The Chicago Blackhawks were unable to carry over the momentum from their win in Dallas on Saturday night, as they were blown out 7-3 by the Pittsburgh Penguins at the United Center on Sunday.
Justin Brazeau recorded his first career NHL hat trick to lead the Penguins to victory, while Bryan Rust also scored twice. Anthony Mantha and Noel Acciari were responsible for the other two goals for the visitors.
It was a rare shaky performance from goaltender Spencer Knight on Sunday, as he was pulled just over 12 minutes into the game after allowing four goals on seven shots. Even with all the recent injuries the Blackhawks have suffered, Knight has impressively continued to play at a high caliber. He’s remained as one of the best netminders in the league this season, but he simply didn’t have his best stuff against Pittsburgh. It’s the first time that Knight was pulled as a member of the Blackhawks.
The back end of a back-to-back continues to give Chicago fits this season, as they are now 0-4-0 when playing a second game in as many nights. All four games have resulted in lopsided losses — 9-3 to the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 21, 7-1 to the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 7, 4-0 to the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 13, and now 7-3 to the Penguins. They’ve been outscored 27-7 by their opponents in those four tilts.
Even though the Blackhawks were heavily outscored once again on Sunday, head coach Jeff Blashill didn’t think his team played as poorly as the final result suggests. The stats back that up — Chicago led 55-33 in shot attempts, 30-17 in scoring chances, and 13-9 in high-danger chances at even strength in 60 minutes. Yes, it was another one-sided affair to close out a back-to-back, but Blashill believes this game wasn’t nearly as putrid as the games against Buffalo and Anaheim earlier in the season.
“When we played Buffalo, when we played Anaheim, we got outplayed grossly early. I think the puck went in for [Pittsburgh], and it didn’t go in for us on our chances,” Blashill said. “I still think we need to improve a lot defensively… we have to get better at that, whether it’s structure or just individual fundamentals. But to me, it was a little bit different than some of those other back to backs.”
One of the few bright spots from Saturday’s game was the return of captain Nick Foligno, who missed the team’s previous 19 games due to a hand injury he suffered against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 15. In his first game back in the lineup, Foligno scored his first goal of the season to get the Blackhawks on the board near the midway point of the second period. Foligno added two hits and three shots in 13:02 of ice time. He looked sharp in his first game in over one month.
“I felt good. You just try to come back and make an impact,” Foligno said. “It stinks being a game like that tonight, to be honest with you. You get amped up to get back and then it kind of goes south real quick. I’ve been in enough of these, enough playing time where you understand where you have to impact the team and the game, so you just go out and do your job. I think that’s probably a good lesson for everybody.”
Here are the highlights from the Blackhawks 7-2 loss to the Penguins, which drops their record to 14-18-6 through 38 games this season.
FIRST PERIOD
It didn’t take long for the game to tilt into the visitors’ favor on Sunday. Less than two minutes into the game, Mantha fired a seemingly harmless turnaround shot on net from the right circle. The puck somehow snuck through Knight’s pads to put the Penguins ahead 1-0. Wyatt Kaiser wasn’t quick enough to get to the loose change first.
Just past the seven-minute marker, the Penguins doubled their lead as the Blackhawks were caught puck-watching in transition. All eyes were on Pens’ captain Sidney Crosby as he waltzed into the offensive zone, leaving Rust wide open down the left flank. Rust kicked Crosby’s pass to his stick and lazered a shot over Knight’s blocker to make it 2-0.
Only 1:01 after Rust’s goal, Pittsburgh struck once again to turn the game into a blowout early. Mantha was left all alone behind the Blackhawks’ net, and his centering feed found Brazeau in the crease to make it 3-0. Former Penguin Matt Grzelcyk, Ryan Donato, and Andre Burakovsky all provided lackluster defense on the sequence.
But wait, there’s more! Rust found the back of the net for his second goal of the period to put the Penguins ahead 4-0 just over 12 minutes in. A soft wrist shot from the top of the right circle snuck through Knight, and that goal put an end to his evening. For the first time this season, he was pulled by Blashill in favor of backup Arvid Soderblom.
Despite the score being so lopsided, it truly wasn’t a horrendous period by the Blackhawks. The difference was that the Penguins finished their best chances, while the Hawks didn’t. Chicago led 17-12 in shot attempts, 8-7 in scoring chances, and 4-2 in high-danger chances at even strength in the period.
SECOND PERIOD
As the game crossed the midway point, the Blackhawks finally managed to get on the board and break up Arturs Silovs’ shutout. In his first game back from injury, Foligno whacked home a rebound through his own legs and past Silovs for his first goal of the season. Welcome back, my captain.
Sam Lafferty➡️Colton Dach➡️Nick Foligno🚨
Captain Nick Foligno gets the #Blackhawks on the board with his 1st goal of the season in his return from a hand injury! Heck of a play by Foligno to whack home the puck while facing away from the Pens’ net.pic.twitter.com/7e6Z7NZV9T
— Talkin’ Hawkey (@TalkinHawkey) December 29, 2025
The Blackhawks had some wind in their sails after Foligno’s goal, but the Penguins quickly responded to regain the four-goal advantage. It took only eight seconds for Brazeau to score his second goal of the game on the power play after Chicago got called for too many men on the ice.
Only 57 seconds later, Brazeau found the back of the net again to complete the hat trick. While driving to the net, Brazeau deflected Connor Dewar’s shot over Soderblom’s shoulder to give the Penguins a 6-1 lead.
The scoring frenzy in the second stanza continued, as Wyatt Kaiser scored his fourth goal of the season 13 seconds after Brazeau picked up a hat trick to make it 6-2. Kaiser now leads all Blackhawks defensemen in goals, with all four coming in the last 12 games.
Connor Murphy➡️Ryan Greene➡️Wyatt Kaiser🚨
Kaiser scores his 4th goal of the season, all of which have come in the last 12 games, to make it 6-2. Kaiser now leads all #Blackhawks defensemen in goals this season.pic.twitter.com/zghEJOTzUr
— Talkin’ Hawkey (@TalkinHawkey) December 29, 2025
With 1:12 left in the period, the Penguins scored again to extend the lead to 7-2. The Steelers could have used some of that offensive support a little earlier this afternoon. Acciari capitalized on a fortuitous bounce off the end boards for the final goal of the evening.
The Blackhawks didn’t play their best hockey in the opening 40 minutes, but they also didn’t deserve to trail by five goals. Chicago led 34-29 in shot attempts, 19-16 in shots on goal, and 11-8 in high-danger chances at even strength through two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The scoring died down over the final 20 minutes, as both teams seemed to understand the outcome had already been decided.
The only goal in the period came from Tyler Bertuzzi in the final second of the game, as he took advantage of a turnover from Jack St. Ivany to score his 19th goal of the season. A broken stick also helped Bertuzzi find twine for the third time in the last two nights.
The final horn sounded and put an end to a rather miserable night of Blackhawks hockey. The loss drops the Blackhawks to 3-9-1 in 13 games during December.
Chicago returns to action next on Tuesday against 2025 No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer and the New York Islanders at the United Center. It’s the final game of 2025 for the Blackhawks.
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