Chicago Blackhawks at New York Islanders | Thursday, October 8, 2026 | 7:30 PM ET / 6:30 PM CT | UBS Arena, Elmont, New York | ESPN+, MSGSN
I’ll take the relief. After three straight losses to open the season, the Blackhawks finally beat somebody on Tuesday, 4-2 over St. Louis in a sold-out United Center with Patrick Kane getting his ovation. I picked the Blues in that one and was wrong, and I’m thrilled to have been.
Now the harder test: win in someone else’s building, short a forward, against a team that’s hurting too. This is the last road game for Chicago until October 29, so it’s a good moment to see what the 1-3 Blackhawks really are.
Game Info: Blackhawks at Islanders
- Date: Thursday, October 8, 2026
- Puck drop: 7:30 PM ET / 6:30 PM CT
- Venue: UBS Arena, Belmont Park, Elmont, New York
- Broadcast: ESPN+ and MSGSN (Islanders’ local feed) are confirmed; Blackhawks games this season have been on CHSN and WGN-720 AM, so check your local listings
- Records: Blackhawks 1-3-0; Islanders 1-2-0
- Odds: Islanders favored, roughly -185 to -195 on the moneyline with Chicago around +145 to +152, and a total around 5.5 (books differ, so check before puck drop)
What Actually Went Right Against the Blues
Four players scored for the first time this season: Sam Rinzel (on the power play, Chicago’s first of the year), Anton Frondell, Cole Smith (into an empty net) and Frank Nazar (also empty net). Frondell and Nazar each had a goal and an assist, and eight different Blackhawks recorded a point. Spencer Knight stopped 26 of 28.
The part that matters more to me than the score: Chicago allowed only 28 shots and won the expected-goals battle for the first time this season. Jeff Blashill praised the team’s gap control, early play endings and forward reloads, calling it “much more how we want to play.” That’s a structure result, not a lucky bounce, and structure is what had been missing.
Kane, for what it’s worth, had no points in about 21 minutes with two shots. The emotional night belonged to the building; the win belonged to the kids.
The Teravainen Problem
Teuvo Teravainen left in the second period with an apparent lower-body injury and didn’t return. Blashill said he won’t travel to New York, and the team expects to know more in the next couple of days. Reports vary on whether it’s an ankle or a knee, so I’m not guessing.
This is a bigger deal than it sounds. With Connor Bedard still out after July shoulder surgery and Andrew Mangiapane week-to-week with a lower-body injury, Chicago had only 11 healthy forwards after Teravainen went down. The Blackhawks can either dress seven defensemen or bring up a forward. Check the lineup after the morning skate, because that decision shapes who plays with Kane and Frondell.
The Islanders Are Banged Up Too
New York lost 5-2 at the Rangers on Tuesday, in a game where Alexis Lafrenière scored a hat trick (two of them into an empty net). It wasn’t a blowout until the empty-netters: Bo Horvat scored on the power play, Calum Ritchie got his first of the year, and the Islanders hit three posts.
The injury picture is rough:
- Alexander Romanov tore his right ACL in the third period against the Rangers, needs surgery and is out six to eight months.
- Mathew Barzal has been out with a lower-body injury since the home opener. Reports have him resuming skating around Thursday or Friday, with a return perhaps not before October 10 or 13. I wouldn’t expect him tonight.
- The likely blue-line fix puts Scott Mayfield back in, with Matthew Schaefer moving to the left side next to Ryan Pulock.
On the other side, there’s a lot to respect. The Islanders opened their home schedule with a 6-0 win over New Jersey on October 3, with Ilya Sorokin making 37 saves. Semyon Varlamov, returning from partial knee replacements on both knees, made 19 saves on 22 shots against the Rangers in his first NHL game in 676 days. Which goalie starts tonight isn’t confirmed in anything I found, so I’m not going to pretend I know.
The Matchups I’m Watching
Chicago’s penalty kill vs. the Islanders’ power play. The Blackhawks’ kill sits at 63.6% so far, while the Islanders’ power play is 18.2%, per one stats page. Four games is a tiny sample, but if Chicago takes the same number of penalties tonight that it has all week, those numbers will matter. Discipline is the cheapest way to improve this team.
Gap control on the road. Blashill’s praise on Tuesday was about defensive structure. The Blackhawks are allowing 4.25 goals per game, the Islanders allow 2.33, and the Islanders score 3.00 to Chicago’s 2.25. Our defensive details held up against the Blues. They need to hold up on the road, where last season’s version of this team was outscored 3.41 to 2.59 per game.
Frondell vs. Eklund. Anton Frondell and Islanders forward Victor Eklund played together in Djurgården’s system and for Sweden at the 2026 World Juniors. This is their first NHL meeting, and it’s a fun subplot for a young Blackhawks core that needs good stories right now.
History is a coin flip. The teams split last season’s series, including a 3-2 shootout win for the Islanders. Nothing from the summer roster changes makes me think this one will be lopsided.
What Actually Decides Tonight
If the Blackhawks keep playing like they did Tuesday, a close game is realistic. But they’re short a forward, they’re on the road, and the Islanders have the better defensive record and a motivated, if wounded, lineup. New York was also 27-11-5 in one-goal games last season by one analysis, which tells you they know how to finish tight ones.
I want to pick the Blackhawks because the first win breaks a spell, and because Knight, Frondell and Nazar all looked like they were figuring it out. But the market favors the Islanders and I understand why. I’ll say it ends one goal short, with a better effort than any game on the opening road trip.
Final Score Prediction: New York Islanders 3, Chicago Blackhawks 2
Unfortunately, this is is how it will go most likely.
The post Blackhawks vs. Islanders Game Today October 8th: First Win in the Bank, Now Can Chicago Stack a Second Without Teravainen? appeared first on UrbanMatter.
