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Say You, Say Me: Blackhawks vs. Islanders Preview

The Hawks final game of 2025 is upon us.

Posted on by L_B_R
Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images

The Chicago Blackhawks close out the 2025 calendar year on home ice Tuesday night, hosting the New York Islanders as they look to finish the year on a stronger note.

The Islanders come into this one sitting third in the Metropolitan Division by points percentage (.590), a spot that looks solid on paper but hardly comfortable in practice thanks to a crowded playoff picture. The Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres are right on their heels — the latter of which is on a nine-game winning steak — ready to pounce if the Islanders cool off. After a promising stretch when they’ve generally hovered above water — aided by a 21-14-4 record through 39 games, a respectable goal differential, and Bo Horvat leading the attack with 20 goals — recent form has dipped to something closer to “meh,” with the club going just 5-4-1 in their last 10. Their most recent game was a 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, though it’s important to note they were without Matt Barzal for a majority of the game after he was ejected early in the second period (and lucky not to be suspended). At this stage, it feels like the Islanders are good enough to stay in the mix but still waiting for a breakout stretch that convinces the rest of the Metro they’re for real.

As mentioned above, the Islanders’ forward group is led by Horvat (32 points in 34 games, 0.94 PPG), who has been the main driving force for the offense this season. Barzal (29 in 38, 0.76) supplies the speed and creativity as the team’s primary playmaker and Anders Lee (25 in 39, 0.64) acts as a physically imposing winger with a declining but still useful scoring touch. Beyond that that trio, production has been more workmanlike than explosive. Other veterans like Jean-Gabriel Pageau (15 in 31, 0.48) and Jonathan Drouin (16 in 33, 0.48) along with a couple of younger players Emil Heineman (18 in 39, 0.46) and Simon Holmstrom (17 in 38, 0.46) chip in at times to help round out the lineup but consistency has been an issue, leaving New York with a forward group that’s competitive night to night without offering much in the way of a sustained offensive punch. The Islanders also took a major hit when Kyle Palmieri required ACL surgery at the end of November, taking him out of the lineup for 6-8 months.

The Islanders’ defense group leans more on structure and reliability than flash, but it’s been buoyed by the emergence of rookie sensation Matthew Schaefer (24 in 39, 0.62) as a genuine difference-maker. The rookie has quickly become a centerpiece on the blue line, showing poise, mobility, and confidence moving the puck while handling heavy minutes. Around him, New York relies on a familiar cast of physical, defense-first types like Ryan Pulock (17 in 39, 0.43) and Adam Pelech (5 points, 20:37 ATOI) to keep things stable in their own zone, forming a back end that may not overwhelm opponents offensively but generally does enough to keep the Islanders competitive night to night.

Ilya Sorokin (.910 save percentage) has missed some time with a lower-body injury, but his move to IR was retroactive to December 20th, which means he’s eligible to return on Tuesday in Chicago. Based on the morning skate, though, it’ll still be David Rittich (.919) in net.

Another lineup change to note below is Horvat and Barzal joining forces on NYI’s top line:

As mentioned a lot recently, December has been a grind for the Blackhawks, marked by fleeting highs and plenty of hard lessons. They showed real jump coming out of the holiday break with a high-effort 4–3 shootout win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday, one of their more encouraging performances in weeks. Any momentum from that night evaporated quickly, though, as Chicago was thumped 7–3 by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. The lopsided loss fit an all-too-familiar pattern this month: when the schedule tightens, the second game of a back-to-back has routinely turned into a problem, with the Blackhawks getting heavily outscored. Honestly, the team’s play in the Pittsburgh game wasn’t actually bad — it just felt like one of those games.

On the bright side, Connor Bedard returned to the ice Monday for some light puck-handling and skating drills ahead of the regular team practice:

Coach Jeff Blashill noted that the session didn’t alter Bedard’s recovery timeline, but it was still encouraging to see him making progress. Blashill also provided an update on Frank Nazar, who can now eat solid foods, though he’s still expected to be out for another couple of weeks.

At practice on Monday, every Blackhawks line was shaken up a bit from what was rolled against the Penguins. The most interesting difference is that Oliver Moore has been slotted in at center between Nick Lardis and Teuvo Teravainen. This isn’t particularly surprising because not only has Moore played center most of his career, the Blackhawks have limited options with their top two regular centers injured — the team just hadn’t wanted to slot him there so far during his call-up. Hopefully this also means that Lardis and Moore will get more 5-on-5 playing time. Ilya Mikheyev is also back, so Sam Lafferty is heading to the press box (and Dominic Toninato was reassigned to the Rockford IceHogs after Monday’s practice).

On the defensive side, Artyon Levshunov and Wyatt Kaiser have finally been reunited, while Matt Grzelcyk pairs with Connor Murphy. Alex Vlasic and Louis Crevier remain together as well. Ethan Del Mastro is on the outside looking in for another game. Tuesday’s pregame skate was an optional one so the best lineup implication is from Monday’s practice. Spencer Knight was in the starter crease this morning, so expect him to be in net, searching for a rebound performance from Sunday’s tough outing.

Updated power-play units from Monday’s practice are below:

One thing to note between these two teams: both rank in the bottom 10 in both shot attempts and expected goals share so, despite the difference in the standings, the Blackhawks have a real chance to replicate their effort against the Stars if they come out with the same tenacity and structure.

Tale of the Tape

Blackhawks — Statistic — Islanders
47.01% (27th) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 48.24% (23rd)
44.63% (31st) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 46.58% (26th)
2.76 (25th) — Goals per game — 2.77 (24th)
3.21 (21st) — Goals against per game — 2.67 (6th)
46.4% (31st) — Faceoffs — 51.3% (11th)
19.4% (14th) — Power play — 15.4% (28th)
84.0% (4th) — Penalty kill — 82.7% (8th)
(All stats from this season)

How to watch

When: 7:30 p.m. CT
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: CHSN, NHL Network
Webstream: n/a
Radio: WGN 720

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