Chicago Blackhawks (13-24-2, 28 pts) vs New York Rangers (17-19-1, 35 pts)
2:00 p.m. CT – United Center
TV: ABC/ESPN+ (Monaco/Callahan/Hextall)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Murray)

Coming hot off the heels of beating the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night, the Chicago Blackhawks have before them another winnable game agains the still floundering New York Rangers. Chicago snapped a five-game skid with their win over the Canadiens in their first contest of the 2025 calendar year. Following embarrassing losses in their previous three games, it was a breath of fresh air to see a physically engaged Blackhawks team land the first punch of the game against Montreal and be able to follow it up with a continued attacking effort.

“You fans deserve a better effort. I think we gave that tonight.” Blackhawks Captain Nick Foligno said following a two-goal effort in Friday night’s win. “We’re going to start playing Blackhawks hockey the way you expect it.”

The last time the Blackhawks and Rangers met was just about a month ago when New York was in the middle of their free fall in the Eastern Conference standings. Not much has changed in that month between games as the Rangers have lost eight of their last ten games, including a 7-4 loss to the Washington Capitals last night. The win on December 9 was the first win for Anders Sorensen as an NHL head coach and was his second game behind the bench for Chicago.

Peter Laviolette hinted pregame at some lineup changes for the Rangers, “We’re dealing with some things.”

Tyler Bertuzzi continues to find the back of the net on the powerplay, getting his team-leading sixth goal on the man-advantage on Friday night, as well as his team-leading 13th goal of the season. He has seven points over his last seven games.

With an assist in the 4-2 win over Montreal, Connor Bedard extended his current point-streak to six games, a career-high. he has five goals and 15 points in his last 13 games since Anders Sorensen took over as interim head coach. Bedard also pulled into second all-time for points by a teenager in Blackhawks franchise history with his 95th point, following only Eddie Olczyk with 129. If Bedard continues on his current point-pace this season, he would finish the year with 71 points and would have 133 points in his first two NHL seasons as a teenager.

Season Series

12/9/24 at NYR – 2-1 W
1/5/25 vs NYR

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Tyler Bertuzzi (13)
A-Connor Bedard (24)
P-Connor Bedard (34)
PPG-Tyler Bertuzzi (6)
SOG-Connor Bedard (98)
PIM-Tyler Bertuzzi, Pat Maroon (39)

Rangers Team Leaders

G-Artemi Panarin (16)
A-Adam Fox (27)
P-Artemi Panarin (39)
PPG-Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin (5)
SOG-Artemi Panarin (110)
PIM-Sam Carrick (32)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.54 (30th)
GA/G-3.36 (27th)
PP%-23.5 (11th)
PK%-83.6 (7th)
SOG/G-25.5 (30th)
SA/G-30.1 (28th)
FO%-43.9 (31st)
PIM/G-8:40 (19th)

Rangers Team Stats

GF/G-2.82 (23rd)
GA/G-3.18 (23rd)
PP%-17.1 (26th)
PK%-83.7 (6th)
SOG/G-30.0 (8th)
SA/G-31.5 (30th)
FO%-53.9 (2nd)
PIM/G-9:23 (23rd)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Tyler Bertuzzi-Connor Bedard-Ilya Mikheyev
Taylor Hall-Jason Dickinson-Nick Foligno
Colton Dach-Frank Nazar-Teuvo Teräväinen
Pat Maroon-Ryan Donato-Craig Smith

Defensemen
Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser-Seth Jones
Nolan Allan-T.J. Brodie

Scratched:
Lukas Reichel, Philipp Kurashev

Injured:
Laurent Brossoit (knee), Alec Martinez (neck), Connor Murphy (OUT)

Rangers Probable Lines

Forwards
Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trochek-Alexis Lafrenière
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Reilly Smith
Will Cuylle-Filip Chytil-Brett Berard
Adam Edstrom-Sam Carrick-Jimmy Vesey

Defensemen
Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller-Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen-Braden Schneider

Scratched
Jonny Brodzinski, Zach Jones

Injured
Igor Sheshterkin (IR)

Probable Goaltending Matchup

Arvid Söderblom (6-9-1, .910 SV%, 2.73 GAA, 0 SO) vs Louie Domingue (4-9-1, .888 SV%, 3.64 GAA, 0 SO** AHL Stats)