The Blackhawks look to continue their strong start to 2026 when they face the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night at the United Center.
When these two teams met in Edmonton back on Nov. 1, the Oilers were still in their typical early-season malaise, owning just a 5-4-3 record before beating the Hawks 3-2 in overtime. But Edmonton hit the gas around Thanksgiving, going 11-5-1 in late November and most of December to surge from outside of the playoff picture to second place in the Pacific Division, entering this game with 51 points in 45 games (22-16-7), three points behind the division-leading Golden Knights who are at 54 in 44 (21-11-12).
Everyone knows the big names by now and they’re as lethal as ever. Connor McDavid has an absurd 78 points (30 G, 48 A) in just 45 games, leading the league in both assists and points while continuing to be the best hockey player on the planet in the present and perhaps of all time. Leon Draisaitl continues to at least factor into the argument as the second best player in the league with 63 (23 G, 40 A) in 45. Evan Bouchard has six goals and 11 assists on the Oilers’ league-best power play (33.9 percent conversion rate), guiding his 43 points (9 G, 34 A) through 45 games this season. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also continues to provide reliable production at an even 36 (11 G, 25 A) in 36, while Zach Hyman is near a point per game but has missed time with injury, limiting him to just 23 points (13 G, 10 A) in 26 games.
After those players, though, the production drops off mightily, with eight Oilers sandwiched between 10 and 20 points, suggesting that the Oilers’ scoring depth could be an issue come the postseason. The team’s defense hasn’t been great and the goaltending situation remains a problem since a possible solution — Tristan Jarry, acquired in a December trade from Pittsburgh — remains out with an injury. The unproven Connor Ingram, acquired from Utah in October, has been average of late (3-2-1 record, .892 save percentage, 2.98 goals-against average) while backup Calvin Pickard has not (5-6-2, .871, 3.68). While the Oilers have moved up the league standings, the issues on the back end explain why a team with the No. 4 offense in the league at 3.38 goals per game isn’t closer to the top: it’s giving up 3.31 per game, which is 26th in the league. Seems like that could be an issue in April as well, eh?
Here was the Edmonton lineup from the morning skate:
The @EdmontonOilers Morning skate in Chicago:
— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) January 12, 2026
RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Kapanen
Mangiapane-Roslovic-Savoie
Janmark-Lazar-Frederic
Howard
Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Emberson
Stastney-Regula
Walman-LTIR
Ingram
Pickard
Jarry-LTIR
As for the Hawks, whatever plague that was wreaking havoc on stomachs in the locker room appears to have subsided, with defenseman Kevin Korchinski and goalies Drew Commesso and Stan Berezhnoy sent back to Rockford over the weekend, suggesting their services are on longer needed. Spencer Knight was in the starter’s crease at the morning skate and the rest of the lineup looked similar to what defeated the Predators in Nashville on Saturday night:
Blackhawks lines this morning: Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky Bertuzzi-Dickinson-Mikheyev Teräväinen-Moore-Lardis Donato-Foligno-Slaggert Vlasic-Crevier Kaiser-Levshunov Grzelcyk-Murphy Knight
— Greg Boysen (@gregboysen.bsky.social) January 12, 2026 at 10:39 AM
With the benefit of the last change, it’ll be interesting to see how Blashill matches up his line with the firepower Edmonton boasts. Early odds suggest Dickinson’s line will be tasked with slowing down McDavid, keeping Bedard’s line free for more deployment in the offensive zone. Or perhaps the Teuvo-Moore-Lardis line gets those cushier starts so that the two rookies on it aren’t tasked with playing defense against two of the best players in the world. Either way, it’ll take the collective efforts of both forwards and defenseman in the Chicago end to contain this Edmonton offense, because leaving Knight out to dry too often — even with his excellent performance this season — is a recipe for disaster against this opponent.
Let’s go Hawks.
Tale of the Tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Oilers
47.43% (26th) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 49.95% (16th)
45.28% (30th) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 50.65% (13th)
2.82 (24th) — Goals per game — 3.38 (4th)
3.09 (17th) — Goals against per game — 3.31 (26th)
47.0% (t-27th) — Faceoffs — 52.6% (4th)
23.3% (7th) — Power play — 33.9% (1st)
85.0% (4th) — Penalty kill — 79.5% (17th)
(All stats from this season)
How to watch
When: 7:30 p.m. CT
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: CHSN
Webstream: ESPN+/Hulu
Radio: WGN 720