Playing their final game before the NHL's three-day holiday break, Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (18-10-6) are in the Windy City on Tuesday to take on Jeff Blashill's Chicago Blackhawks (13-16-3). This is the first of two 2025-26 meetings between the inter-conference clubs.
Game time at United Center is 9:00 p.m. EST. The game will be nationally televised on TNT.
The Flyers have posted a 4-2-4 record over their last 10 games. On Monday, Philadelphia skated to a 5-2 home win over the Vancouver Canucks to end Vancouver's five-game winning streak.
Nikita Grebenkin (2nd goal of the season), Carl Grundstrom (4th), Christian Dvorak (8th), Owen Tippett (11th) and Matvei Michkov (ENG, 9th) scored for the Flyers. Dan Vladar (23 saves) earned the win in goal.
Chicago has lost five games in a row in regulation. The team is 2-7-1 over its last 10 games. On Saturday, the Blackhawks sustained a 6-4 road loss at the hands of the Ottawa Senators.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch in Tuesday's game in Chicago.
1. Fatigue factor.
The Flyers have been a very busy team of late. Tuesday's match is the second half of a back-to-back.It's also Philly's 12th game of December. Chicago had the night off on Monday. It's their 11th game on the December schedule.
The Flyers also had a late night traveling from Philadelphia to Chicago. There will not be a morning skate on Tuesday. Meanwhile, as with any game in which the opponent is more rested, it's imperative for the Flyers to keep their shifts short, focus on puck support and play with discipline.
2. Zegras goes for nine.
Trevor Zegras notched a third-period assist on Monday to extend his career-best point streak to eight straight games. He'll look to build a nine-gamer on Tuesday at United Center.
Zegras leads all Flyers players with 36 points (15g, 21a) in 35 games. He also leads the club with five power play tallies to date.
3. Flyers fourth line.
The Flyers' fourth line had a different look on Monday with both Garnet Hathaway and Nicolas Deslauriers scratched from the lineup in favor of Grundstrom and Grebenkin. The line centered by Rodrigo Abols also enjoyed its best game of the season, including tallies by Grebenkin and Grundstrom in addition to winning the decided majority of its puck battles. The revised line will likely remain intact for Tuesday's game.
4. Followup game for Michkov.
Matvei Michkov played with a lot of energy in Monday's game. He ultimately got rewarded with an empty-net tally for his first goal since November 29. Tuesday's tilt in Chicago is a potential building block game for the second-year Russian winger.
