Category: Chicago, Illinois Local News

Game Time: Monday, February 2, 2026 at 8:30 PM ET
Location: United Center, Chicago
TV: ESPN+, NBC Sports Chicago, NBC Sports California
Spread: Blackhawks +1.5
Total: 6.5 goals

Alright Hawks fans, this is getting painful.

We’re 21-25-9, stuck in 13th place in the Western Conference, and on a FIVE-game losing streak. We just lost 4-2 at home to Columbus—a game we absolutely should have won—and now we’re hosting the San Jose Sharks, who are 27-22-4 and actually in the playoff hunt.

On paper, this looks like another L. San Jose is better than us. They score more goals. They’ve got Macklin Celebrini putting up 79 points and looking like a future star.

But we’re at home. We’ve got Connor Bedard. And we’re desperate to stop the bleeding.

This is a must-win game. Not “should win”—MUST WIN. Because if we lose six straight, the season is basically over.

Current Records: We’re Bad, They’re Mediocre (But Better)

Blackhawks: 21-25-9 (13th in West, on a 5-game losing streak)
Sharks: 27-22-4 (10th in West, lost last game but won 2 of last 5)

Let’s be brutally honest—both teams are outside the playoff picture right now. The Sharks are 10th in the West, we’re 13th. Neither of us is making noise in the standings.

But there’s a massive difference between “barely out of the playoffs” and “almost certainly not making it.”

San Jose is 27-22-4. That’s a .547 points percentage. They’re still in the hunt. They’ve got hope.

We’re 21-25-9. That’s a .464 points percentage. We’re not making the playoffs. This is a lost season, and we’re just trying to develop Connor Bedard and not totally embarrass ourselves.

Why We’re Slight Underdogs at Home (Which Hurts)

1. We’re On A Five-Game Losing Streak

Five straight losses. We can’t win right now. We’re making mistakes, we’re not scoring enough, and we’re finding ways to lose games we should win.

The Columbus loss at home was the final straw. We had that game and let it slip away.

2. San Jose Scores More Goals

They average 3.09 goals per game. We average 2.64. That’s nearly half a goal difference every single night.

In a league where games are often decided by one goal, that’s a huge advantage.

3. Macklin Celebrini Is Having A Ridiculous Season

Celebrini has 79 points (27 goals, 52 assists). He’s one of the best young players in hockey and is absolutely torching teams right now.

Against our defense? He’s going to feast.

4. They’re Better On Special Teams

San Jose has a 20.8% power play. We’re at 19.4%. Their power play is more dangerous.

Our penalty kill is better (85.4% vs their 78.0%), but if we’re taking penalties all night, that advantage disappears.

5. We’re Missing Key Players

Nick Foligno and Ty Dellandrea are both out. That’s two NHL-caliber forwards we’re missing. San Jose is relatively healthy.

Depth matters, especially in back-to-back situations or when guys are banged up.

Can The Blackhawks Actually Win This Game?

Let me try to find reasons to believe we don’t lose six straight:

1. Connor Bedard Is Connor Bedard

Bedard has 52 points (22 goals, 30 assists) and is the best thing to happen to this franchise in decades. When he’s on the ice, we have a chance.

If Bedard gets extended ice time, especially on the power play, he can take over this game. One shift, one play, and suddenly we’re up 2-0.

2. We’re At Home

The United Center crowd can still get into it when the Hawks are competing. If we jump out early and get the fans behind us, maybe—just maybe—that energy carries us.

3. Our Goaltending Has Been Decent

Spencer Knight has a 2.60 GAA and .909 save percentage. Those are respectable numbers for a goalie on a bad team.

If Knight can make 30+ saves and keep us in the game, Bedard just needs to create 2-3 goals and we’ve got a shot.

4. San Jose’s Goaltending Has Been Shaky

Yaroslav Askarov has a 3.47 GAA and .890 save percentage. That’s… not good. If we can generate shots and get quality chances, we can score on him.

5. We’re Desperate

We’ve lost five straight. Our season is slipping away. This is a game we HAVE to have.

Desperation can fuel great performances. Maybe tonight is when our guys finally show up.

The Connor Bedard vs Macklin Celebrini Showdown

This is the storyline everyone should be watching. Two generational young talents going head-to-head.

Connor Bedard: 52 points, 18 years old, already our best player. The future of the franchise.

Macklin Celebrini: 79 points, 19 years old, one of the league’s top scorers. The Sharks’ best player.

Whoever has the bigger night probably swings the result. If Bedard gets 2 goals and an assist, we win. If Celebrini dominates with 3+ points, San Jose pulls away.

