The Chicago Blackhawks have a late start for their matchup against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night at the United Center. The contest won’t start between the lowly Blackhawks (16-31-5) and Oilers (33-16-4) until 8:30 p.

The Oilers are in the second half of a back-to-back as they visited the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night. After a rough start to the 2024-25 season, Edmonton has righted the ship and rocketed up the standings. They come into Wednesday first in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Blackhawks are at the bottom of the Central Division at 16-31-5, the second-worst mark in the Western Conference. Edmonton is in a much better spot as it holds the lead in the Pacific Division and is looking to complete a sweep on a back-to-back that started with a 3-2 overtime win over the Blues in St. Louis to get to 33-16-4.

For the Blackhawks, a matchup with the Oilers can hopefully provide a blueprint. They've done the easy part: losing a bunch of games and drafting their new face of the franchise. Now comes the hard part: turning that into wins. It took the Oilers a long time, but they got there. How can Chicago get there?