Montréal Canadiens at Chicago Blackhawks: game preview
MontréalCanadiens2026-27: 1-1-1 · 3 pts · 2025-26: 48-24-10 · 106 pts · 6that
ChicagoBlackhawks2026-27: 1-3-0 · 2 pts · 2025-26: 29-39-14 · 72 pts · 31stThirty-four points apart last season
Montréal finished last season 6th in the league on 106 points. Chicago finished 31st on 72.
Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.
Meeting number 661
Across 660 completed games, Montréal lead the head-to-head 418-216-26.
Last 5 meetings
See all: Last 5 meetings →The table on each 2025-26 meeting night
League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 11 Oct 2025, Montréal were 8th in the league and Chicago 29th. By 18 Dec 2025 it was 11th and 28th.
Montréal out-attempted Chicago 126 to 91
Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.
Montréal Canadiens
Chicago Blackhawks
Montréal and Chicago are level on chances, last 10 games
Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.
This season: 3 games for Montréal, 4 for Chicago. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.
Last 10 games: 10 games for Montréal, 10 for Chicago.
2025-26: 82 games for Montréal, 82 for Chicago.
Power play and penalty kill, season and series
This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.
All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings
Montréal
Small sampleChicago
Small sampleSkaters to watch
Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.
Who has stopped this matchup
Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.
Montréal crease
MTL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 20 Oct
No appearances against Chicago in the last meetings.
Chicago crease
CHI · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 20 Oct
No appearances against Montréal in the last meetings.
Scoring rates point to about 6.5 goals
No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.
Goals in the last 5 meetings
Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.
Scoring rates
Montréal4.004.673.453.12
Chicago2.254.252.603.35Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.
8 on the injury lists
Montréal · injuries
Chicago · injuries
Latest moves
See all: Latest moves →Placed D Reilly Walsh, D Maksymilian Szuber, D Ethan Samson, C Sam Poulin, RW Sasha Pastujov, C Hunter McKown, G Kaapo Kähkönen, LW Brett Berard, and RW Alex Belzile on waivers for the purpose of loaning them to Laval (AHL).
Signed F Chris Kreider to a one-year contract.
Loaned F Vinzenz Rohrer to EV Zug (Switzerland).
Assigned D Charles Alexis Legault to Chicago (AHL).
Agreed to terms with F Oliver Moore on a five-year contract extension. Loaned Fs Jiri felcman, Martin Misiak and Marek Vanacker and D Dylan Anhorn to Rockford (AHL). Assigned F Brett Seney to Rockford.
Placed D Derrick Pouliot on waivers.
Montréal · 2026 draft
See all: Montréal · 2026 draft →Chicago · 2026 draft
See all: Chicago · 2026 draft →Friday 23 October · the full slate
See all: Friday 23 October · the full slate →
Updated after every final