The Chicago Blackhawks will face the St. Louis Blues in the final preseason game at the United Center.
The Chicago Blackhawks are going to close out the preseason with a match against the St. Louis Blues. The United Center will be the setting as the Blackhawks look to get certain players ready for the regular season one last time.
Players who have more than 100 games of NHL experience are not allowed to play more than two of the four preseason games. For Chicago, this eliminates eligibility for Frank Nazar, Landon Slaggert, Kevin Korchinski, and Wyatt Kaiser.
Chicago also made it clear that they are saving Patrick Kane's first appearance at home for the regular season, so he will sit this one out as well.
Scouting St. Louis
The St. Louis Blues are going to go with a mostly NHL lineup for this game against the Blackhawks. On the final night of the preseason, St. Louis is also looking to get their guys ready for the games to begin for real.
The Blackhawks faced the Blues two nights ago in St. Louis, and they used a lineup that was about half of their opening night group. There was no captain Robert Thomas, Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg, or Jimmy Snuggerud among others. Some of them may get action in this game.
Jordan Binnington was the starter in the last game (and shut out the Blackhawks), so you can expect to see Joel Hofer in this one at the United Center.
Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago
The Blackhawks, as mentioned before, have a few different reasons for this not being a true Opening Night group to close out the preseason. Instead, they will line up like this:
Bertuzzi-Frondell-Mangiapane
Donato-Moore-Greene
Teravainen-Kantserov-Lardis
Boucher-Toninato-Smith
Vlasic-Byram
Del Mastro-Levshunov
Cole-Rinzel
Knight
This is a chance for Andrew Mangiapane, Teuvo Teravainen, and Ethan Del Mastro to make a last chance effort to impress the coaching staff before some hard decisions are made.
The Blackhawks are going to get a look at Roman Kantserov at center for the first time in a preseason game. Kantserov is seen in North America as a goal-scoring winger, but he actually played center for most of his KHL season last year, in which he led the league in goals.
Anton Frondell and Oliver Moore will be the centers ahead of Kantserov in the lineup. Behind them is Dominic Toninato, who will be with the IceHogs this season as a great veteran.
The last time Bowen Byram was on the ice for a preseason game, Monday at the United Center, he scored a hat trick capped off by an overtime winner. He will once again be paired with Alex Vlasic in this one.
Spencer Knight is scheduled to play the entire game for the Blackhawks. Arvid Soderblom was excellent in St. Louis on Thursday, and Knight is going to go in this one. For now, this is your tandem headed into 2026-27.
How To Watch
You can hear the game locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. You can watch the game locally on CHSN. The puck will drop shortly after 6:00 PM CT. National audiences can also watch the game on NHL Network.
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