The Chicago Blackhawks (21-23-9) wrap up their quick two-game mom\u2019s trip against the Pittsburgh Penguins (26-14-11) at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday. Here\u2019s to hoping the trip ends better than it started, as the moms witnessed a heartbreaking defeat in Minnesota on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Thursday marks the second and final meeting between Chicago and Pittsburgh in the 2025-26 season, with the Penguins winning the first matchup 7-3 at the United Center on Dec. 28. Spencer Knight was pulled for the first and still only time as a member of the Blackhawks after allowing three goals in the opening nine minutes. Justin Brazeau recorded his first career hat trick, while Anthony Mantha, Bryan Rust (2), and Noel Acciari also scored goals for Pittsburgh. Nick Foligno, Wyatt Kaiser, and Tyler Bertuzzi scored the Blackhawks\u2019 goals.<\/p>\n
Last time out, the Blackhawks suffered a disastrous 4-3 shootout loss to the Wild, letting a 3-0 lead slip away. Teuvo Teravainen scored in his return after missing the last six games with an upper-body injury. Ryan Donato and Ilya Mikheyev also found the back of the net. Connor Bedard snapped his three-game point drought with the primary assist on Teravainen\u2019s goal. Kirill Kaprizov scored the lone tally in the shootout to give Minnesota the extra point.<\/p>\n
The Penguins are coming off a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday, concluding a four-game road trip with a perfect 4-0-0 record. Pittsburgh also defeated Seattle (3-2), Calgary (4-1), and Edmonton (6-2) during the trip. They\u2019ve earned a point in seven consecutive games entering Thursday and have a 9-2-2 record in 13 games in 2026.<\/p>\n
With 63 points through 51 games this season, the Penguins currently sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division, six points back of the first-place Carolina Hurricanes. Pittsburgh\u2019s .618 points percentage is 10th-best in the entire NHL.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s everything else to note before the puck drops at 6:00 p.m. CT in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
Blackhawks Recap (Last Five Games)<\/p>\n
It was a night to remember at the United Center, with Jonathan Toews returning for his first game in the building as a visitor. Toews\u2019 homecoming party was spoiled by Spencer Knight, who stopped all 32 shots faced to record his third shutout of the season. Knight carried the Blackhawks to a 2-0 win over Winnipeg<\/a>, which also ended the three-game losing skid.<\/p>\n Oliver Moore celebrated his 21st Birthday in style, scoring the game-winning goal in the shootout to lift the Blackhawks to a 4-3 upset win over Carolina<\/a>. Moore also added an assist and got into a fight with Alexander Nikishin earlier in the game.<\/p>\n Arvid Soderblom had his best start in months, helping the Blackhawks steal a point against the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning. Soderblom stopped 30 of 31 shots, while Chicago recorded only 18 of its own, in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Lightning<\/a>. That\u2019s now points in three straight games for the Hawks.<\/p>\n There goes the three-game point streak. Over their last seven outings, the Blackhawks have now scored only 11 goals. The offense was far too quiet once again in a 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Such a promising start gone to waste. The Blackhawks led 3-0 and were in firm control of the game, but they couldn\u2019t finish the job in the later stages. The Minnesota Wild rattled off three unanswered goals before the end of regulation and eventually beat the Blackhawks 4-3 in the shootout<\/a>.<\/p>\n Blackhawks Projected Lineup<\/p>\n Forward Lines<\/p>\n Frank Nazar \u2014 Connor Bedard \u2013 Teuvo Teravainen<\/p>\n Ryan Greene \u2014 Oliver Moore \u2014 Andre Burakovsky<\/p>\n Tyler Bertuzzi \u2014 Jason Dickinson \u2014 Ilya Mikheyev<\/p>\n Ryan Donato \u2014 Nick Foligno \u2014 Colton Dach<\/p>\n Defensive Pairings<\/p>\n Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier<\/p>\n Wyatt Kaiser-Artyom Levshunov<\/p>\n Matt Grzelcyk-Connor Murphy<\/p>\n Scratched<\/p>\n F \u2014 Sam Lafferty, F \u2014 Landon Slaggert<\/p>\n Injured<\/p>\n None<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n The Blackhawks appear to be making one lineup change on Thursday, as Colton Dach is set to replace Landon Slaggert on the fourth line with Ryan Donato and Nick Foligno.