Hawks Week In Review: Week 12

Every Monday, we bring you the Chicago Blackhawks weekly recap, covering everything from the NHL roster to the AHL Rockford IceHogs and top prospects in the system.

We review the week’s results, highlight standout performances, and close out with our Blackhawks Three Stars of the Week across all levels.

This is a short week due to the Christmas break, but there were still important games for both the Blackhawks and the Rockford IceHogs, making it another key stretch to evaluate effort, structure, and individual performances.

This recap covers games from Monday to Sunday (Week 12).

Blackhawks: Week 12 Record: 1-2-0

Game 1: Blackhawks 1 Flyers 3

The Chicago Blackhawks’ struggles continued Tuesday night as they fell 3–1 to the Philadelphia Flyers at the United Center, extending their losing streak to six games and marking their ninth loss in December.

The opening period was slow and disjointed, with both teams generating little offense. Despite controlling stretches of play at 5-on-5, Chicago once again failed to convert its chances. Philadelphia opened the scoring at 10:17 when Travis Konecny finished a quick passing play, slipping the puck past Spencer Knight to give the Flyers a 1–0 lead after one.

Special teams proved costly in the second period. A too-many-men penalty — Chicago’s eighth bench minor of the season — put the Flyers on the power play, and Noah Cates capitalized from the slot to make it 2–0. The Blackhawks finally responded late in the period during 4-on-4 play, as Ryan Donato wired a wrist shot past Samuel Ersson at 18:30 to pull Chicago within one heading into the third.

That momentum didn’t carry over. Philadelphia locked things down defensively in the final frame, limiting Chicago to just seven shots on goal while clogging the middle of the ice. The Blackhawks went 0-for-4 on the power play and struggled to generate any sustained pressure. With Knight pulled for the extra attacker, Carl Grundstrom sealed the game with an empty-net goal, closing out a 3–1 Flyers victory.

Spencer Knight finished with 23 saves, but the Blackhawks once again lacked finish, structure on special teams, and timely execution. It was another game that stayed within reach — and another one that slipped away.

Game 2: Blackhawks 4 Stars 3 (SO)

The Chicago Blackhawks snapped a six-game losing streak with a hard-earned 4–3 shootout win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night at American Airlines Center. Playing without Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, Chicago delivered one of its most complete performances in weeks, leaning on veteran leadership, strong five-on-five play, and timely goaltending from Arvid Söderblom.

Tyler Bertuzzi led the way with two goals, snapping a personal scoring drought and providing offense in key moments. Jason Dickinson also scored, while Alex Vlasic recorded two assists and logged heavy minutes on the blue line. The Blackhawks showed resilience throughout the night, answering every Dallas goal and forcing overtime after tying the game late in the third period.

Söderblom was steady in goal, making 28 saves in regulation and overtime before shutting the door in the shootout. After an even overtime frame, Chicago sealed the win in the shootout with goals from Ryan Donato and rookie Nick Lardis, who scored the first shootout goal of his NHL career to secure the victory.

The win marked Chicago’s first without Bedard in the lineup and served as a much-needed response after six straight losses. The Blackhawks played with urgency, competed physically, and committed to a full 60-minute effort, earning two points against one of the Western Conference’s top teams.

NICK LARDIS FOR THE WIN‼️ pic.twitter.com/b9Bc4mwCFP
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 28, 2025

Game 3: Blackhawks 3 Penguins 7

The Pittsburgh Penguins handed the Chicago Blackhawks another rough lesson in the second half of a back-to-back, rolling to a 7–3 win that again exposed Chicago’s ongoing struggles in these situations. The Penguins blew the game open early, scoring four goals in the first 12:03 and chasing Spencer Knight, who allowed more goals (4) than saves (3) before being pulled. Head coach Jeff Blashill burned his timeout just 8:20 into the first period with the score already 3–0, clearly unhappy with his team’s execution and attitude.

Despite Chicago generating respectable 5-on-5 numbers early — including a 17–12 edge in shot attempts and a 4–2 advantage in high-danger chances in the first period — the scoreboard told a very different story. Pittsburgh capitalized on defensive breakdowns, soft coverage and penalties, including another costly too-many-men call that led directly to a Penguins power-play goal. Justin Brazeau scored twice on the power play and completed his first career hat trick just 57 seconds later, fully putting the game out of reach.

Nick Foligno, returning after missing 19 games, provided a brief spark by getting the Blackhawks on the board in the second period, but Chicago was within three goals for only 90 seconds before Pittsburgh responded again. Arvid Söderblom replaced Knight in the first period but also surrendered three goals in the second, prompting Blashill to reinsert Knight for the third with the outcome already decided.

