2025-26 Regular Season, Game 79 Preview: Carolina Hurricanes at Chicago Blackhawks

Last Game: The Carolina Hurricanes put the Metropolitan Division to rest with an overtime win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, and the road to get there was wild. Hampus Lindholm got the scoring started for the Bruins, but Andrei Svechnikov got a bounce on a wrap-around, and K'Andre Miller sniped one off the draw to put the Canes in front midway through the frame. The Bruins' top line answered with two before the end of the period. On both occasions, David Pastrnak set up Morgan Geekie, giving the former Hurricane a chance for revenge against his old team. The Canes' offense exploded in the second. Logan Stankoven started it with another goal on the power play. William Carrier put the Canes back in front with a shot under Jeremy Swayman's glove. Then, Taylor Hall followed his rebound and slid it through the pads of the netminder, chasing Swayman from the game. Geekie pulled the Bruins within a goal by redirecting a shot to finish his hat trick. In the third, the only goal came from Pavel Zacha, ensuring that the game went to overtime. With the division already locked up, the Canes put the bow on top by winning it. Sebastian Aho found Jaccob Slavin as he flew to the net, tapping it home to finish a 6-5 win.

Injury Report

Jalen Chatfield: He left the game on Tuesday with a lower-body injury in the third period, but without the Canes skating as a team on Wednesday, his status is up in the air.

The Opponent: Chicago Blackhawks (28-36-14, 70 Points; 8th in the Central Division)

Last Meeting: The Blackhawks and the Hurricanes went back and forth when they collided in Raleigh in late January. Every time Chicago took the lead, Carolina was there to respond. Ilya Mikheyev opened the night with a short-handed goal to get the Blackhawks out front early. Joel Nystrom got it back right after by scoring his first NHL goal. Next up was Nick Lardis, but his goal was nullified by Jordan Staal. In the third, Connor Murphy gave Chicago its third lead, only for Jackson Blake to draw the Canes even once more. Neither side was able to finish the game in overtime, sending them to the shootout. In the sixth round, Oliver Moore, the birthday boy who'd been knocked out by Alexander Nikishin earlier in the game, scored in the sixth round of the shootout to secure the second point.

Since We Last Met: The Blackhawks aren't going to the playoffs, which is a sentiment that many have come to understand during this ongoing rebuild. It doesn't mean that there aren't good pieces in place to get them back to the better days of yesteryear. Obviously, that starts with Connor Bedard. After a scorching start to his season, Bedard's numbers slowed once he returned from a month-long injury in January. Many were surprised by his omission from Team Canada's roster. That being said, he's still at 30 goals and 72 points in 65 games this season. Tyler Bertuzzi is having a career year, scoring a team-high 32 goals, his second 30-goal campaign. They've also welcomed 3rd overall pick Anton Frondell to the mix, and the 18-year-old has six points in eight games. Spencer Knight has shown flashes of brilliance in the net this season, signaling that he could be the Blackhawks' netminder of the future. However, it's the same usual issues for Chicago, namely a lack of offense, that have kept them at the bottom of the standings. They're dead last in goals per game and 30th in goals scored. Their power play sits at 24th. They're consistently 25th in goals allowed and goals allowed per game, though their penalty kill is the second-best in the league. Many of the pieces are in place to thrive soon. Part of their problem might be the division that they play in.

Stories to Watch

1. New Wolves in town

The Canes are gearing up to rest some of their players over the final few games. Playing in Chicago means a chance to see some of the AHL guys get the call to join the big club. Bradly Nadeau, Skylar Brind'Amour, Josiah Slavin, and Charles Alexis Legault are joining the big club, though for how long remains a mystery. Legault might be up to give Chatfield some time to recover. Nadeau has joined the club a few times this season, Brind'Amour made his NHL debut at the end of the last season, and Slavin, the Wolves' captain, would be in line to make his Hurricanes debut after getting 15 games with the Blackhawks in 2022-23. I'm interested to see who enters the lineup, and whether more will follow.

2. Please, stay healthy

I'm all for the Hurricanes trying to secure the #1 spot in the Eastern Conference, but I don't want it to come at the expense of their health. Chatfield went down on Tuesday, and the Canes can ill-afford for that trend to continue. We had a close call with Seth Jarvis late in the second period, though he was able to return and play in the third and beyond. The sting of Jesper Fast's injury in the season finale in 2024 will always be present.