On the heels of a disappointing performance against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Montreal Canadiens were back on home ice for a Thursday night tilt with the Chicago Blackhawks. With the visitors missing their best player in Connor Bedard, the Habs found themselves with an excellent opportunity to get a win in their own building, which hasn’t been the easiest place for them to do that. Beating Chicago with the exact score they lost by two nights prior, they got a much-needed boost of confidence...
The Blackhawks have now played (and lost) three games without Connor Bedard in the lineup. In those three games, the Blackhawks have been outscored 11-3. And they’re averaging only 22 shots on goal per game.
Obviously losing Bedard takes their most important, productive player out of the lineup. But the Blackhawks have been searching for combinations on lines without Bedard to consistently create offense for longer than he’s been out.
The Blackhawks were able to do some good things e...
I mentioned in my postgame takeaways that the kinds line of Oliver Moore, Ryan Greene and Nick Lardis had a tough night at the office. Together, the line had a 36.93 expected goals percentage (according to Natural Stat Trick ). When the Blackhawks practice in Montreal later today, it sounds like the coaches might look at mixing things up with their forwards to try to find some offense — and the kids line might get broken up.
“They struggled tonight, to be dead honest with you,” Blashill...
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BLACKHAWKS
RECAPS: Canadiens 4, Blackhawks 1 ( SCH ) ( Sun-Times ) ( The Athletic )
Blackhawks switch up power-play units, seeking spark without Connor Bedard ( Sun-Times )
Blackhawks power rankings: Bedard’s shoulder, Nazar’s slump, Levshunov’s alarm clock ( The Athletic )
The Blackhawks Week That Was and Will Be, 12/17: Shifting tides ( SCH )
For trade purposes, Blackhawks should try to spread out d...
The Blackhawks losing streak is now at four games after they lost 4-1 to the Montreal Canadiens in Quebec on Thursday night.
The first two periods featured a pair of actual goals and a pair of overturned goals — one apiece for each team. Chicago had the first overturned goal …
Montreal challenges and the goal is overturned https://t.co/dCgPxPjK6c pic.twitter.com/zZGY0Cwh6Q — BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) December 19, 2025
… as well as the first actual goal, which was the first on...
First period
The crowd is behind the team early trying to inspire a good start.
The Habs look eager to give them one. Hopefully not too eager because that’s often when the problems start.
Ivan Demidov pulls the puck past his defender to get in on net, but is pushed down before he can get a good backhand off. Moments later a ping rings throughout the Bell Centre as Josh Anderson tips Adam Engström’s point shot off the post.
Cole Caufield picks up the puck behind the net, w...
It took 4:07 for this game to have a shot on net credited. The shot came from Alex Vlasic — and it went in. But, after review, it was ruled there was goaltender interference (which took the shot on net and the goal off the board). At that point, we got just the second faceoff in the game. The Blackhawks did score first, but the Habs were able to answer seven minutes later. The Blackhawks were officially out-shot 7-2 in the first but were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.
The second period saw th...
Head down to the comments to talk about Thursday’s game against the Canadiens!
Game Preview
Game 34: Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French) In the Blackhawks region: CHSN Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
Montreal’s performance versus the Chicago Blackhawks last season almost cost them in their charge for a playoff berth. The first meeting looked like the most winnable matchup during the year-end road trip that featured stops in Sunrise, Tampa, Las Vegas, and Denver, but ended up being...
The Blackhawks’ Canadian tour continues on Thursday night with another Original Six matchup, as the Montreal Canadiens are this evening’s opponent.
Montreal’s had a roller-coaster ride of a season, with a blistering 9-3-0 start followed by a 1-4-3 stretch that brought it back to Earth a bit, followed by victories in five of seven and then, leading into this game, losses in four of six. The Canadiens most recent game was a 4-1 loss to the Flyers on Tuesday night, so heavy legs shouldn’t be...
On Thursday morning, Hockey Canada announced three players were sent back to their junior clubs. Included: Blackhawks prospect Marek Vanacker .
ROSTER UPDATE | 🇨🇦’s National Junior Team has returned the following players to their club teams. MISE À JOUR | L’équipe nationale junior du 🇨🇦 a renvoyé les joueurs suivants à leurs équipes de club. -Jake O'Brien -Jackson Smith -Marek Vanacker #WorldJuniors | #MondialJunior — Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) December 18, 2025
This is disa...
The Blackhawks will look to move on from a hard loss in Toronto tonight with a game against the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs are under .500 on home ice and have won only four of their last ten games (4-5-1). The Blackhawks need to dust off the last game and move forward. And they need to find a way to score a third goal without Connor Bedard .
We’ve talked plenty here about the Blackhawks moving to the next step(s) of the rebuild. And we’ve also talked about how Blackhawks general manag...
This is your daily thread to talk about the latest hockey news.
BLACKHAWKS
The Blackhawks Week That Was and Will Be, 12/17: Shifting tides ( SCH )
For trade purposes, Blackhawks should try to spread out draft picks to 2027 and beyond ( Sun-Times )
Checking on Sam Rinzel, who is finding his rhythm and “learning to adapt” with IceHogs ( Tribune )
RECAPS: Maple Leafs 3, Blackhawks 2 ( SCH ) ( Sun-Times ) ( Tribune )
Blackhawks scratch Artyom Levshunov for tardiness a...
