saturday’s 6–0 thud against the Los Angeles Kings was rough enough on its own, but Sunday’s follow-up — a 7–1 drubbing by the Anaheim Ducks — somehow managed to look even worse. Chicago was outscored 13–1 across the two games, buried by defensive breakdowns, turnovers, and long stretches where they simply couldn’t get the puck back, let alone generate anything meaningful.

It wasn’t just one bad period or a single unlucky bounce: it was a full weekend of being outplayed in every phase. For a team trying to claw its way toward something resembling consistency, this was the kind of step backward that makes the upcoming schedule feel a little heavier. Those two games cap off a less than ideal 10-game span in which they went just 2-6-2. The Blackhawks have shown flashes this season, they’ve been more competitive and fun to watch as a fan, but nothing about these last two games was flattering, and they’ll need a much cleaner effort to keep this skid from snowballing.

The good news is that, despite the lack of scoring in the last two games and overall lackluster record in the last 10, there have been signs of life from top players. Connor Bedard (11 points) and Tyler Bertuzzi (10) have been consistent contributors during that span, while Frank Nazar (7) has been adding in points as well. There is a drop off after those three — Teuvo Teravainen, Ryan Greene, Aryom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel all have four points — so it would be good if the depth could get a bit more into the scoring.

Speaking of Rinzel, he (along with Landon Slaggert) was assigned to the Rockford IceHogs on Monday, and Dominic Toninato was recalled. Toninato is expected to be the scratch against the Rangers, brought up just to be an extra body. Because a defensemen was not recalled, this means the Blackhawks will be going with the traditional 12F/6D formation. The lines and pairings from Wednesday’s morning skate are below. Spencer Knight is expected to start in net.

#Blackhawks morning skate lineup:
Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
Bertuzzi-Nazar-Moore
Teravainen-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Dach-Donato-Lafferty

Vlasic-Crevier
Kaiser-Murphy
Grzelcyk-Levshunov

Knight
Soderblom

Extra: Toninato

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 10, 2025

One final note: with Rinzel in Rockford, Matt Grzelcyk has slotted in as the quarterback for the second power-play unit.

#Blackhawks power-play units:

PP1:
Bertuzzi
Burakovsky-Nazar-Bedard
Levshunov

PP2:
Dach
Teravainen-Greene-Donato
Grzelcyk

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 10, 2025

Tale of the Tape

Blackhawks — Statistic — Rangers
45.71% (29th) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 49.63% (19th)
43.85% (31st) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 50.51% (15th)
2.97 (19th) — Goals per game — 2.65 (28th)
3.07 (t-17th) — Goals against per game — 2.61 (6th)
46.9% (29th) — Faceoffs — 53.6% (3rd)
23.0% (9th) — Power play — 18.8% (t-17th)
83.3% (6th) — Penalty kill — 80.2% (19th)
(All stats from this season)

How to watch

When: 6:30 p.m. CT
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: TNT, truTV
Webstream: HBO MAX
Radio: WGN 720