The Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning at the United Center on Friday, Jan. 23, as the second half of back-to-back games for the Hawks. The Blackhawks haven’t been very successful in back-to-backs this season, having won just 5-of-11 such contests. On top of that, heading into this game the Lightning were 13-0-1 in their last 14 outings.
The Blackhawks were victorious the night before to the Carolina Hurricanes (4-3 in a shootout), who are the leaders of the Metropolitan Division. Well, the Lightning happen to be the leaders of the Atlantic Division. Meeting two top contenders in the East two nights in a row was a tall task for the Blackhawks. Yet they somehow managed to hang in there, losing 2-1 in yet another shootout, and taking away a point.
Here are some key thoughts and takeaways from the loss.
Blackhawks Lines & Pairings vs. Lightning
Tyler Bertuzzi – Connor Bedard – Ilya Mikheyev
Ryan Greene – Frank Nazar – Andre Burakovsky
Nick Foligno – Jason Dickinson – Landon Slaggert
Ryan Donato – Oliver Moore – Nick Lardis
Alex Vlasic – Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser – Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk – Connor Murphy
Arvid Soderblom/Spencer Knight
Scratched: Sam Lafferty, Teuvo Teravainen (upper body)
Head coach Jeff Blashill did a pretty big shake up of the top-six forwards for this contest. He deployed Tyler Bertuzzi and Ilya Mikheyev with Connor Bedard (they were previously with Frank Nazar) and then swapped Ryan Greene and Andre Burakovsky to play with Nazar (they were previously with Bedard).
Jason Dickinson drew back into the lineup (he was ill last game) playing with Nick Foligno and Landon Slaggert. The “fourth line” of Ryan Donato, Oliver Moore, Nick Lardis line remained intact.
Related – Key Takeaways From the Blackhawks’ 4-3 Shootout Win Over the Hurricanes
Arvid Soderblom was in goal on the second night of a back-to-back. Spencer Knight played against the Carolina Hurricanes and will likely play on Sunday, Jan. 25, versus his former team, the Florida Panthers.
Greene is Breaking Through
Despite some horrendous underlying stats for the Blackhawks, they somehow came out of the first period leading 1-0. Rookie Ryan Greene scored his seventh goal of the season right after a Chicago power play expired.
the Greene machine👊 pic.twitter.com/E1Jfbahuxr
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 24, 2026
Greene was assisted by fellow rookies Nick Lardis and Moore. That’s a full blown kid’s goal right there!
Greene has now scored his third goal in the last seven games, after going 19 straight games without one. There was talk about him being snake bit, even though he was still getting plenty of chances. He seems to be finally breaking through.
I think confidence is part of it. So once you kind of start scoring, that’s when guys start going kind of in streaks, a little bit. They start scoring on a regular basis. So I just think it was chances going in
Lopsided Game Still Earns Blackhawks a Point
Besides the goal by Greene, the Blackhawks couldn’t get much else generated on this night. Once it was all said and done, they were outshot 31-18. In the second period, the Blackhawks only registered two shots on goal. According to Natural Stat Trick, shot attempts were 72-40, scoring chances were 42-22, and high danger chances were 20-11, all in favor of the Lightning.
The Blackhawks did make a nice push in the third, and they led 4-1 in shots in overtime. Coach Blashill moved the lines back in the third period to what they were previously, in an effort to provide a spark; which it did. The coach spoke about the line deployment after the game.
We’re trying to figure out what our best kind of four-line combo is. I didn’t love it, obviously, through the first two (periods). Coop (Lightning head coach Jon Cooper) does a good job of getting people on and off the ice for certain matchups. So I thought we were on our heels a little bit. So I just said, let’s go back kind of to similar lines of what we had and see if we can get rolling. I mean, there was some power plays, penalty kills. It just, didn’t seem to be much flow into the game.
Did the new lines not work because of the strong team they faced? Or did the Blackhawks not play as well because of the new lines? Either or both could be true. It will be interesting to see what line combinations Blashill goes with on Sunday when the team hosts the Florida Panthers.
All in all, this was a great measuring stick of where the Blackhawks eventually want to be. Kudos to the Blackhawks for hanging in there, and keeping the Lightning to just one goal in regulation and overtime. The player in my next segment had a lot to do with that.
Soderblom Bounces Back
Backup netminder Soderblom hasn’t played the best for the Blackhawks in his last several outings. In his last nine games played, he’s only had a save percentage (SV%) over .900 one time. But he stepped up against the Lightning, stopping 31-of-31 shots, including 20 high danger chances, for a .968 SV%.
“I think tonight we owe a lot of credit to Sodey,” said Greene postgame. “I thought he was unbelievable. I don’t think that game goes over time without him playing the way he did.”
Obviously, the reality of being the No. 2 goalie means you have to sit out for substantial periods of time, which makes it a challenge to stay fresh and ready. So when you do get the call, you want to make the most of it. Soderblom felt he did that in this contest. “Yeah, it was the best night. It was fun, fun to play, to see a lot of shots. So for me personally, it felt good.”
Related – Blackhawks’ Goalie Tandem Set for the Present & Future
The Blackhawks play in back-to-back games again this coming Thursday and Friday (Jan. 29 and 30) so Soderblom will likely get the start for one of those contests (the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets, respectively). Hopefully Soderblom can carry over his momentum from this contest.
Other Notes From Blackhawks vs. Lightning
- The Blackhawks penalty kill continues to be a strong spot. The were a perfect 3-for-3 in this game, and continue to lead the league with an 85.4% success rate.
- Bedard has been relatively quiet since returning from his shoulder injury (one goal and four points in nine games). He didn’t register a shot on goal and only had only one shot attempt against the Lightning, despite 21:36 minutes of ice time.
- The Blackhawks have gone to a shootout two games in a row. Against the Hurricanes, it was Bedard and then Moore (for the game winner) who converted. On this night, Nazar scored, as well as an unlikely suspect in defenseman Louis Crevier. The young blueliner has quite the howitzer of a shot, and Blashill has used him one other time in the shootout. While he missed then, this time he found the back of the net.
Louis Crevier with a beautiful shootout goal. Unbelievable. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/TNCe2jzjSj
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 24, 2026
- After a rough outing against the Hurricanes where he only logged 16:37 minutes due some timely mistakes, defensemen Artyom Levshunov had a much better showing against the Lightning. He played stronger defensively and registered four shot attempts and two hits in 21:59 minutes of ice time.
Related – Blackhawks’ Notebook: Catching Up on Youngsters Slaggert, Moore, Lardis, Crevier
Kudos to the Blackhawks earning three of a possible four points in the last two games. They next host the defending champion Panthers at the United Center on Sunday, Jan. 25. It will be their third game in four nights, and yet another tough matchup. But the Blackhawks will be eager for two points after letting one get away in this one.
