Blackhawks hope to freeze out red hot Lightning

Chicago Blackhawks (21-22-7, 49 pts) vs Tampa Bay Lightning (31-14-4, 66 pts)
6 pm CT – United Center
TV: ESPN (Wischusen/Mleczko/Hextall)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Konroyd)

The Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning will brave the frigid temperatures to conclude their season series tonight. The Blackhawks won the first meeting of the season in a game much like last night in Carolina, where they were outplayed for long stretches, but found a way to win.

Speaking of finding ways to win, the Lightning are one of the top teams in the league despite being ravaged by injuries all season long. They have yet to lose in regulation in 2026 and enter tonight's contest on a 14-game point streak (13-0-1). This season could be Jon Cooper’s best coaching job yet, as his team continues to win no matter who is in the lineup. This shows that his team is fully bought into his system and believes they can win on any given night. That is what Jeff Blashill, Cooper’s former assistant, is trying to build in Chicago. We’ve seen flashes of this type of buy-in with the Blackhawks, but the growing pains of a young team are inevitable.

We won’t know how the Blackhawks will line up until pregame warmups, since they didn't skate this morning. Blashill will meet the media 90 minutes before puck drop, and we’ll learn if Jason Dickinson will return after missing last night’s game due to illness. I’d imagine we won’t see any other changes to the lineup since they won last night, but we’ll see.

Power Play Woes

Power plays are a fickle thing in the NHL. One day, your team feels like they can score every time they are on the man advantage, then can look completely clueless the next. The Blackhawks went 9-for-19 in a stretch of seven games between Dec. 30 and Jan. 10. Since then, they have gone 0-for-12 over the last five games.

The Blackhawks should get some power-play chances tonight as the Lightning leads the NHL in penalty minutes per game. However, they’ve gotten away with a lot thanks to having the league’s third-ranked penalty kill. If the Blackhawks want to spend time on the power play, they must possess the puck. The biggest reason they had only one power-play opportunity against the Hurricanes last night was that they rarely played offense in the first two periods.

Arvid Soderblom Starts

It feels like I write this every time Arvid Soderblom gets the nod in goal, but he needs to have a big performance. He’s taken a step backward this season with a goals-against average (GAA) just under four and a save percentage (SV%) under .870. These aren’t numbers that suggest a long NHL career ahead of him. With Drew Commesso knocking on the door in Rockford, Soderblom needs to play better, or he could be in need of a real estate agent this summer.

Tonight will be Soderblom’s third start against the Lightning in his career. He has done well against them, going 1-0-1 with a 2.49 GAA and .933 SV% while allowing 5 goals on 75 shots. Meanwhile, Andrei Vasilevskiy is 13-1-0 in his career against the Blackhawks, with that only loss coming back in October.

Dominic James is Etching Out His Place

In his first draft as Blackhawks general manager in 2022, Kyle Davidson selected forward Dominic James in the sixth round. After a successful three-year college career at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, he elected to become a free agent and signed with the Lightning.

That decision made sense, as the Blackhawks organization is deep with talented young players, making James’ path to the NHL more difficult. Tampa Bay has a roster full of high-priced veterans and needs younger, cheaper talent, so it was a logical move. Plus, winning helps, too.

With all the injuries the Lightning has dealt with, James has plugged away and earned himself a permanent spot on the NHL roster. He’s currently centering the second line with Brayden Point being the latest forward to land on injured reserve. He has a chance for his first career three-game point streak tonight as he has a goal and two assists in his last two contests.

Season Series

10/23 @ TBL, W 3-2
1/23 vs TBL

Blackhawks Team Leaders

G-Tyler Bertuzzi (24)
A-Connor Bedard (28)
P-Bedard (48)
PPG-Bertuzzi (9)
GWG-Bedard/Bertuzzi (3)
SOG-Bedard (125)
PIM-Colton Dach (45)

Lightning Team Leaders

G-Brandon Hagel (25)
A-Nikita Kucherov (49)
P-Kucherov (73)
PPG-Oliver Bjorkstrand/Kucherov (6)
GWG-Hagel (6)
SOG-Jake Guentzel/Hagel (128)
PIM-Curtis Douglas (75)

Blackhawks Team Stats

GF/G-2.72 (26th)
GA/G-3.08 (17th)
PP%-21.4 (12th)
PK%-85.1 (1st)
SOG/G-25.1 (31st)
SA/G-29.7 (25th)
FO%-47.1 (28th)
PIM/G-10:03 (24th)

Lightning Team Stats

GF/G-3.50 (2nd)
GA/G-2.48 (2nd)
PP%-20.7 (14th)
PK%-84.2 (3rd)
SOG/G-27.3 (20th)
SA/G-26.1 (7th)
FO%-50.5 (14th)
PIM/G-8:00 (12th)

Blackhawks Probable Lines

Forwards
Ryan Greene-Connor Bedard-Andre Burakovsky
Ilya Mikjeyev-Frank Nazar-Tyler Bertuzzi
Ryan Donato-Oliver Moore-Nick Lardis
Landon Slaggert-Nick Foligno-Colton Dach

Defensemen
Alex Vlasic-Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser-Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk-Connor Murphy

Scratched
F-Sam Lafferty,

Injured

F-Teuvo Teravainen (upper body), F-Jason Dickinson (illness)

Lightning Probable Lines

Forwards
Brandon Hagel-Anthony Cerelli-Nikita Kucherov
Jake Guentzel-Dominic James-Gage Gonalves
Zemgus Girgensons-Yanni Gourde-Pontus Holmberg
Jack Finley-Nick Paul-Oliver Bjorkstrand

Defensemen
J.J. Moser-Darren Raddysh
Charle-Édouard D’Astous-Erik Cernak
Declan Carlile-Maxwell Crozier

Scratched
F-Curtis Douglas, D-Simon Lundmark

Injured
D-Victor Hedman (elbow), D-Emil Lilleberg (undisclosed), D-Ryan McDonagh (lower body), F-Brayden Point (lower body), F-Scott Sabourin (undisclosed)

Goaltending Matchup

Arvid Soderblom (5-8-1, 3.97 GAA, .868 SV%, 0 SO) vs Andrei Vasilevskiy (21-7-3, 2.18 GAA, .917 SV%, 1 SO)