The Chicago Blackhawks (13-15-6) conclude a three-game Canadian road trip against the Ottawa Senators (16-13-4) at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday afternoon.
It’s the second and final meeting of the 2025-26 season between the two teams, with the Blackhawks winning the first matchup 7-3 at the United Center on Oct. 28. Connor Bedard recorded his first career NHL hat trick, while Colton Dach, Louis Crevier, Ryan Donato, and Frank Nazar (EN) also found the back of the net in the win. Jake Sanderson, Michael Amadio, and Tim Stutzle were the goal scorers for the Senators.
Last time out, the Blackhawks’ losing streak was extended to four games with a 4-1 defeat to the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Thursday. Nazar scored his first goal since recording the empty netter in the win over the Senators in late October, but that was all the offense the Blackhawks could muster up. In three games without Bedard, Chicago has scored only three goals and has yet to record more than 26 shots on net. They’ve also lost all three games.
Even before Bedard got injured, the Blackhawks were starting to come apart at the seams. In 15 games since Nov. 20, the team has a lowly 3-10-2 record and has only scored more than three goals once. The Blackhawks are just 2-6-1 in nine games so far during December.
The Senators are coming off a 4-0 home win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in their last time out on Thursday. Brady Tkachuk (2), David Perron, and Claude Giroux were responsible for the Sens’ four goals, while Linus Ullmark stopped all 24 shots for his first shutout of the season. Ottawa has won three of its last four games after starting December with a 1-3-0 record.
With 36 points through 33 games, the Senators currently sit in seventh place in the Eastern Conference’s wild card standings and are four points back of a playoff spot. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, and Columbus Blue Jackets are the only teams in the East with fewer points than the Sens. However, the standings are remarkably jam-packed in the conference, as all 16 teams have a .500 points percentage or better. Ottawa is still well within striking distance as the season approaches its midway point.
Here’s everything to note before the puck drops at 2:00 p.m. CT in Ottawa.
Blackhawks Regular Season Notes (Last Five Games)
Following two disastrous defeats, the Blackhawks bounced back with arguably the top team performance of the season in a 3-0 shutout win over the Rangers. Connor Bedard tallied two points, while Spencer Knight stopped all 21 shots faced.
Well, that was a nightmare. Not only did the Blackhawks lose 3-2 to the rival St. Louis Blues, but star forward Connor Bedard suffered an injury in the final second of the game. Wonderful.
Life without Connor Bedard isn’t so easy. In the first game without Bedard this season, the Blackhawks were shut out 4-0 by the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane combined for three of the four Red Wings’ goals in their returns to the United Center.
After leading 2-0 for most of the game, the Blackhawks surrendered three unanswered goals in the third period, including two in eight seconds, to lose 3-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Five minutes separated Chicago from one of its best team wins of the season.
The Blackhawks mustered up only 15 shots on goal in a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Frank Nazar finally snapped his 21-game goal drought, but that was all the offensive output Chicago generated at the Bell Centre. The losing streak has now reached four games.
Projected Blackhawks Lineup
Forward Lines
Tyler Bertuzzi — Frank Nazar – Andre Burakovsky
Teuvo Teravainen — Jason Dickinson — Ilya Mikheyev
Nick Lardis — Ryan Greene — Oliver Moore
Colton Dach — Dominic Toninato — Ryan Donato
Defensive Pairings
Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier
Matt Grzelcyk-Artyom Levshunov
Wyatt Kaiser-Connor Murphy
Scratched
D — Ethan Del Mastro, F — Sam Lafferty
Injured
F — Connor Bedard (undisclosed), F — Nick Foligno (hand)
***
The Blackhawks did not hold a morning skate on Saturday in Ottawa. Head coach Jeff Blashill mixed up his line combinations during practice on Friday, but he said afterwards that he’s not fully committed to the changes for the matchup against the Senators.
Chicago’s official lineup for the game is to be determined.
Senators Projected Lineup
Forward Lines
Brady Tkachuk — Tim Stutzle — Fabian Zetterlund
David Perron — Dylan Cozens — Drake Batherson
Michael Amadio — Ridly Greig — Claude Giroux
Kurtis MacDermid — Stephen Halliday — Nick Cousins
Defensive Pairings
Jake Sanderson-Artem Zub
Tyler Kleven-Jordan Spence
Thomas Chabot-Nick Jensen
Scratched
D — Dennis Gilbert, D — Nikolas Matinpalo, F — Olle Lycksell
Injured
F — Lars Eller (broken foot), F– Shane Pinto (lower body)
***
The Senators also did not hold a morning skate on Saturday. Defenseman Thomas Chabot is expected to make his return to the lineup after being out since Nov. 22 with an upper-body injury. It’s unknown at this time which defenseman will draw out for Chabot, if he’s able to return.
Projected Goaltending Matchup
Arvid Soderblom (3-6-1, 3.84 GAA, .876 Sv%, 0 SO) vs. Leevi Merilainen (3-5-0, 3.32 GAA, .877 Sv%)
After Spencer Knight played in the first two games of the road trip, Soderblom is expected to make his 11th start of the season in net for the Blackhawks. The 26-year-old netminder allowed three goals on 23 shots faced in a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in his most recent start last Saturday. Soderblom is 0-0-1 with a 3.95 GAA and .846 Sv% in one career start against Ottawa.
Merilainen is expected to make his ninth start of the season in net for the Senators. The 23-year-old allowed three goals on 25 shots faced in a loss to the Minnesota Wild in his previous outing last Saturday. Merilainen has yet to play Chicago in his young NHL career.
2025-26 Results vs. Senators
The Blackhawks won the first meeting, 7-3, at the United Center on Oct. 28. Chicago also has earned points in 14 of their last 15 games against the Senators (13-1-1) and logged points in nine of their last 10 games at Canadian Tire Centre (8-1-1).
10/28/25 — 7-3 W, United Center
12/20/25 — Canadian Tire Centre
2025-26 Team Stats & Leaders
Chicago Blackhawks:
Goals — Connor Bedard (19)/Tyler Bertuzzi (16)
Assists — Connor Bedard (25)/Frank Nazar (15)
Points — Connor Bedard (44)/Tyler Bertuzzi (26)
GF/GP — 2.76 (25th)
GA/GP — 3.03 (16th)
PP% — 20.8% (11th)
PK% — 84.2% (4th)
FOW% — 46.2% (30th)
Ottawa Senators:
Goals — Tim Stutzle (15)
Assists — Drake Batherson, Tim Stutzle, & Jake Sanderson (19)
Points — Tim Stutzle (34)
GF/GP — 3.09 (13th)
GA/GP — 3.15 (21st)
PP% — 25.7% (5th)
PK% — 71.1% (31st)
FOW% — 56.5% (2nd)
How To Watch, Listen, & Game Info
Chicago Blackhawks (13-15-6, 32 points) @ Ottawa Senators (16-13-4, 36 points)
2:00 p.m. CT — Canadian Tire Centre
Head Coaches: Jeff Blashill (CHI), Travis Green (OTT)
TV/Stream: CHSN (Ball/Pang), TSN5, TVAS
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)
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