Chicago Blackhawks Lose To New York Islanders 3-2

The Blackhawks are struggling and lost to the Islanders 3-2. The Islanders need to beat poor teams, and this game against the Blackhawks was an opportunity for them. Chicago is mired in last place.

While it is good for the Islanders that the Blackhawks’ leading scorer, Connor Bedard, is out with an injury, the Blackhawks can still muster a good effort. Last week, they beat Dallas. It is also worth pointing out that the Blackhawks have some big boys on defense. Louis Crevier is 6-foot-8, Alex Vlasic is 6-foot-6. Do you think size on defense helps a team?

Blackhawks Lose To the Islanders Scoring Summary

Chicago is entering Tuesday’s game off a 7-3 defeat to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. They are not playing well. Even though Bedard has been out of the lineup for several weeks, he is still their leading scorer. Tyler Bertuzzi, the Blackhawks’ second leading scorer, Jason Dickinson, and Connor Murphy all extended their point streaks to two games against the Penguins despite the loss. Here is a scoring summary from the game:

In the first period, Calum Ritchie scored, and the Islanders took a 1-0 lead. The Islanders are 15-4-2 when scoring first. Then, Bo Horvat scored on the power play. That gave the Islanders a 2-0 lead. It was Horvat’s 21st goal of the year. Matthew Schaefer got an assist. That is how the first period ended.

In the second period, Teuvo Teravainen scored for the Blackhawks, cutting the Islanders’ lead to 2-1. With 2 seconds left in the second period, Nick Lardis scored for Chicago. That goal was on the power play and tied the game at two. Then the second period ended immediately.

In the third period, there were no goals scored. In the shootout, Horvat scored in the shootout to power the Islanders to a 3-2 win, their third in four games.

News and Notes

• Horvat, the Islanders’ leading scorer, has an amazing record against the Blackhawks. Horvat has scored a goal in each of his last four games against the Blackhawks, going back three seasons. Horvat has 22 points in 24 career games against Chicago. He scored a goal in the 4-2 loss on Saturday, bringing him to twenty goals in a season for the 10th time in his career. Horvat leads the Islanders with 32 points.
• This is the first of two meetings between the Islanders and Blackhawks this season. The Islanders and Blackhawks split the season series in each of the last two years.
• David Rittich made his fifth straight start on Tuesday. Rittich is 9-4-2 this season, along with a 2.30 goals against average, a .919 save percentage, and two shutouts. There is no update on Ilya Sorokin, who is on injured reserve and has missed four games with a nagging injury.
• The Islanders are looking, in this game, to close out 2025 with a win.
• The Islanders are 6-5-2 against divisional opponents this season, after losing to Columbus in the last game.
• The Blackhawks have the 14th-best power-play percentage in the National Hockey League at 19.4%, but they are missing Bedard and have dropped to last in the league at 8.8% in December.
• In contrast, Chicago’s penalty kill ranks fourth in the National Hockey League at 84.0%.
• Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock played their 600th game together last night.
• This is the 100th season for the Blackhawks.

Barzal Status

Mathew Barzal is making a lot of news, more than usual. He was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for slashing Mason Marchment in Sunday’s loss. The slash was in response to Marchment’s hit on Matthew Schaefer. The Islanders need some kind of enforcer to protect Schafer. Barzal was fined by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety on Monday, but did not get a suspension, so he was eligible to play tonight.

Milestones For Islanders

There are two players on the Islanders who are approaching goal-scoring milestones. Anders Lee and Simon Holstrom are both one goal shy of career milestones heading into this game. Lee has 299 goals and is looking to score his 300th, a feat only four other players in Islanders history have achieved. Holmstrom is one goal away from 50 career goals.

Conclusion

The Blackhawks are struggling right now. Bedard is hurt (though he will be back soon), and the Islanders are catching them at the right time. Chicago has lost 6 of 7 with Bedard out. In an attempt to change things up for a team that has scored just two goals in its last eight games. It took a shootout, but the Islanders were credited with 3 goals.