<\/p>\n The rest of the lineup remains the same as Tuesday in Minnesota. Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar will skate together again on the top line.<\/p>\n Penguins Projected Lineup<\/p>\n Forward Lines<\/p>\n Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust<\/p>\n Egor Chinakhov-Tommy Novak-Evgeni Malkin<\/p>\n Anthony Mantha-Ben Kindel-Justin Brazeau<\/p>\n Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari<\/p>\n Defensive Pairings<\/p>\n Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson<\/p>\n Brett Kulak-Kris Letang<\/p>\n Ilya Solovyov-Ryan Shea<\/p>\n Scratched<\/p>\n F \u2014 Connor Clifton, F \u2014 Kevin Hayes<\/p>\n Injured<\/p>\n D \u2014 Ryan Graves (lower body), F \u2014 Filip Hallander (blood clot), D \u2014 Jack St. Ivany (hand)<\/p>\n Projected Goaltending Matchup<\/p>\n Arvid Soderblom (5-8-2, 3.75 GAA, .874 Sv%, 0 SO) vs. Arturs Silovs (9-6-8, 3.00 GAA, .894 Sv%, 1 SO)<\/p>\n Soderblom will make his 16th start of the season for the Blackhawks. The 26-year-old stopped 30 of 31 shots faced to steal a point against the Tampa Bay Lightning in his last appearance on Friday. Soderblom is 0-2-0 with a 4.12 GAA and .846 Sv% in three career games against Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n Silovs is expected to make his 24th start of the season for the Penguins. The 24-year-old netminder allowed two goals on 32 shots faced to record the win over the Edmonton Oilers in his most recent start last Thursday. Silovs is 3-0-0 with a 2.01 GAA and .917 Sv% in three career starts against Chicago.<\/p>\n 2025-26 Schedule\/Results vs. Penguins<\/p>\n The Blackhawks have earned points in eight of their last 10 games against the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena (7-2-1). Chicago has also taken points in 15 of their last 20 overall games against Pittsburgh (14-5-1).<\/p>\n 12\/28\/25 \u2014 7-3 L, United Center<\/p>\n 01\/29\/26 \u2014 PPG Paints Arena<\/p>\n 2025-26 Team Stats & Leaders<\/p>\n Chicago Blackhawks:<\/p>\n Goals \u2014 Tyler Bertuzzi (25)<\/p>\n Assists \u2014 Connor Bedard (29)<\/p>\n Points \u2014 Connor Bedard (49)<\/p>\n GF\/GP \u2014 2.66 (26th)<\/p>\n GA\/GP \u2014 3.08 (17th)<\/p>\n PP% \u2014 19.9% (17th)<\/p>\n PK% \u2014 85.5% (1st)<\/p>\n FOW% \u2014 47.3% (27th)<\/p>\n Pittsburgh Penguins:<\/p>\n Goals \u2014 Sidney Crosby (27)<\/p>\n Assists \u2014 Sidney Crosby (30)<\/p>\n Points \u2014 Sidney Crosby (57)<\/p>\n GF\/GP \u2014 3.29 (10th)<\/p>\n GA\/GP \u2014 2.84 (8th)<\/p>\n PP% \u2014 27.4% (3rd)<\/p>\n PK% \u2014 83.6% (6th)<\/p>\n FOW% \u2014 50.5% (14th)<\/p>\n How To Watch, Listen, & Game Info<\/p>\n Chicago Blackhawks (21-23-9, 51 points) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (26-14-11, 63 points)<\/p>\n 6:00 p.m. CT \u2014 PPG Paints Arena<\/p>\n Head Coaches: Jeff Blashill (CHI), Dan Muse (PIT)<\/p>\n TV\/Stream: CHSN (Ball\/Pang), SN-PIT, SN, TVAS<\/p>\n Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman\/Konroyd)<\/p>\n For more Blackhawks news, visit Chicago Hockey Now<\/a> and like our Facebook Page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow us on X:<\/p>\n @chihockeynow<\/a>, @JackBushman2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Blackhawks (21-23-9) wrap up their quick two-game mom\u2019s trip against the Pittsburgh Penguins (26-14-11) at PPG…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[521,37717,44949,49202,45780,49204,37,96,5263,58,5,4,53466,16008,29266],"class_list":["post-434648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-blackhawks","tag-blackhawks","tag-blackhawks-game-day","tag-blackhawks-game-day-preview","tag-blackhawks-how-to-watch","tag-blackhawks-lines","tag-blackhawks-starting-goalie","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-blackhawks","tag-chicagoblackhawks","tag-featured","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-penguins-how-to-watch","tag-penguins-lines","tag-penguins-starting-goalie"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115979712154956400","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}