The Chicago Blackhawks (14-18-6) play their final game of 2025 against the New York Islanders (21-14-4) at the United Center on Tuesday. It’s the first of two meetings between the Blackhawks and Islanders in the 2025-26 season.
Last time out, the Blackhawks were on the wrong end of another one-sided affair in the back end of a back-to-back, falling 7-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. Spencer Knight had arguably his worst start as a member of the Blackhawks, getting pulled just over 12 minutes in after allowing four goals on seven shots. Captain Nick Foligno scored his first goal of the season in his return after missing 19 games with a hand injury. Wyatt Kaiser and Tyler Bertuzzi were the other goal scorers for Chicago in the loss.
The Islanders are coming off a 4-2 road loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in their second game out of the Christmas break on Sunday. Max Shabanov and Bo Horvat, the team’s leading goal scorer and point getter, were responsible for the two Islanders’ goals. David Rittch, who’s being leaned on as the No. 1 goaltender with Ilya Sorokin injured, allowed three goals on 34 shots faced.
With 46 points through 39 games, the Islanders currently sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division and have the fourth-most points in the entire Eastern Conference. Head coach Patrick Roy’s bunch has certainly been among the biggest surprises in the league this season.
Leading the Calder Trophy race is 2025 top overall draft choice Matthew Schaefer, who’s recorded 24 points (9G, 15A) in his first 39 career NHL games. The 18-year-old Islanders defenseman is already averaging a whopping 23:47 of time on ice and is fourth in the league among all defensemen in goals. The kid is special. Tuesday marks Schaefer’s first career game at the United Center.
Here’s everything to note before the puck drops at 7:30 p.m. CT in Chicago.
Blackhawks Regular Season Notes (Last Five Games)
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.
From bad to worse. Not only did the Blackhawks suffer a fifth consecutive loss, but Frank Nazar also got injured early in the 6-4 defeat to the Ottawa Senators. Nazar is expected to miss approximately four weeks after taking a puck to the face in the first period.
While the losing skid hit six games, the Blackhawks put together one of their best games of the month against the Philadelphia Flyers. But without Bedard and Nazar, the offense couldn’t get enough run support to come away with a low-event win. The Flyers walked out of the United Center with a 3-1 victory.
In their first game out of the Christmas break, the Blackhawks impressively took down the Dallas Stars, the NHL’s second-best team, 4-3 in a shootout. It’s the first win for Chicago since Connor Bedard got injured on Dec. 12.
The back end of a back-to-back continues to go horribly wrong for the Blackhawks. They’ve now been outscored 27-7 in four games when playing twice in as many nights after a 7-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Blackhawks Projected Lineup
Forward Lines
Tyler Bertuzzi — Ryan Greene – Andre Burakovsky
Teuvo Teravainen — Oliver Moore — Nick Lardis
Ryan Donato — Jason Dickinson — Ilya Mikheyev
Nick Foligno — Colton Dach — Landon Slaggert
Defensive Pairings
Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser-Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk-Connor Murphy
Scratched
D — Ethan Del Mastro, F — Sam Lafferty
Injured
F — Connor Bedard (shoulder), F — Frank Nazar (face)
***
The Blackhawks held an optional morning skate on Tuesday. The forward lines and defensive pairings listed above are from Monday’s practice.
Rookies Nick Lardis and Oliver Moore have been bumped up to the top six together, as they will skate on the second line with Teuvo Teravainen. Moore is getting his first look at center this season, as he’s played wing mostly for Chicago. Lardis has recorded one goal through his first seven NHL games.
With Moore playing down the middle, Ryan Donato has been moved back to the wing and will play on the third line with Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev.
Islanders Projected Lineup
Forward Lines
Emil Heineman — Bo Horvat– Mat Barzal
Anders Lee — J.G. Pageau — Jonathan Drouin
Maxim Shabanov — Calum Ritchie — Simon Holmstrom
Anthony Duclair — Casey Cizikas — Marc Gatcomb
Defensive Pairings
Matthew Schaefer — Ryan Pulock
Adam Pelech — Tony DeAngelo
Marshall Warren — Scott Mayfield
Scratched
D — Adam Boqvist, F — Kyle MacClean, F — Maxim Tsyplakov
Injured
D — Ethan Bear (upper body), F — Kyle Palmieri (ACL), D — Alexander Romanov (upper body), G — Ilya Sorokin (lower body), G — Semyon Varlamov (knee)
Projected Goaltending Matchup
Spencer Knight (10-11-5, 2.55 GAA, .914 Sv%, 2 SO) vs. David Rittich (9-4-2, 2.30 GAA, .919 Sv%, 2 SO)
Knight is expected to make his 27th start of the season in net for the Blackhawks. The 24-year-old netminder allowed four goals on nine shots faced in a loss to the Penguins in his most recent outing on Sunday. Knight is 3-0-0 with a 2.67 GAA and .909 Sv% in three career games against New York.
Rittich is expected to make his 16th start of the season in net for the Islanders. The 33-year-old veteran allowed three goals on 34 shots faced in a shootout loss to the Blue Jackets on Sunday. Rittich is 3-1-0 with a 3.42 GAA and .875 Sv% in five career games against Chicago.
2024-25 Results vs. Islanders
The Blackhawks and Islanders split the two meetings in the 2024-25 campaign, which were held just three days apart in December 2024. The Blackhawks have won 10 of their last 13 games against the Islanders at the United Center (10-3-0) and have a 15-8-2 record in the past 25 overall games against the Islanders.
12/12/24 — 5-4 L, UBS Arena
12/15/24 — 5-3 W, United Center
2025-26 Team Stats & Leaders
Chicago Blackhawks:
Goals — Connor Bedard (19)/Tyler Bertuzzi (19)
Assists — Connor Bedard (25)/Artyom Levshunov (16)
Points — Connor Bedard (44)/Tyler Bertuzzi (29)
GF/GP — 2.76 (25th)
GA/GP — 3.21 (21st)
PP% — 19.4% (14th)
PK% — 84% (4th)
FOW% — 46.4% (31st)
New York Islanders:
Goals — Bo Horvat (20)
Assists — Mat Barzal (19)
Points — Bo Horvat (32)
GF/GP — 2.77 (24th)
GA/GP — 2.67 (6th)
PP% — 15.4% (28th)
PK% — 82.7% (8th)
FOW% — 51.3% (11th)
How To Watch, Listen, & Game Info
New York Islanders (21-14-4, 46 points) @ Chicago Blackhawks (14-18-6, 34 points)
7:30 p.m. CT — United Center
Head Coaches: Patrick Roy (NYI), Jeff Blashill (CHI)
TV/Stream: CHSN (Ball/Pang), MSGSN, NHL Network
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)
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