The Chicago Blackhawks are back at the United Center on Friday night, hosting the Vancouver Canucks to close out the week. Both teams are sitting at the .500 mark early in the season, trying to build some consistency before the schedule really starts to pick up.
The Canucks come into Chicago with a 2–2–0 record after picking up a solid win in their last outing. They’d stumbled out of the gate a bit, but their most recent effort — a 5-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night — showed some balance and structure that their first few games did not. The Canucks were down 2–0 after the first but then scored four straight goals in the second period to hand the Stars their first loss of the season. Connor Garland (1 G, 1 A), Quinn Hughes (1 G, 1 A), and Filip Hronek (2 A) all had two-point outings while Brock Boeser, Filip Chytil, and Max Sasson added goals. Boeser’s goal also snapped Vancouver’s power-play drought as the Canucks were one of just two teams — along with the Toronto Maple Leafs — still searching for their first power-play goal of the season prior to the Stars game.
Vancouver’s top offensive contributors have emerged somewhat quietly. Kiefer Sherwood has been one of the early bright spots, leading Vancouver in both goals and points (3), Boeser and Chytil have two goals each, and Jake DeBrusk and Arshdeep Bains have chipped in a couple of assists each. It feels like it’s almost a matter of time before Hughes breaks out, considering he led the Canucks last year with 76 points (16 G, 60 A). The Blackhawks will have to be careful it doesn’t happen against them.
Because the Canucks played on Thursday night, they did not have a morning skate in Chicago, so below are their lines against the Stars as reference for what they might roll out tonight. Kevin Lankinen, who has a .886 save percentage in only one game so far this season, is likely in net since Thatcher Demko started Thursday.
Projected #Canucks lines vs. @DallasStars
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) October 16, 2025
DeBrusk. Chytil. Boeser.
O’Connor. EP40. Garland.
Kane. Räty. Sherwood.
Bains. Sasson. Karlsson.
Hughes. Hronek.
MP29. Myers.
EP25. Mancini.
🥅#DemkoTime 🥅
5pm on @Sportsnet650 https://t.co/J6DNM1DB0V pic.twitter.com/pmb7FyKeHv
The Blackhawks are coming off of what was easily their best performance of the season: an 8–3 blowout win in St. Louis that finally saw the offense break loose. Lukas Reichel led the way with two goals and an assist, Connor Bedard racked up three helpers, Frank Nazar had one of the most electric goal moments of recent years, and the Blackhawks scored five unanswered in the second period. Not bad for a team that’s been looking for a spark.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?! 😭
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 16, 2025
(via @NHL) pic.twitter.com/kDNtIRuQev
Through five games, Nazar (2 G, 4 A), Bedard (2 G, 4 A), and Teuvo Teräväinen (1 G, 5 A) are all tied for the team lead with six points, while Ilya Mikheyev has three goals to top that category. The Blackhawks have shown solid depth overall, getting contributions from all but three players who have appeared in at least one game. The young blue line has also held its own, with Wyatt Kaiser and Alex Vlasic really standing out for their defensive prowess. Spencer Knight’s been steady in net so far, holding a .920 save percentage in three stars, while Arvid Soderblom a little less so with his .881 save percentage in two games.
Here were the Blackhawks lines at Friday’s morning skate:
Blackhawks forward lines this morning Dach-Bedard-Burakovsky Teräväinen-Nazar-Bertuzzi Donato-Dickinson-Mikheyev Reichel-Greene-Slaggert
— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) October 17, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Although Slaggert is listed there, coach Jeff Blashill said he’s still not quite ready for game action, so looks like another 11F/7D game.
The Blackhawks’ biggest focus right now is finding consistency. The flashes are there, they’ve kept games competitive, and are obviously coming off a great game, but the lapses still pop up too often and shot possession has been overall lackluster. Chicago will be looking to ride that St. Louis momentum and give the United Center crowd another reason to cheer.
An interesting note: in recent history, the Canucks have had the Blackhawks’ number as they’ve won the last 10 meetings between the two teams, so it’d be nice to see the Blackhawks win their third game in a row and end that negative streak.
Tale of the Tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Canucks
44.09% (32nd) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 48.47% (22nd)
43.03% (32nd) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 49.27% (21st)
2.73 (26th) — Goals per game — 3.05 (13th)
3.56 (31st) — Goals against per game — 2.82 (11th)
44.8% (31st) — Faceoffs — 51.6% (10th)
24.9% (7th) — Power play — 22.1% (16th)
79.3% (14th) — Penalty kill — 74.4% (27th)
(All stats from last season)
How to watch
When: 7:30 p.m. CT
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: CHSN
Webstream: ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720