The Chicago Blackhawks (14-17-6) play the back end of their weekend back-to-back out of the Christmas break against the Pittsburgh Penguins (15-12-9) at the United Center on Sunday. It’s the first of two meetings in the 2025-26 season between the Blackhawks and Penguins.
Last time out, the Blackhawks put together a valiant effort without four key forwards in the lineup to snap a six-game losing streak against the Dallas Stars on Saturday. Tyler Bertuzzi scored his 17th and 18th goals of the season to end a six-game point drought, while former Star Jason Dickinson potted his second goal in the last five games. Arvid Soderblom stopped 28 of 31 shots faced, plus three of four attempts by the Stars in the shootout, to earn his first win since Nov. 18. Rookie Nick Lardis recorded the shootout winner to lift the Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory.
Even though their long losing streak finally ended on Saturday, it’s still been a wretched month of December for the Blackhawks. With a 3-8-1 record in 12 games, Chicago suddenly has the second-fewest points in the NHL, with just 34 through 37 games. The Vancouver Canucks (33 points) are the only team below the Blackhawks in the league-wide standings.
The Penguins are playing their first game out of the Christmas break on Sunday after having the last four days off. In their most recent appearance last Tuesday, they were defeated 6-3 by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bryan Rust, Rutger McGroarty, and Anthony Mantha were responsible for Pittsburgh’s three goals in the game. Toronto added two empty-net goals in the final 2:03 to make the score look more lopsided than it was.
Much like the Blackhawks, December has not gone as planned for the Penguins. Coming into Sunday, the Pens have dropped nine of their past 10 games, with a 4-3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 21 being their lone victory. Pittsburgh is 3-5-4 in 12 games this month and now has the third-fewest points (39) of any team in the Eastern Conference this season. The Maple Leafs (39) and Columbus Blue Jackets (36) are the only teams below the Penguins in the standings.
Here’s everything to note before the puck drops at 6:00 p.m. CT in Chicago.
Blackhawks Regular Season Notes (Last Five Games)
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.
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.
Projected Blackhawks Lineup
Forward Lines
Tyler Bertuzzi — Jason Dickinson – Landon Slaggert
Teuvo Teravainen — Ryan Donato — Andre Burakovsky
Oliver Moore — Ryan Greene — Colton Dach
Nick Lardis — Dominic Toninato — Sam Lafferty
Defensive Pairings
Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier
Matt Grzelcyk-Artyom Levshunov
Wyatt Kaiser-Connor Murphy
Scratched
D — Ethan Del Mastro, F — Ilya Mikheyev (paternity leave)
Injured
F — Connor Bedard (shoulder), F — Nick Foligno (hand)*, F — Frank Nazar (face)
***
The Blackhawks will not hold a morning skate on Sunday, as they traveled from Dallas late Saturday night. The forward lines and defensive pairings listed above are from Saturday’s game against the Stars.
Landon Slaggert was recalled from Rockford on Saturday morning and played in Dallas. Ilya Mikheyev was away from the team after his wife gave birth to their first child recently, and he is unlikely to play again on Sunday.
Captain Nick Foligno has yet to return from the hand injury he suffered on Nov. 15 despite returning to practice last week. There’s a chance the 38-year-old draws into the lineup for the first time in over a month on Sunday.
Penguins Projected Lineup
Forward Lines
Rickard Rakell — Sidney Crosby — Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha — Tommy Novak — Justin Brazeau
Ville Koivunen — Ben Kindel — Rutger McGroarty
Connor Dewar — Kevin Hayes — Noel Acciari
Defensive Pairings
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Brett Kulak-Kris Letang
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Scratched
F — Danton Heinen, D — Ryan Graves, D — Connor Clifton
Injured
F — Filip Hallander (blood clot), D — Caleb Jones (lower body), F — Blake Lizotte (undisclosed), F — Evgeni Malkin (upper body)
Projected Goaltending Matchup
Spencer Knight (10-10-5, 2.55 GAA, .914 Sv%, 2 SO) vs. Arturs Silovs (5-5-6, 3.22 GAA, .889 Sv%, 1 SO)
Knight is expected to make his 26th start of the season in net for the Blackhawks. The 24-year-old netminder allowed two goals on 25 shots faced in a loss to the Flyers in his most recent outing on Tuesday. Knight is 2-1-1 with a 3.17 GAA and .874 Sv% in four career games against Pittsburgh.
Silovs is expected to make his 17th start of the season in net for the Penguins. The 24-year-old stopped 22 of 25 shots faced in a shootout win over Montreal in his last time out on Sunday. Silovs is 2-0-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .938 Sv% in two career games against Chicago.
2024-25 Results vs. Penguins
The Blackhawks and Penguins split the season series in the 2024-25 campaign, with the home team winning each matchup. The Blackhawks are 9-2-0 in their last 11 games against the Penguins at the United Center and have also earned points in 15 of their last 19 overall games against Pittsburgh (14-4-1).
04/06/25 — 3-1 W, United Center
04/08/25 — 5-0 L, PPG Paints Arena
2025-26 Team Stats & Leaders
Chicago Blackhawks:
Goals — Connor Bedard (19)/Tyler Bertuzzi (18)
Assists — Connor Bedard (25)/Artyom Levshunov (16)
Points — Connor Bedard (44)/Tyler Bertuzzi (28)
GF/GP — 2.76 (26th)
GA/GP — 3.11 (17th)
PP% — 20% (15th)
PK% — 84.5% (4th)
FOW% — 46.4% (31st)
Pittsburgh Penguins:
Goals — Sidney Crosby (20)
Assists — Erik Karlsson (23)
Points — Sidney Crosby (38)
GF/GP — 3.03 (16th)
GA/GP — 3.17 (19th)
PP% — 29.3% (3rd)
PK% — 81.1% (14th)
FOW% — 49.9% (16th)
How To Watch, Listen, & Game Info
Pittsburgh Penguins (15-12-9, 39 points) @ Chicago Blackhawks (14-17-6, 34 points)
6:00 p.m. CT — United Center
Head Coaches: Dan Muse (PIT), Jeff Blashill (CHI)
TV/Stream: CHSN (Ball/Pang), SN-PIT, SN, TVAS
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)
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