The Chicago Blackhawks (25-30-11) return home to the United Center and face off with the Minnesota Wild (38-18-12) on Tuesday in the first of two games in a quick home-and-home series. The two teams will meet again on Thursday in Minnesota for the fourth and final matchup of the 2025-26 regular season.
The Wild have won each of the first two meetings this year, defeating the Blackhawks 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 26 and 4-3 in a shootout on Jan. 27. Adding insult to injury, Chicago blew third-period leads in both games and has still only defeated Minnesota once over the last six years. In the last tilt, the Wild stormed back from down 3-0 with goals from Yakov Trenin, Joel Eriksson-Ek, and Jared Spurgeon. Kirill Kaprizov, who scored the OT winner in the first matchup, netted the lone tally in the shootout to complete the comeback. Teuvo Teravainen, Ryan Donato, and Ilya Mikheyev scored for the Blackhawks.
Last time out, the Blackhawks had their two-game win streak and three-game point streak snapped, getting shut out 4-0 on the road by the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. It was the fifth time this season the Blackhawks have been held without a goal. Vegas rattled off three goals in the opening 12 minutes of the game and never looked back.
Minnesota is coming off a 4-2 loss at home to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday and has dropped four of its last five games. Vladimir Tarasenko was responsible for both goals in the loss to Toronto. Regardless of the recent skid, Minnesota still sits comfortably in third place in the Central Division with 88 points through 68 games. Sitting six points back of the second-place Dallas Stars and 12 points ahead of the fourth-place Utah Mammoth, third is very likely where they finish the regular season.
Tuesday marks the first time that former Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno returns to the United Center since getting traded to the Wild on Mar. 6, just 11 days ago. Foligno was named the 36th captain in franchise history ahead of the 2024-25 season and appeared in 189 games with Chicago, tallying 35 goals and 43 assists for 83 points. In his first five games with Minnesota, the 38-year-old has recorded one assist and dished out 13 hits while averaging 11:03 of average time on ice.
Here’s everything else to note before the puck drops at 6:30 p.m. CT in Chicago.
Blackhawks Projected Lineup
Forward Lines
Ryan Greene — Connor Bedard – Andre Burakovsky
Tyler Bertuzzi — Frank Nazar — Teuvo Teravainen
Andrew Mangiapane — Ryan Donato — Ilya Mikheyev
Nick Lardis — Sam Lafferty — Landon Slaggert
Defensive Pairings
Alex Vlasic-Artyom Levshunov
Wyatt Kaiser-Sam Rinzel
Matt Grzelcyk-Louis Crevier
Scratched
D — Ethan Del Mastro
Injured
F — Oliver Moore (lower body)
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The Blackhawks held an optional morning skate on Tuesday, so their official forward lines and defensive pairings are still to be determined.
Wyatt Kaiser appears likely to return to the lineup after missing Saturday’s game against Las Vegas. He participated fully in Monday’s practice session and skated alongside Sam Rinzel on the second pairing.
Head coach Jeff Blashill switched up his first and third pairings during practice, which are expected to carry over against Minnesota. Artyom Levshunov gets another crack at the top pairing with Alex Vlasic, while Louis Crevier is bumped down to the third pairing with Matt Grzelcyk.
Wild Projected Lineup
Forward Lines
Kirill Kaprizov – Danila Yurov – Matt Boldy
Mats Zuccarello – Ryan Hartman – Vladimir Tarasenko
Marcus Johansson – Michael McCarron – Nick Foligno
Yakov Trenin – Nico Sturm — Robby Fabbri
Defensive Pairings
Quinn Hughes-Brock Faber
Jonas Brodin-Jared Spurgeon
Jacob Middleton-Zach Bogosian
Scratched
F — Hunter Haight, D — Daemon Hunt, D — Jeff Petry
Injured
F — Bobby Brink (upper body), F — Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body), F — Marcus Foligno (lower body)
Projected Goaltending Matchup
Spencer Knight (17-19-8, 2.64 GAA, .908 Sv%, 3 SO) vs. Filip Gustavsson (24-11-6, 2.50 GAA, .912 Sv%, 4 SO)
Knight is expected to make his 45th start of the season for the Blackhawks. The 24-year-old allowed four goals on 32 shots faced to record the loss in his most recent start on Saturday against the Golden Knights. Knight is 0-0-2 with a 2.86 GAA and .868 Sv% in three career games against Minnesota.
Gustavsson will make his 42nd start of the season for the Wild. The 27-year-old allowed four goals on 18 shots faced to earn the loss in his last appearance against the Rangers on Saturday. Gustavsson is 6-0-1 with a 1.99 GAA and .929 Sv% in seven career games against Chicago.
2025-26 Results vs. Wild
Dating back to the start of 2020, the Blackhawks have won only one of the last 18 meetings against the Wild (1-12-5). Three of the last six games between the two teams have reached overtime.
11/26/25 — 4-3 OTL, United Center
01/27/26 — 4-3 SOL, Grand Casino Arena
03/17/26 — United Center
03/19/26 — Grand Casino Arena
2025-26 Team Stats & Leaders
Chicago Blackhawks:
Goals — Tyler Bertuzzi (28)
Assists — Connor Bedard (35)
Points — Connor Bedard (62)
GF/GP — 2.61 (30th)
GA/GP — 3.15 (23rd)
PP% — 19.4% (21st)
PK% — 84.9% (1st)
FOW% — 46.7% (30th)
Minnesota Wild:
Goals — Matt Boldy & Kirill Kaprizov (38)
Assists — Quinn Hughes (61)
Points — Kirill Kaprizov (79)
GF/GP — 3.26 (12th)
GA/GP — 2.81 (5th)
PP% — 24.8% (5th)
PK% — 79% (17th)
FOW% — 46.6% (31st)
How To Watch, Listen, & Game Info
Minnesota Wild (38-18-12, 88 points) @ Chicago Blackhawks (25-30-11, 61 points)
6:30 p.m. CT — United Center
Head Coaches: John Hynes (MIN), Jeff Blashill (CHI)
TV/Stream: TNT (Albert/Olczyk/Boucher), HBO MAX, FDSNNOX, FDSNWIX
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)
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