Blackhawks vs Penguins: Live Score, Highlights & How to Watch Tonight’s High-Stakes NHL Showdown

The Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins collide tonight, January 29 2026, at 7 p.m. ET inside PPG Paints Arena in a nationally televised showdown on CHSN and Sportsnet Pittsburgh, with streaming available on ESPN+ for out-of-market viewers. Both clubs enter the contest hungry for points—Pittsburgh (26-14-11, 63 pts) sits just six back of first place in the Metropolitan Division, while Chicago (21-23-9, 51 pts) looks to stay in the Western Conference wild-card chase. Bedard vs. Crosby headline • Rookie phenom Connor Bedard (44 pts) skates on Chicago’s top line between Frank Nazar and Teuvo Teravainen, matching up directly against Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (55 pts), who centers Rickard Rakell and recent call-up Justin Brazeau. • Bedard recorded an assist in Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout loss in Minnesota, while Crosby has points in seven of his past eight outings. Key storylines 1. No Bryan Rust: Pittsburgh’s first-line winger starts a three-game suspension for an illegal check versus Vancouver, forcing coach Mike Sullivan to juggle his forward mix. 2. Goalie duel: Arvid Soderblom (CHI) opposes Arturs Silovs (PIT); Soderblom owns a .912 save percentage over his last five starts, whereas Silovs is 6-1-1 since mid-December. 3. Special teams: Pittsburgh’s power play has climbed to 7th in the NHL (24.1 %), while Chicago’s penalty kill ranks 30th (73.4 %), a mismatch that could decide the game. Projected lineups Blackhawks: Nazar – Bedard – Teravainen Greene – Moore – Burakovsky Bertuzzi – Dickinson – Mikheyev Donato – Foligno – Colton Dach Vlasic–Crevier | Kaiser–Levshunov | Grzelcyk–Murphy Soderblom; Knight Penguins: Rakell – Crosby – Brazeau Chinakhov – Novak – Malkin McGroarty – Kindel – Mantha Dewar – Lizotte – Acciari Wotherspoon–Karlsson | Kulak–Letang | Solovyov–Shea Silovs; Skinner Why it matters for the standings • A Chicago win would pull the Hawks within three points of the final West wild card. • Two points for Pittsburgh keep pressure on Carolina atop the Metro and give the Pens a six-game home winning streak. How to watch live Television: CHSN (Chicago market), SN-PIT (Pittsburgh), SNO/SNE/TVAS (Canada). Streaming: ESPN+ (U.S. outside local markets), Sportsnet Now (Canada), NHL EDGE international package. Search-friendly takeaways – “Blackhawks vs Penguins start time” 7 p.m. ET tonight – “Blackhawks vs Penguins live stream” available on ESPN+ and Sportsnet Now – “Connor Bedard vs Sidney Crosby first NHL meeting in Pittsburgh” Expect an electric atmosphere as the league’s brightest rookie tests himself against a future Hall of Famer in a game with real playoff implications.