The Chicago Blackhawks get their home opener on Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues, and they are still looking for their first win after opening the 2026-27 season 0-3. After three straight road losses to Vegas, Utah and Buffalo, Chicago finally gets back to the United Center with a chance to change the tone before the schedule tightens again.
That is why Blues vs Blackhawks is drawing attention now. The Blues have split their first two games, which makes them look like a manageable first win on paper, but Jordan Binnington does not give Chicago much comfort. He is 11-3-1 against the Blackhawks in his career, a record that turns a seemingly simple home opener into a test of whether the early skid can actually be stopped.
There is also some evidence on the other side of the matchup that keeps the comparison from being too neat. The Blues opened by shutting out the Dallas Stars, then were blown out by the Colorado Avalanche in their second game, so they arrive in Chicago with a split that says more about volatility than control. For the Blackhawks, that matters because they need a game that lets the offense and the result line up at the same time. Through three games, that has not happened.
The concern is not just Tuesday. After Thursday’s game on Long Island, Chicago will play seven straight home games, which means the first one carries more weight than a typical early-season date. If the Blackhawks cannot turn their home opener into a win, the search for that first victory stretches deeper into the home stand, and the pressure shifts from the road trip that just ended to the run of home games that is supposed to rescue the start.
Thursday’s stop on Long Island brings another layer to the stretch, with the New York Islanders at 1-1-0 and Ilya Sorokin sitting at a 4-2-1 career record against Chicago. He has allowed two goals and posted a 1.10 GAA before his next start, while Semyon Varlamov has not played yet this season and owns a 15-6-4 record against the Blackhawks. For Chicago, that means the opener is not only the first chance to end the skid. It is the moment when a difficult start either begins to loosen or starts to feel like the shape of the season.