This is appointment viewing for hockey fans. Two young stars who will define the next decade of the NHL.

Edge: Celebrini based on stats this season, but Bedard has that “take over the game” ability.

My Prediction: We Lose In Overtime

I want to believe we can win. We’re at home. We’ve got Bedard. We’re desperate.

But we’re on a five-game losing streak, and San Jose is just better than us right now.

Final Score: Sharks 4, Blackhawks 3 (OT)

We keep it close all night. Bedard scores. Knight makes big saves. But we give up a late goal to force overtime, and Celebrini ends it in the extra frame.

It’s a gutsy effort, but we extend the losing streak to six.

Betting Picks

Lean: Blackhawks +1.5 ✓
One and a half goals at home? I’ll take it. Even if we lose, we should keep it close.

Strong Lean: Over 6.5 ✓✓
Both teams can score. Neither defense is great. This goes over.

Avoid: Blackhawks Moneyline
We’re on a 5-game losing streak. I’m not confident enough to bet we win outright.

Player Prop: Connor Bedard Over 0.5 Points
Bedard always produces. He’ll get at least a point.

Keys To Ending The Losing Streak

For the Blackhawks to win:

• Connor Bedard with 2+ points
• Spencer Knight with 30+ saves
• Score first and get the crowd into it
• Win the special teams battle
• Get 25+ shots on goal

What extends the streak to six:

• Macklin Celebrini dominates (3+ points)
• We give up 4+ goals again
• Power play goes 0-for-4
• Defensive breakdowns lead to odd-man rushes
• We can’t score on Askarov despite his shaky numbers

The Honest Blackhawks Fan Take

Five straight losses. We’re 21-25-9 and basically out of the playoff race. The season is lost.

But we can’t lose six straight at home to a team we should be able to compete with. San Jose is better, but they’re not THAT much better.

Connor Bedard is special. Spencer Knight has been solid. If both show up tonight and our depth guys contribute even a little, we can win this game.

Can we? Absolutely. Will we? I’m not confident. But the losing streak has to end eventually, right?

Sharks 4, Blackhawks 3 (OT). We lose close, probably don’t cover, and the pain continues.

Go Hawks. Please end the losing streak. Give us something to cheer about.

Game Info Summary

• When: Monday, February 2, 2026 at 8:30 PM ET
• Where: United Center, Chicago
• TV: ESPN+, NBC Sports Chicago, NBC Sports California
• Records: Blackhawks 21-25-9, Sharks 27-22-4
• Spread: Blackhawks +1.5
• Total: 6.5 goals

Blackhawks’ struggles:

• 5-game losing streak
• 21-25-9 record (13th in West)
• Average 2.64 goals per game
• Missing Nick Foligno and Ty Dellandrea

Sharks’ advantages:

• 27-22-4 record (10th in West)
• Average 3.09 goals per game
• Macklin Celebrini with 79 points
• Won 2 of last 5 games

Key matchup: Connor Bedard (52 points) vs Macklin Celebrini (79 points)

Key stat: We’re 2-6-2 in last 10 games (awful)

Final picks:

• Blackhawks +1.5 (lean)
• Over 6.5 (strong lean)
• Connor Bedard Over 0.5 Points

Bottom line: We’re desperate to end the losing streak, but San Jose is better. Close loss likely.

Go Hawks. End the streak. Show some pride at home.

Chicago police were investigating after a possible arson Sunday night in Chatham on the South Side.

Officers responded to the apartment fire around 11:35 p.m. Sunday in the 8000 block of South Eberhart Avenue, police said.

No injuries or displacements were reported, officials said.

MIAMI – In a perfect world, Billy Donovan wouldn’t have to be concerned about up to seven of his players facing free agency in July and dwelling on the Feb. 5 trade deadline.

The Bulls coach knows that’s not reality, however.

And while Donovan said he addressed the team yet again on the topic before Sunday’s game with Miami, it didn’t look to stick. As a matter of fact, very little prep seemed to stick in the third game against the Heat in the last four nights and one of the more embarrassing showings of the season in the 134-91 loss.

“I do agree with you, guys have expiring contracts, but let’s just say you got guys on expiring contracts and Feb. 5 comes and goes, now what?” Donovan said of the situation. “You going to sit there and worry about July? The reality is these guys have prepared themselves throughout the summer to play. We’ve also had a lot of guys having the game taken away from them this year with injuries. They got to focus in on doing what they love doing, and as hard as that may be, that’s what we’ve got to do.

