Blackhawks earn a point thanks to a trio of youngsters

The Chicago Blackhawks finished 2025 by earning a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Islanders. They fell behind 2-0 in the first period, but rebounded in the middle frame. Teuvo Teravainen scored late in the second period to get the Blackhawks on the board before Nick Lardis rocketed home a power-play goal with just 2.2 seconds left.

Both teams pushed in the third period, combining for 12 scoring chances, but neither could find the back of the net. The game headed to a shootout after the Blackhawks killed an overtime penalty, but the visitors got the only goal to earn the extra point.

Head coach Jeff Blashill was not happy with the start of the game, calling his team “braindead” for the first 10 minutes. While Blashill said it was the worst start of the season, he was happy with the final 50 minutes of the contest. The Blackhawks look like a team that is finally figuring out how to play without their two top offensive players, which they will have to do for at least a couple of more weeks.

Spencer Knight Keeps the Blackhawks in the Game.

Spencer Knight had a rare bad night on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, getting pulled after allowing four goals on the first seven shots. He returned for the third period, but only faced two shots since the Penguins were up five goals and just looking to get out of town.

The last time Knight had a bad game, he allowed six goals to the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 6, he followed it up with a shutout of the New York Rangers on home ice. With the other New York team in town tonight, he was hoping for a similar result.

A shutout was not in the cards for Knight, as he was tested early and often. Calum Ritchie beat him on the Islanders’ third shot of the game after Wyatt Kaiser turned the puck over. About 10 minutes later, he gave up a power-play goal to Bo Horvat, who was left all alone in the slot. After that, he settled down and stopped the last 15 shots of the game.

Late in the first period, he made a nice save sliding across the crease from right to left to deny Ritchie his second goal of the night. Midway through the third period, he hung in tough and kept a bouncing puck from getting behind him. While it wasn’t a shutout, Knight gave the Blackhawks a chance to win, which is what a goaltender is supposed to do.

New “Top” Line Impresses

I wrote after Frank Nazar got injured that Teuvo Teravainen and Nick Lardis should be on the same line. Teravainen’s vision and passing ability would be a perfect complement to Lardis’ elite shot. We got to see those two together tonight, with Oliver Moore between them.

Blashill hadn’t seen much change in Lardis despite the slow start to his NHL career. It is rare for a young player to arrive on the scene and dominate from day one.

“I don’t see any dip in his confidence right now,” Blashill said of Lardis. “He’s a somewhat low-key guy who just keeps doing his deal. He’s brought a little bit of physicality, and he’s a pretty good defensive player. So, I think his game is still in good order. He’s getting looks. He’s got to figure out, No. 1, where to shoot from and how to shoot into the net against better goalies, and No. 2, find that spacing. Hopefully, that continues to come in time.”

Lardis figured out how to beat David Rittich in the closing seconds of the middle period. Moore looked up and saw that the clock was ticking down, and got the puck across to Lardis for the Blackhawks second power-play goal since Connor Bedard’s injury.

The new line was dynamite and should be deployed as the team’s number one line going forward. They outshot the Islanders 4-0 while holding a 7-1 scoring-chance advantage. Moore’s first game at center was a success. He had the primary assist on both goals and went 8-for-11 at the faceoff dot. Blashill said it was his best game of the year, and it’s hard to argue with that assessment.

"He looked like a real confident, almost different player out there to me,” he said. “He’s had a hard time on the wing finding how to use the speed, when to slow down, and then hit the hole with speed. At center, it’s a little bit easier. It’s a little bit more natural to him."

Arty New Year's Party

The training wheels are off on Artyom Levshunov, and the Blackhawks benefited from it. The rookie defenseman had his best professional game, as he was all over the ice. Tuesday was the most confident he’s looked in the NHL, skating the puck with ease, making plays off the wall, and being aggressive in the offensive zone. He picked up the secondary assist by moving the puck back to the middle of the ice after a faceoff win by Moore.

Levshunov was two posts away from having a three-point night. In the first period, he showed off his great hands by creating space for himself in a prime scoring area, then roofing the puck over Rittich. If it wasn’t for that pesky crossbar! He’s hit the post five times this season. These will eventually start to go in.

“He was in on the attack a ton, made a ton of plays,” Blashill said of Levshunov. “You’re going to take a little good with the bad when you get that, but we’re ok with that. I guarantee his positives outweighed his negatives tonight. To me, that’s what you judge players on. Not many positives or how many negatives, but where’s the balance? And his balance was on the right side tonight. We want to push him to attack the game more, and he certainly did that.”

Having Lardis, Moore, and Levshunov all be difference makers was a great development. With Bedard and Frank Nazar out, this trio of youngsters will have more responsibility and will be looked upon to provide more offense. Seeing them embrace this opportunity is so vital for the big picture.

Another Injury for Jason Dickinson

Jason Dickinson never returned to the bench after the first period. After the game, Blashill said he was day-to-day and questionable for Thursday’s game against the Dallas Stars. He had one of his better games of the season against the Stars on Saturday, so missing him would not be ideal. Not only would you be without one of your top penalty killers against an elite power play, but he leaves you extremely thin down the middle.

It’s been a frustrating season for Dickinson, as he’s already missed 13 games due to two different injuries. This comes after he missed 23 games last season. Nobody is more frustrated with the injuries than Dickinson. Hopefully, this latest ailment is not too severe.