The Chicago Blackhawks will take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
The Chicago Blackhawks have 10 games remaining in their 2025-26 season. It’s been an up-and-down year, but there has been plenty of growth within the organization, which was all they wanted coming in. Their off-season was an indication that this year would be another developmental year, and sure enough, it was.
On Friday night, the Blackhawks will be at Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Rangers. This is the third game out of four on Chicago’s current road trip on the East Coast.
Scouting New York
The New York Rangers are having a tough year. They came in hoping to bounce back from a down year in 2024-25, but it became even worse in 2025-26. Right now, they are the only team in the Eastern Conference mathematically eliminated from postseason contention.
Ahead of the Olympic break, the Rangers traded their superstar, former Blackhawk Artemi Panarin, to the Los Angeles Kings. He was a pending unrestricted free agent, but has since signed an extension in LA.
Although many believed that more names would be moved ahead of the deadline, the Rangers did little else.
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Without Panarin, Alexis Lafreniere has been the go-to scoring winger. The former number one overall pick has had some ups and downs in his career, but he's been hot since the Olympics. If the Rangers keep him long-term, his success will be a key to them turning things around.
Down the middle, Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, and Vincent Trocheck are an outstanding 1-2-3 punch. Their place in the standings doesn't make much sense when looking at this trio at center, especially with the goaltending they get, but the reality is that they haven't scored enough, especially at home.
Their number one defenseman, Adam Fox, is still elite, but it's been a down year for him on a personal level, too. He missed out on playing for Team USA as a result. Fox has a big summer ahead of him as he looks to get back on track.
Gabe Perreault, the former Boston College and USA World Junior hero, is a strong rookie finally getting some playing time with the Rangers. He is a clutch player that the Blackhawks must be keeping an eye on when he's out there with the top line. Alex Vlasic and Wyatt Kaiser are sure to see a lot of this line.
For Drew Fortescue, this is going to be his NHL debut as a member of the Rangers. As a New York native, making his debut against another Original Six team at MSG is sure to be exciting.
Igor Shesterkin, one of the best goalies on Earth, is going to be on the bench for this one. The Blackhawks will face Dylan Garand, who is on the roster in place of the injured Jonathan Quick.
Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago
The Blackhawks are in the second half of a back-to-back. The first game was a blowout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night. Everything about that game was forgettable, besides the NHL debut of Sacha Boisvert and Connor Bedard scoring his 30th goal of the season, assisted by Anton Frondell.
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Spencer Knight started in goal against the Flyers. He gave up five goals in the loss. He faced 42 shots, and the team in front of him provided no help, so it was hardly his fault. Still, you can expect Arvid Soderblom to get the start against the Rangers.
Louis Crevier took a skate-blade to the face in Philadelphia. It was a scary-looking situation, but he is going to be okay. There is no indication that he won't be back in the lineup on Friday in New York.
Other than Soderblom going in for Knight, the lineup is likely to be the same at the start of the game. Having less than a day to move past that game in Philly is good for this group.
How To Watch
The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it is available on CHSN locally. Nationally, it is available to stream on ESPN+. The puck will drop shortly after 6:00 PM CT.
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