Nashville Predators (26–15–3) vs Chicago Blackhawks (16–22–7)
7:00pm CST
United Center
TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN
PROJECTED STARTERS
Chicago – Collin Delia (3–1–1, SV%: .947, GAA: 2.19)
Nashville – Pekka Rinne (16–10–2, SV%: .921, GAA: 2.23)
TEAM STATISTICS
Power Play
Chicago (16.2%, 24th)
Nashville (15.1%, 26th)
Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.9%, 30st)
Nashville (82.0%, 10th)
Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.5, 19th; 34.8, 30th)
Nashville (32.5, 11th; 28.5, 3rd)
Shooting %
Chicago (9.2%, 18th)
Nashville (9.4%, 17th)
Faceoff %
Chicago (49.7%, 18th)
Nashville (51.6%, 8th)
Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
Nashville 6’0” 198lbs
PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS
Chicago Blackhawks
Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Dominik Kahun
Artem Anisimov–Dylan Strome–Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat–David Kampf–Brendan Perlini
John Hayden–Marcus Kruger–Drake Caggiula
Erik Gustafsson–Brent Seabrook
Nashville Predators
Calle Jarnkrok–Ryan Johansen–Viktor Arvidsson
Kevin Fiala–Colton Sissons–Craig Smith
Ryan Hartman–Nick Bonino–Austin Watson
Filip Forsberg–Frederick Gaudreau–Rocco Grimaldi
Analysis
The Blackhawks welcome division rivals, the Nashville Predators to the United Center tonight following a narrow loss to the Pacific Division leading Calgary Flames.
Nashville is always a tough opponent for the Blackhawks and come into this game well rested, after a Monday night shutout of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto. They held the high-flying Leafs to only 18 shots on net, which is pretty impressive.
They also welcomed back forward Filip Forsberg, who had missed 17 games and are right on the heels of the division leading Winnipeg Jets, who are leading by just a single standings point.
The Blackhawks have proven to be much harder opponents since defenseman Connor Murphy returned to the lineup and they expect to see Henri Jokiharju return soon, following his gold medal win at the IIHF World Junior Championships with his native Finland. This could prove to be the end for Brandon Davidson‘s time with the Blackhawks even though he played adequately in his two games back from knee surgery.
Brent Seabrook skipped morning skate with an illness so his status will be decided in pregame warm-ups.