“It’s human nature to get distracted by things that you don’t have control over and for me to sit around and wonder what may or may not happen, I get all the situations those guys are in, but the best thing they can do in my opinion is help each other. To think that they’re going to block everything out, I know that’s not real, but we have to work to try and do that.”

It wasn’t done against the Heat, and that was seen right from the tip off for the Bulls (24-26).

Thanks to Andrew Wiggins, Miami was out to an 8-0 lead, and once the defense from the home team picked up in that opening quarter it was 34-13 after one. The Bulls played the Heat even in the second, but once again fell asleep in the third, outrebounded by Miami 18-7 in the stanza, including allowing five offensive rebounds.

“They definitely came into the game really physical,” Bulls center Nikola Vucevic said of the loss. “They took it to us. It didn’t help that we couldn’t make a shot and they got it going. We just couldn’t figure out a way to respond.

“They took us out of a lot of our stuff and obviously as the game went on they were playing really good basketball. Credit to them.”
Coby White led the Bulls with 16 points.

Pro influence

Waiving Jevon Carter to make room for Dario Saric wasn’t easy for anyone associated with the team, especially the younger guys that Carter was a mentor to.

“The way he worked was good for me to see, good for a lot of young guys to see,” forward Patrick Williams said of Carter. “He would always remind us of why we’re here. That’s to play the game that we love. Obviously, there are a lot of ups and downs that come with it, it’s a roller coaster for everybody. It’s always about how you get through it and that didn’t change for him.”

Air Yuki

Not only did Yuki Kawamura get his first real significant playing time in crunch time of an NBA game on Saturday, but won the first jump ball of his career. Not just his NBA career, but ever, according to the 5-foot-7 guard.

“No. Honestly, I won the jump ball and I was so happy,” Kawamura said. “It was the first win of a jump ball since I started basketball, yeah.”

The following is the transcript of the interview with Gary Cohn, IBM vice chairman and former director of the U.S. National Economic Council, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Feb. 1, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face the Nation. For an update now on the economy, we’re joined by Gary Cohn, who was the top economic advisor to President Trump during his first term in office. He is now the vice chairman of IBM. Good to have you back here.

GARY COHN, IBM VICE CHAIRMAN: Thanks for having me.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So the president has this editorial in The Wall Street Journal arguing all the economic success that we are seeing right now is due to his tariff policies. The legality of that, of some of those tariffs are being debated right now before the Supreme Court. How factual do you assess his argument to be?

COHN: Well, I think we need to take a step back. The economy is quite strong right now on top-line growth. So if you look at GDP, gross domestic product, which is the overall output of the U.S. economy, we’re trending about 5% right now, which is a very high growth rate in the United States, much higher than the baseline we’ve had for the last decade. So if you look at that number alone, and that’s a good number to look at, things are going well. The inflation rate has come down to the high 2%. It’s still higher than we’d like it. And the unemployment rate is ticking up, but it’s still in a reasonable place around 4, 4.5%. So overall, the economy is quite strong right now. That said, we’ve got an interesting economy right now. We’ve got this massive wealth effect at the top end. And we’ve got hardworking Americans who are having a very difficult time paying their bills, and they’re suffering in this economy. And I think the White House has acknowledged that they’re suffering. I think part of the reason the president wrote the op-ed was to try and get out in front of people who are having a hard time paying their bills and meeting their expenses. The White House is going on the offensive. The president is going to spend time out on the road talking about affordability. Affordability is going to be the issue.

MARGARET BRENNAN: He says it’s a hoax.

COHN: Well, I think affordability will be the issue between now and the midterm elections.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. And we know the chief of staff has said she wants the president out there talking about the economy. But you just mentioned what consumers are feeling. The White House says people will just feel better after tax time. You wrote that original tax law that was then just renewed and extended by Congress. But you are seeing companies like Amazon announce its cutting 16,000 corporate jobs. MasterCard cutting 4% of its 35,000-person workforce. UPS, 30,000 jobs gone. Dow, 4,500. Home Depot, 800. If everything’s trending in a positive direction, what is going on there?

COHN: So we did see over 60,000 additional layoffs come out of companies last week during the earnings season. It’s typically when companies talk about managing expenses. Companies today have two basic things going on. Number one, companies hoarded labor during and after COVID. When we were working from home and people were remote, productivity went down and companies were worried about getting the workloads done. So most companies end up hiring additional people or not letting anyone go. So workforces ballooned. And I think we’re now in the part of the cycle where corporate America is very comfortable about replacing people. They’re very comfortable about hiring people. So they’re downsizing their headcount from hoarding to sort of a more naturalized level. And I think a lot of those numbers that we saw this week being announced were companies rightsizing themselves. In addition to that, we have seen input costs for companies go up quite dramatically, whether it be labor cost, commodity costs or tariffs, as we agree. Someone has to pay the tariffs. So as companies are trying to balance their equation–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –The president says there’s no cost to it that’s going to hurt a company.

