Game Preview: Chicago Blackhawks @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4/8/2025

The Pens rematch with the Blackhawks two days after Chicago officially eliminated them from playoff contention.

Who: Chicago Blackhawks (22-45-10, 54 points, 8th place Central Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (31-35-12, 74 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

How to Watch: SportsNet Pittsburgh and WCIU in the local markets, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: We’re down to the last four games of the season. This upcoming weekend the Pens are set for a road game in New Jersey and home for Boston, followed by the regular-season finale against the Washington Capitals and all-time leading NHL goalscorer Alex Ovechkin.

Opponent Track: The Blackhawks have won just twice since March 7. One of those wins game Sunday against the Pens.

Season Series: The Pens are looking to even the series in the second and final time these two teams will meet this season.

Hidden Stat: Connor Bedard has joined Sidney Crosby and the Montreal Canadiens’ Patrik Laine as the only active players to have multiple seasons with 60-plus points as a teenager, per CHSN.

Hidden Stat II: The Penguins scored just one goal in Sunday’s loss. They are the first team the Blackhawks held to one goal or fewer since a March 3 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Getting to know the Blackhawks

Projected lines (from Sunday’s game)

FORWARDS

Ryan Donato – Connor Bedard – Ilya Mikheyev

Teuvo Teravainen – Frank Nazar – Tyler Bertuzzi

Landon Slaggert – Oliver Moore – Philipp Kurashev

Lukas Reichel – Joe Veleno – Nick Foligno

DEFENSEMEN

Alex Vlasic / Sam Rinzel

Kevin Korchinski / Connor Murphy

Wyatt Kaiser / Artem Levshunov

Goalies: Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom

Scratches: Jason Dickinson, Colton Dach, Pat Maroon, TJ Brodie, Ethan Del Mastro, Louis Crevier, Alec Martinez

IR: Shea Weber, Laurent Brossoit

• Spencer Knight picked up the win over the Pens two days ago by stopping 28 of the 29 shots he faced. It would be his fourth straight start, but he could get the nod again tonight if the Hawks are looking to build on his victory.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• A couple big firsts from this young roster during Sunday’s win over the Pens: Frank Nazar scored his first shorthanded goal, and Sam Rinzel earned his first NHL point.
• Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote some about what Sunday’s win meant for a Blackhawks roster that, like the Penguins, is already looking ahead to next season after missing out on the 2025 playoffs:

During five-on-five play, the Hawks only have been outshot 300-267 since March 10, their most respectable 13-game stretch by that indicator since the calendar flipped to 2025. Before Sunday, however, they had won only once during that span, depriving their posse of young players the most meaningful kind of positive feedback.

The young Hawks roster finally got to see some results thanks to the Penguins’ struggles and some timely saves from Knight on Sunday.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rutger McGroarty – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Rickard Rakell – Evgeni Malkin – Ville Koivunen

Danton Heinen – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

Connor Dewar – Kevin Hayes – Joona Koppanen

DEFENSEMEN

Matt Grzelcyk / Kris Letang

Erik Karlsson / Conor Timmins

Ryan Graves / Ryan Shea

Goalies: Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic

Potential Scratches: Vladislav Kolyachonok, Tommy Novak (lower body), Boko Imama (bicep surgery, out for season), Philip Tomasino (upper-body)

Injured Reserve: P.O. Joseph (upper body)

• The Penguins are officially on track to miss the playoffs for the third straight season. Alex Nedeljkovic indicated playing back-to-back on the road contributed to the team’s struggles during their elimination loss to the Hawks on Sunday.
• The biggest focus over this final stretch of the regular season could arguably be working out the NHL fit of Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty.

“They’re two good young players that we’re excited about. About where they are right now and potentially where they could go moving forward.” — Mike Sullivan on Koivunen and McGroarty, per NHL.com’s Sean O’Donnell

• Sidney Crosby weighed in on the Blackhawks’ NCAA men’s basketball tournament poll:

• Evgeni Malkin congratulated Alex Ovechkin on passing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record with his 895th goal during a Sunday game against the New York Islanders:

• Rickard Rakell, who scored his 34th goal of the campaign on Sunday, could set a new single-season career high if he can find the back of the net for a 35th time tonight.
• Noel Acciari is meanwhile three blocks away from tying his own career high of 103 blocks in a single season. His 100 blocked shots so far are the most by any Penguin since Nick Bonino turned aside 99 during the 2016-17 season, per Pens PR.
• Bryan Rust is two goals away from hitting the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career.
• Philip Tomasino sat out Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury. The Pens should provide an update on him today.