Welcome to the “easier” part of the schedule, Blackhawks fans! After losing their last two games to the Panthers and Lightning — reminder: the Eastern Conference representatives in the last four Stanley Cup Finals — Chicago now gets to head to Nashville to face a Predators team that’s in a state of who-knows-what. Former coach Barry Trotz is now the general manager and he’s trying to course correct in a hurry. And it’s making the on-ice product tough to watch.
The Preds have lost their last four and are tied with the Hawks for last in the Central — and the Blackhawks have one game in-hand. But if we’ve learned anything from this Blackhawks team, it’s that they cannot afford to take any team for granted. Nashville will be hungry, just like the Lightning were on Thursday night. But this is absolutely an opportunity for the Hawks to put together a strong performance.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 1:00 PM CT
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Radio: WGN 720 AM
Expected Lineups
Chicago Blackhawks
Nick Foligno — Connor Bedard — Philipp Kurashev
*Taylor Hall* — Lukas Reichel — Taylor Raddysh
Tyler Johnson — Jason Dickinson — Corey Perry
Ryan Donato — MacKenzie Entwistle — Reese Johnson
Alex Vlasic — Seth Jones
Kevin Korchinski — Connor Murphy
Wyatt Kaiser — Isaak Phillips
🥅 Arvid Söderblom
Nashville Predators
Filip Forsberg – Ryan O’Reilly – Gustav Nyquist
Keifer Sherwood – Cody Glass – Luke Evangelista
Yakov Trenin – Juuso Pärssinen – Colton Sissons
Liam Foudy – Michael McCarron – Cole Smith
Roman Josi – Dante Fabbro
Jérémy Lauzon – Alex Carrier
Spencer Stastney – Tyson Barrie
🥅 Kevin Lankinen
Injury Report
Chicago Blackhawks
- The Blackhawks will be without forward Andreas Athanasiou (not yet on IR). Forward Colin Blackwell (lower body) and defenseman Jarred Tinordi (oblique) are on IR. Defenseman Nikita Zaitsev (personal reasons) was placed on non-roster (personal) on Thursday morning.
Nashville Predators
- Thomas Novak and Luke Schenn are on IR.
What to Watch For
- Taylor Hall will take the pre-game skate and see if he’s good to go. He is a game-time decision.
- Nashville ranks 30th in the NHL in penalty killing. The Blackhawks got a power play goal from Reichel against Tampa on Thursday night; the Bolts rank 10th in the league. Maybe getting an advantage could pay off?
- Can we please get more Korchinski on the top power play unit?
- Nashville allows 3.47 goals per game, which is tied for 22nd in the league. The Blackhawks allow 3.5, right behind them. The Preds are 21st in goals for; the Blackhawks are 28th. So this game could be high scoring or… not.