COHN: But he also says that there’s $200 billion plus sitting in an account of money they’ve collected. So the money’s being paid by someone. So the corporations are paying the money. They’re trying to figure out how to deal with input costs going up, tariffs going off, cost of labor going up, and not really having the ability to raise prices to the consumer because we’ve seen how tough it is for a lot of Americans to afford things today. So companies are walking that fine line between absorbing input costs and not being able to raise prices.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So the White House, as you said, they are aware they have a problem, even if they don’t want to explicitly say they have a problem politically because of that lower-end consumer. But when you look, one of the ideas being floated by the president is a one-year cap on credit card rates at 10% and somehow getting Congress to compel that. He signed an executive order to limit institutional investors from buying single-family homes. And then he’s floated this idea of $2,000 checks, which may or may not require Congress. What do you think about these consumer-focused parts of the plan? Are they viable?

COHN: Look, I think it’s admirable that they’re understanding that people are cash trapped today. They’re stuck with not enough disposable income. So I think the White House is throwing out ideas that will put more disposable income back in consumers’ hands–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –These are not ideas you would have endorsed when you were in that advisor role–

COHN: –Unfortunately, unfortunately, those ideas probably don’t solve the problem. In fact, the credit card rates probably have the opposite effect. So credit card companies charge people a risk-adjusted rate to lend them money. Obviously, worst credits, people that have the highest probability of defaulting pay the highest rates. If you put a cap on rates that can be charged, what do companies do? They actually stop lending to the riskiest part of the population. And so their consumers will lose purchasing power, not gain purchasing power. You know, on the housing side, the one thing I remind people is the institutional accumulation of housing happened after the ’08 financial crisis. When we had a massive glut of houses in the United States, prices were plummeting. So the financial markets stepped in and they put a support underneath the housing market. And we can’t forget how important these financial players are in times of stress.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we should also say you worked for Goldman Sachs and were president there for a very long time, including during that financial crisis. But let’s not relitigate some of that, but talk about someone you got to know during that time. That was Kevin Warsh, who was a Fed governor and is now President Trump’s pick to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. He’s called for all sorts of reforms of the Fed. What do you expect from him in office?

COHN: So, look, I think we’re very fortunate to have Kevin to be the nominee. Kevin has a unique background coming in as the chair. As you said, he was a member of the Fed board before. He was there during the 2008 financial crisis. He was instrumental in that crisis. What I mean by that is when banks were going through stress, and we saw a lot of bank mergers, we saw a lot of assets being moved around the system, Kevin was the point person at the Fed. He was involved in every one of those discussions. And I truly believe without Kevin’s expertise and without Kevin being there, we would not have come out of the 2008 crisis as well as we have. So he’s very highly qualified. He’s going to take the Fed back to its traditional sort of norms. You know, I think Kevin’s going to stay out of a lot of the non-financial issues. He’s going to be involved, obviously, in setting interest rate policy. There is a pressure right now for interest rates to go lower. I think that he will probably follow through on the one to two cuts this year. Kevin also has a view that the Fed should not have the large balance sheet. You know, the Fed went in and bought enormous amount of securities–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –Quantitative easing (inaudible)

COHN: I think that Kevin will reverse that. I think he will be looking for the Fed to sell down their balance sheet. And on the regulatory front, I think Kevin is a, is a traditionalist believing that we need strong regulation in the United States, but it has to be regulation that works and allows the market to grow and allows the consumer to have access to capital. So I think he is actually the completely right choice in this period of time. And on Friday, when his nomination came out, the markets spoke.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

COHN: And I think you have to look at what the markets tell you because they’re real-time feedback indicators.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

COHN: So we saw the dollar strengthen by about 1%. We saw silver drop by 25%. We saw gold drop by 10%–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –The president also spoke last night at a dinner and said he’s going to sue Warsh if he doesn’t lower interest rates. You take that as a joke?

COHN: Yes, I take it as a joke. Look, I think the president completely understands the independence of the Fed. Kevin has been a staunch advocate for independence of the Fed.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, he’s got a confirmation process to go through, and we will see if Thom Tillis’s request for the Department of Justice’s probe into the current Fed chair stands in the way of actually getting him through. But we’ll track that. Gary Cohn, always good to have you here.

COHN: Thanks for having me.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll be right back.