Blackhawks Game Day
Blackhawks vs. Bruins: Vlasic Returns, Soderblom Starts, Lineups, & How To Watch
The Chicago Blackhawks play their second game of the new 2025-26 season on Thursday night in an Original Six matchup against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
In their season opener on Tuesday against the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers, the Blackhawks put up a respectable fight, but they still lost 3-2 at Amerant Bank Arena. The second line of Teuvo Teravainen, Frank Nazar, and Tyler Bertuzzi was responsible for both of the team’s goals, with all three forwards finishing with two points.
Nazar became just the sixth Blackhawks player age 21 or younger to record multiple points in a season-opening game over the last 40 years, and he now has seven points in his past four games dating back to the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
The Blackhawks will receive a massive boost to their blue line on Thursday, as defenseman Alex Vlasic is set to make his season debut. Vlasic missed the opener against Florida while still recovering from a cut on his leg by a skate blade that he suffered during the preseason. Vlasic will play on the top defensive pairing alongside Sam Rinzel against Boston.
For the Bruins, their season opener came on Wednesday night in Washington against the Capitals, where they clawed out a 3-1 victory despite getting outshot 36-21. David Pastrnak scored a goal and tallied two primary assists, while Morgan Geekie (1G, 1A) and Elias Lindholm (1G, 1A) each had two points. Jeremy Swayman was terrific in net, stopping 35 shots to earn the win.
Here’s everything to note before the puck drops tonight in Boston at 6 p.m. CT.
2024-25 Results vs. Bruins
The Blackhawks split the season series against the Bruins in 2024-25, with the road team earning two points in both games.
12/04/24 4-2 L, United Center
04/10/25 5-2 W, TD Garden
Projected Blackhawks Lineup
Forward Lines
Colton Dach-Connor Bedard-Andre Burakovsky
Teuvo Teravainen-Frank Nazar-Tyler Bertuzzi
Ryan Donato-Jason Dickinson-Ilya Mikheyev
Nick Foligno-Ryan Greene-Sam Lafferty
Defensive Pairings
Alex Vlasic-Sam Rinzel
Wyatt Kaiser-Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk-Connor Murphy
Scratched
D – Louis Crevier, D — Ethan Del Mastro, F – Lukas Reichel
Injured
F – Joey Anderson (lower body), G – Laurent Brossoit (hip), F – Landon Slaggert (lower body)
***
Head coach Jeff Blashill has already elected to shuffle up his top line, as Colton Dach will play on the left wing with Connor Bedard and Andre Burakovsky on Thursday. Bedard has tallied a point in each of his two career games at TD Garden, including his first NHL goal on Oct. 11, 2023. Seems like just yesterday.
Ryan Donato has been bumped down to the third line with Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev. Donato scored a goal in the Blackhawks’ 5-2 win at TD Garden last April.
Defensively, Ethan Del Mastro hops out of the lineup with Vlasic making his return. Matt Grzelcyk, who skated with Rinzel in the season opener, gets moved down to the third defensive pairing with Connor Murphy.
Kaiser is set to play in his 100th career NHL game against the Bruins.
Projected Bruins Lineup
Forward Lines
Morgan Geekie-Elias Lindholm-David Pastrnak
Pavel Zacha-Casey Mittelstadt-Viktor Arvidsson
Tanner Jeannot-Fraser Minten-Michael Eyssimont
Marat Khusnutdinov-Sean Kuraly-Mark Kastelic
Defensive Pairings
Mason Lohrei-Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm-Andrew Peeke
Nikita Zadorov-Henri Jokiharju
Scratched
F — John Beecher, D — Jordan Harris, F — Jeffrey Truchon-Viel
Injured
None
***
The Bruins didn’t hold a morning skate on Thursday, as they traveled back home from the Nation’s Capital late on Wednesday night following their season opener. The forward lines and defensive pairings listed are from the lineup they utilized against Washington.
That third defensive pairing for Boston will look familiar to Blackhawks fans. Jokiharju was Chicago’s first-round draft pick (No. 29 overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft, but he only appeared in 38 games for the team before getting traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Zadorov played in 55 games for the Blackhawks in the 2020-21 season before getting dealt to Calgary.
GOALTENDING MATCHUP
Arvid Soderblom (10-18-7, 3.18 GAA, .898 Sv%, 0 SO in 2024-25) vs. Joonas Korpisalo (11-10-3, 2.90 GAA, .893 Sv%, 3 SO in 2024-25)
Soderblom makes his first start of the season for the Blackhawks after Spencer Knight earned the nod in the season debut. The 26-year-old Swedish netminder was terrific in his last start at TD Garden on Apr. 10, 2025, stopping 31 of 33 shots faced to steer the Blackhawks to a 5-2 win.
Korpisalo is expected to make his first start of the year, with Swayman playing in the Bruins’ opener on Wednesday vs. Washington. The 31-year-old Finnish goalie has a 3-4-3 record with a 2.89 GAA and .897 Sv% in 12 career appearances against the Blackhawks.
How To Watch, Listen, & Game Info
Chicago Blackhawks (0-1-0) @ Boston Bruins (1-0-0)
6 p.m. CT — TD Garden
TV/Stream: CHSN (Ball/Pang), NESN, SN
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman/Roumeliotis)
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