Game 34: Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French) In the Blackhawks region: CHSN Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
It has been a difficult rebuild for the Chicago Blackhawks after they waited too long to move on from their aging championship-winning core. The team that was vying for the title of best in the league for a nine-year span from 2008-09 to 2016-17 saw that come to an abrupt end, not put...
Thursday will feature an NHL outing between the home favorite Montreal Canadiens (17-12-4, -195 on the moneyline to win) and the Chicago Blackhawks (13-14-6, +163 moneyline odds) at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Tune in to ESPN+ to see the Canadiens and the Blackhawks meet.
Canadiens vs. Blackhawks Game Info & Odds
When: Thursday, December 18, 2025 at 7 p.m. ET
TV Channel: ESPN+
Live Stream: Fubo
Live Stream: ESPN+
Where: Bell Centre in Montréal, Quebec
Favorite: Canadiens (-195)
Und...
That was a bad loss.
Sometimes the simplest answer is the most correct one, and that seems to apply to whatever the hell it was that transpired in Toronto on Tuesday night, as the Blackhawks turned a 2-0 lead into a 3-2 loss to a Maple Leafs team that seemed ready for an implosion at the end of 40 minutes.
It’s a bad loss, and the hours following it have found me in desparate attempts to avoid what’s probably my biggest pet peeve with sports media in 2025, which is how short-sighted ...
Lukas Reichel’s fresh start in Vancouver has already hit another dead end. According to Ben Kuzma of The Province , the Vancouver Canucks are once again willing to entertain trade offers for the former first-round pick, just months after acquiring him from the Chicago Blackhawks . What was supposed to be a change-of-scenery opportunity has instead turned into another reminder of how far Reichel still is from becoming the top-six scorer many projected him to be. With the Canucks ent...
This is your daily thread to talk about the latest hockey news.
BLACKHAWKS
RECAPS: Maple Leafs 3, Blackhawks 2 ( SCH ) ( Sun-Times ) ( Tribune )
Blackhawks scratch Artyom Levshunov for tardiness after Jeff Blashill’s eruption ( Sun-Times ) ( The Athletic )
Connor Bedard injury update articles ( SCH ) ( Sun-Times ) ( Tribune ) ( The Athletic ) ( Fels )
Blackhawks prospect Vaclav Nestrasil blowing away his own expectations at UMass ( Sun-Times )
Five players the Bla...
All at once, this was a vital two points, a very fitting final four minutes to the Joe Bowen tribute game, and a not-at-all-reassuring performance by the Maple Leafs overall. This was the actual reality of this performance for the vast majority of the game: Irrelevant if they come back in this game, too. That […]
The post Game Review: Maple Leafs pull one out of the fire, win the Bowen game vs. Bedard-less Blackhawks appeared first on Maple Leafs Hotstove .
The Chicago Blackhawks squandered a two-goal lead, allowing three unanswered goals in the final 10 minutes — including two of them just eight seconds apart — to fall 3–2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday in Canada.
The Blackhawks opened the scoring midway through the first period. After Dominic Toninato won a faceoff, Wyatt Kaiser picked up the puck, skated in, and beat Joseph Woll with a slick wrister from the high slot to give the Blackhawks a 1–0 lead.
admin stands corrected, ...
Craig Berube addressed the media after his team’s 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, which improved the Maple Leafs’ record to 15-12-5. On the team’s start to the game: Actually, the first part of the first period wasn’t a terrible start. It was actually a good start to the game. We gave up a shorthanded […]
The post Craig Berube on the Leafs’ comeback win over Chicago: “Great to see the battle back… I thought our top line was really good” appeared first on Maple Leafs Hotstove .
Head down to the comments to talk about Tuesday’s game against the Maple Leafs!
Game Preview
With Joseph Woll back in the net and Connor Bedard out for Chicago, this is a game the Maple Leafs really need to win — for the response after the Edmonton loss, for the points in the standings, and for Joe Bowen on his special night (7:00 p.m. EST, TSN4). Game Day Quotes Max Domi […]
The post Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Chicago Blackhawks – Game #32 Projected Lines, Preview & TV Info appeared first on Maple Leafs Hotstove .
The Chicago Blackhawks travel north to Toronto as the Blackhawks and Maple Leafs each try to put an end to a two-game losing skid.
The Leafs’ season to date has been defined by inconsistency and unmet expectations: instead of sitting comfortably in the Atlantic mix, they find themselves a handful of spots outside the playoff picture, stuck in the muddled middle of the Eastern Conference. The wins haven’t come in bunches, defensive lapses have been a recurring issue, and the overall produc...
After the morning skate, Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill confirmed that rookie defenseman Artyom Levshunov will be a healthy scratch on Tuesday night in Toronto.
Levshunov was late getting to the rink for practice on Monday, so it was disciplinary — not based on his play. This is another reminder that this season is about setting standards for everyone involved. I like the move by head coach Jeff Blashill.
It helps that the Blackhawks called up a seventh defenseman before th...