How much of a sample size do you need before it’s not just overachieving goaltending? Before it’s not just riding the PDO train? Before you start to believe?
The Chicago Blackhawks are 4-0-1 in their last five games. Pretty small sample size, sure. But they’re 9-3-3 in their last 15, a .700 points percentage that’s third-best in the NHL in that time span, trailing only Colorado and New Jersey.
They’re closing out games, they’re winning close games, and they rallied for their first third-period comeback win Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They lead the league with 30 third-period goals (with only 14 against), and they have the third-best goal differential in the league at plus-12. Hockey is fun again in Chicago. Can it last? It’s starting to look like it can.
What better time to jump back into our biweekly Blackhawks power rankings?
1. Artyom Levshunov
When Levshunov is on the ice for a Blackhawks goal, he celebrates like a puppy whose people just came home from work. When Levshunov sets up a Blackhawks goal, he celebrates like he just won the Stanley Cup. So what’s it going to be like when he actually scores a goal? “I don’t want to see that,” Teuvo Teräväinen deadpanned. “He might knock someone’s helmet off,” Frank Nazar said. Well, we should find out soon enough. The way the recently turned 20-year-old has been playing lately, with eight assists in his last nine games and plenty of scoring chances, it’s only a matter of time.
His primary assist on Ryan Greene’s goal Saturday night against Toronto was distinctly Levshunov, with him randomly falling along the boards, yet keeping possession, then skating halfway around the offensive zone before threading a perfect one-timer feed to Greene. And yes, he was stoked afterward. Blackhawks fans should be stoked, too. It’s entirely possible that, after all the hand-wringing and second-guessing, both Levshunov AND Ivan Demidov are both really, really good. (Now if he could only figure out that power-play drop pass …)
2. Connor Bedard
Bedard’s goal streak ended at four games, and his point streak ended at nine on Saturday night, dropping him all the way down to fourth in the league in scoring. Is it time to panic?
3. Duncan Keith’s Hall of Fame speech
There was no Scottish accent, no stirring William Wallace speech, no snark, no defiance. Keith was clearly humbled — nervous, even — by the honor of being a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and his speech was heartfelt and moving, especially when he talked about being a dad.
We’re old enough to remember when Colton Keith was born and Duncan had to fly straight to a playoff game in Minnesota. And to remember when Colton was sitting in the bowl of the Stanley Cup on the ice following the 2015 Final. And to remember when Colton was toddling around the visitors’ locker room in Vancouver after a morning skate, annoying Patrick Sharp by telling him his favorite player was Patrick Kane. Seeing Colton, now a young man, in the audience mouthing “I love you” back to his dad was special stuff. Sunrise, sunset …
4. Many happy returns
It’s been great to see Corey Crawford at the United Center twice already this season. He might not be one of the vaunted three-time champs, but the ovation he received before Saturday’s centennial ceremony shows how beloved he’s become by the fan base — a de facto member of The Core. For a guy who was always a little underappreciated in his time, it’s well deserved.
It’s also no small thing that Pat Foley is back in the fold, emceeing the centennial celebrations and working as an official Blackhawks ambassador. The partings of Foley and Eddie Olczyk weren’t exactly amicable, after all. And the Blackhawks of the pre-Rocky Wirtz era were well known for holding grudges and burning bridges. But Foley and Olczyk mean so much to the fan base in Chicago, and it’s encouraging to see the team both recognize that and remedy it.
5. Jeff Blashill
Blashill’s hiring was met with a collective shrug by most of Chicago, but he’s proving to be a heck of a hire. The Blackhawks are fully bought in, and are playing with structure and discipline and a touch of nastiness.
Now we have Blashill dancing (“Jump Around” style) to Dexys Midnight Runners during his morning skate scrum and doing a full-blown “6-7” with the hand motions during a postgame news conference. The vibes are high in Chicago, and it starts at the top.
“6-7” comes for us all, even Jeff Blashill in his postgame presser Saturday night. pic.twitter.com/ZJNicT3Zek
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) November 16, 2025
6. Tony Esposito bobblehead
This was a good one — having a cool old-school goalie mask solves the problem of bobbleheads never actually looking like the person. Unsurprisingly, there are many on eBay already. Somehow, zapsauthenticss has sold 41 of them at $89.99 or best offer.
7. Sam Lafferty’s goal
Damn, Sam.
Sam Lafferty just turned Luke Hughes inside out 😳 pic.twitter.com/sq1VaMFHhB
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 13, 2025
8. Playoffs? Playoffs?!
Being in a playoff spot at Thanksgiving doesn’t guarantee you a playoff spot in April, but it is traditionally a positive indicator. The Blackhawks are getting closer and closer to that date. The p-word has crept into some postgame scrums recently, and the Blackhawks aren’t making any grand proclamations just yet.
“I started the year without any expectations,” Blashill said. “I just didn’t know what to expect. We had a group of guys who I knew were talented, and I thought if we could mature our game, we could become a really good team. If you have talent and you play mature, that equals a lot of success. As we’ve grown, I’ve continued to say, we can be a really good team.”
It is worth noting the Blackhawks haven’t faced much of the Central yet. Colorado and Minnesota coming to Chicago next week should be good tests.
9. Sam Rinzel
Rinzel made the NHL look easy when he made the jump from college last season. That obviously led to bloated expectations for his first full NHL season. He was more realistic about this season and expected there to be some bumps. One of those bumps has arrived as he was healthy scratched Saturday after a string of subpar games.
As Rinzel said this past week, he’s been through learning phases throughout his career, and this is another one. Considering how far he’s come as a project defenseman when the Blackhawks drafted him in 2022, he’s probably a safe bet to figure this out, too. But for now, he’s got to put the work in again.
10. CHSN
Comcast carriage matters. CHSN general manager Mike McCarthy recently told the Chicago Sun-Times that the Blackhawks had a 121 percent viewership increase in their first 12 CHSN games. It’s unrealistic for the Blackhawks to get anywhere near the viewership they used to get simply because of the changing landscape of regional sports networks.
Whether the Blackhawks would have been better off in the long term going to a free model is up for debate. The revenue from CHSN subscriptions and cable carriers is a piece of their financial puzzle.
11. Attendance
The United Center felt and looked like a major Chicago sporting event for the Blackhawks-Maple Leafs game Saturday. Those have been few and far between in recent years for the Blackhawks. Saturday’s crowd did give them a sizable bump in attendance for the season, with a sold-out crowd of 20,489. It was their biggest crowd of the year and their third-biggest crowd in the last two seasons.
The Blackhawks still have work to catch up to where they usually are. Through eight home games, they have an average attendance of 17,324, ranking 16th in the league. It has been noticeable how empty a number of the suites are throughout the United Center, especially the 100 level. That was even the case Saturday. That’s a lot of lost revenue.
12. Nick Foligno’s injury
Blackhawks hockey is starting to get fun for the first time in a while. Few have been enjoying that as much as Foligno. He’s been the Blackhawks’ biggest cheerleader over the last three years and worked hard to spin a positive message during some horrific losing seasons. It’s a pleasant change for him to be a part of something positive.
So it’s emotionally crushing for him and the Blackhawks for him to suffer a hand injury Saturday that’s expected to sideline him for about a month. While the Blackhawks can probably fill his role on the ice (though his line had been effective lately), his absence will be felt elsewhere.
13. The faulty curtain during the centennial ceremony
Hey, at least the guy rappelling down the scoreboard to fix it looked pretty cool.