The Chicago Blackhawks (27-32-13) continue their East Coast road trip and play the back end of a back-to-back against the New York Rangers (28-35-9) at Madison Square Garden on Friday. It’s the second and final meeting of the 2025-26 season between the two teams, who both currently sit in the bottom three of the league-wide standings.
In the first matchup on Dec. 10 at the United Center, the Blackhawks cruised to a 3-0 win behind a 21-save shutout from Spencer Knight. Connor Bedard tallied two points (1G, 1A), while Tyler Bertuzzi and Louis Crevier each scored one goal. That proved to be Chicago’s penultimate victory of the 2025 calendar year, despite still having nine more games left on their schedule in December.
Last time out, the Blackhawks suffered arguably their most lopsided loss since returning from the Olympic break one month ago, falling 5-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers in the first half of the back-to-back on Thursday. Bedard was the lone goal scorer of the game for Chicago, while Anton Frondell netted his second NHL point with the primary assist. Alex Bump, Sean Couturier, Denver Barkey, Noah Cates, and Christian Dvorak scored for Philadelphia.
The Rangers are coming off a 4-3 defeat to the Toronto Maple Leafs in their last outing and have dropped six consecutive games entering Friday, which marks the beginning of a seven-game homestand. With 65 points through 72 games this season, the Rangers are currently dead-last in the Eastern Conference, while the Vancouver Canucks (50 points) are the only team with fewer points in the NHL.
Here’s everything else to note before the puck drops at 6:00 p.m. CT in New York.
Blackhawks Projected Lineup
Forward Lines
Ryan Greene — Connor Bedard — Anton Frondell
Tyler Bertuzzi — Frank Nazar — Nick Lardis
Andre Burakovsky — Ryan Donato — Ilya Mikheyev
Teuvo Teravainen — Sacha Boisvert — Landon Slaggert
Defensive Pairings
Alex Vlasic-Artyom Levshunov
Wyatt Kaiser-Sam Rinzel
Ethan Del Mastro-Louis Crevier
Scratched
F — Sam Lafferty, F — Dominic Toninato
Injured
D — Matt Grzelcyk (undisclosed), F — Andrew Mangiapane (undisclosed), F — Oliver Moore (lower body)
***
The Blackhawks did not hold a morning skate after traveling from Philadelphia late on Thursday night. The forward lines and defensive pairings listed above are from the 5-1 loss to the Flyers.
Louis Crevier got cut on the face by a skate blade in the third period and did not return to the game. Crevier is questionable for Friday’s game against New York.
Andrew Mangiapane could return to the lineup after missing the last four games with an undisclosed injury.
Rangers Projected Lineup
Forward Lines
Gabe Perreault — Mika Zibanejad — Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle — Vincent Trocheck — Adam Sykora
Tye Kartye — J.T. Miller — Conor Sheary
Taylor Raddysh — Jonny Brodzinski — Jaroslav Chmelar
Defensive Pairings
Vladislav Gavrikov-Adam Fox
Braden Schneider-Will Borgen
Matthew Robertson-Drew Fortescue
Scratched
F — Adam Edstrom, D — Vincent Lorio, F — Juuso Parssinen
Injured
F — Noah Laba (lower body), G — Jonathan Quick (upper body), F — Matt Rempe (upper body), D — Urho Vaakanainen (upper body)
***
Drew Fortescue will make his NHL debut for the Rangers against the Blackhawks. Fortescue is expected to skate on New York’s third defensive pairing with Matthew Robertson.
Noah Laba participated in the morning skate but is expected to miss a fifth consecutive game.
Projected Goaltending Matchup
Arvid Soderblom (7-11-3, 3.69 GAA, .883 Sv%, 1 SO) vs. Dylan Garand (0-0-1, 1.85 GAA, .946 Sv%, 0 SO)
Soderblom is expected to make his 22nd start of the season for the Blackhawks in the second half of their back-to-back. The 26-year-old stopped 44 of 47 shots faced to record the win over the New York Islanders in his last start on Tuesday. Soderblom is 1-2-0 with a 4.51 GAA and .844 Sv% in four career games against the Rangers.
Garand is set to make his second NHL start for the Rangers. The 23-year-old allowed two goals on 37 shots faced to earn the shootout loss in his debut against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. Garand has, obviously, yet to face Chicago in his young career.
2025-26 Results vs. Rangers
The Blackhawks have earned points in six of their last nine games at Madison Square Garden (6-3-0). Bertuzzi has recorded a goal (3G) in three-straight games against New York and has tallied a point (3G, 2A) in five of his last seven games against them.
12/10/25 — 3-0 W, United Center
03/27/26 — Madison Square Garden
2025-26 Team Stats & Leaders
Chicago Blackhawks:
Goals — Connor Bedard (30)
Assists — Connor Bedard (37)
Points — Connor Bedard (67)
GF/GP — 2.57 (30th)
GA/GP — 3.17 (23rd)
PP% — 17.9% (23rd)
PK% — 84.8% (1st)
FOW% — 46.4% (31st)
New York Rangers:
Goals — Mika Zibanejad (32)
Assists — Mika Zibanejad (37)
Points — Mika Zibanejad (69)
GF/GP — 2.76 (26th)
GA/GP — 3.18 (24th)
PP% — 24.3% (7th)
PK% — 78.1% (23rd)
FOW% — 54.2% (3rd)
How To Watch, Listen, & Game Info
Chicago Blackhawks (27-32-13, 67 points) vs. New York Rangers (28-35-9, 65 points)
6:00 p.m. CT — Madison Square Garden
Head Coaches: Jeff Blashill (CHI), Mike Sullivan (NYR)
TV/Stream: CHSN (Ball/Pang), MSG
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)
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