The loss continued a troubling trend for Chicago on back-to-back nights. Including this game, the Blackhawks have been outscored 27–7 in the second half of back-to-backs this season, with opponents scoring seven or more goals in 75% of those games — compared to just 3.1% league-wide. While back-to-backs are inherently difficult, the severity of Chicago’s collapses has gone far beyond normal fatigue, making this an issue the team must address quickly with several more back-to-back sets still ahead on the schedule.

we know #wkfc is going to love this👏 pic.twitter.com/OpcJzX3FMR
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 29, 2025

Team Performance Overview

Category	Week 12	Season	NHL Rank
Record	1-2–0	14-18-6	31st
Goals For	8	106	31st
Goals Against	13	124	21st
Goal Differential	-5	-18	28th
GF/GP	2.67	2.76	26th
GA/GP	4.33	3.21	21st
Power Play	0/9	19.4%	16th
Penalty Kill	2/10	84.0%	4th
Shots/GP	26.0	25.3	31st
Shots Against/GP	27.0	30.3	29th
Faceoff %	50.6%	46.4%	31st

Blackhawks Player Highlights

T. Bertuzzi: 3 G | 4 PTS | 5 SOG

J. Dickinson: 1 G | 1 A | 2 PTS | 4 SOG

A. Levshunov: 2 A | 2 PTS | 3 SOG

W. Kaiser: 1 G | 1 PTS | 2 SOG

A. Vlasic: 1 G | 1 PTS | 2 SOG

AHL – IceHogs (1–0–0)

Game 1: IceHogs 8 – Stars 4

The Rockford IceHogs delivered an offensive showcase Saturday night at the BMO Center, rolling past the Texas Stars 8–4 behind a dominant four-point performance from Gavin Hayes (2G, 2A).

Texas struck first just 14 seconds into the game when Matthew Seminoff buried a rebound past Stanislav Berezhnoy, but Rockford answered quickly. Less than three minutes later, Hayes beat Stars goaltender Remi Poirier from the near circle to tie the game 1–1.

Rockford grabbed its first lead at 12:09 of the opening period as Jamie Engelbert crashed the net and jammed home a loose puck in traffic. Texas responded on the power play with Seminoff’s second goal of the night, evening the score at 2–2. The IceHogs closed the period strong, however, when Dmitri Kuzmin wired a shot through traffic on Rockford’s first man-advantage with just two seconds remaining, sending the Hogs into intermission up 3–2.

The IceHogs’ offense carried that momentum into the second period. Kevin Lombardi extended the lead to 4–2 with a snipe from the far circle, before Josh Lopina notched his first goal in an IceHogs uniform by redirecting a perfect feed from Connor Mylymok outside the crease.

Rockford made it 6–2 later in the frame on the power play as Hayes tipped Kevin Korchinski’s point shot for his second goal of the night. The IceHogs finished the night 2-for-3 on the power play, capitalizing on their chances when it mattered most.

Early in the third period, Engelbert struck again, breaking in alone and finishing with a forehand deke to push the lead to 7–2. Texas showed some pushback with goals from Antonio Stranges and Harrison Scott, trimming the deficit to 7–4, but Rockford shut the door from there.

Lombardi sealed the win with an empty-net goal — his second of the game — to cap an eight-goal night for the IceHogs.

Rockford outshot Texas 32–23, and Berezhnoy earned the win with 19 saves, steadying the game after the early goal and allowing his offense to take over.

Make that TWO for Hayesy 👀 https://t.co/noW6qGbUe1 pic.twitter.com/FbJApK0HWA
— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) December 28, 2025

Three Stars of the Week

Blackhawks

1️⃣ Tyler Bertuzzi: 3 G | 3 PTS | 5 SOG +3
2️⃣ Jason Dickinson: 1 G | 1 A | 2 PTS | 3 SOG +3
3️⃣ A Vlasic: 2 A | 2 PTS | 3 SOG +1

IceHogs

1️⃣ Gavin Hayes 2 G | 2 A | 4 PTS
2️⃣ Jamie Engelbert 2 G | 2 PTS
3️⃣ Kevin Lombardi 2 G | 1 A | 3 PTS

Prospects

1️⃣ Nathan Behm 3 G | 2 A | 5 PTS
2️⃣ Vaclav Nestrasil 1 G | 3A | 4 PTS
3️⃣ Anton Frondell 1 G | 2 A | 3 PTS

Final Thought

This was a short week, but it clearly showed the reality facing the Chicago Blackhawks right now. With Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar out of the lineup, the team is missing its top two centers, and the impact is obvious. Without them, Chicago simply does not have the offensive depth to generate consistent pressure or control games.

The effort level has been there in stretches, but the margin for error is extremely thin. Scoring chances are limited, and when mistakes happen, they are often costly. Playing competitive hockey becomes much harder when the lineup lacks elite skill down the middle.

This stretch is now about stability and evaluation. The coaching staff needs to keep structure in place while identifying which players can handle expanded roles under pressure. For a young team in a rebuild, these moments matter as much as the results.

Until Bedard and Nazar return, the focus has to remain on habits, accountability, and development. This rebuild was never going to be smooth — and this short week was another reminder of that reality.