Game Day: Blackhawks vs. Preds Preview

The next two installments of the Predators and Blackhawks rivalry are set to take place over the next 48 hours, and the 118th all-time meeting between the two comes tonight at Bridgestone Arena.
Chicago and Nashville are two of the only three traditional Central Division representatives who remained in the temporary edition of the Central this season, and they'll face one another eight times in the 56-game 2020-21 season. The Predators haven't faced any other NHL team more than the Blackhawks in franchise history.
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The Preds are coming off a pair of losses in Dallas over the weekend - a 7-0 result on Friday night that preceded a 3-2 defeat on Sunday at American Airlines Center. Nashville gave up a total of eight power-play goals over those two games and scored just once on nine attempts of their own on the man advantage.
Improving their special-teams play is a priority for the Predators, as they begin their back-to-back set with the Hawks, and while there were still positives to build from in Dallas, Nashville knows they have to be better in all areas to find success against Chicago.

"You have to trust the process, but it's a fine line between being positive and staying with it, but also being honest with yourself," Preds Captain Roman Josi said Monday. "We want to hold our team to high expectations, to a high standard, and we've got to meet that standard. Otherwise, we've got to hold each other accountable. It's early in the year, and honestly, through the first five games, there's a lot of things we did well. There's also a lot of things that we can do better, and we definitely need to work on things, but you've got to stick to the plan. Sometimes, things in hockey, you can't always control the outcome. Sometimes things don't go your way, sometimes they do. I think as long as you keep doing the right things, keep sticking to the plan every day, you're going to find more success than not."

The Predators held off-ice workouts and team meetings on Monday at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville recalled goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo to their taxi squad on Monday after the NHL and NHLPA announced Predators netminder Connor Ingram would be voluntarily taking part in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. Each NHL team is required to carry a goaltender on their taxi squad this season.
Nashville also placed defenseman Luca Sbisa on Injured Reserve with an upper-body injury. Sbisa made his Preds debut on Sunday night in Dallas and dished out three hits in 11:58 of ice time.

The Good Guys:
Filip Forsberg and Mikael Granlund tallied for the Predators in Sunday's 3-2 loss to the Stars, while goaltender Juuse Saros made 19 saves on the night. Forsberg's goal came on the power play and was his fourth of the season, a mark that continues to lead the team.
Viktor Arvidsson paces the Preds in overall scoring with five points (1g-4a), followed by Forsberg with four points (4g). Six Predators players - Luke Kunin (2g), Brad Richardson (1g-1a), Rocco Grimaldi (1g-1a), Matt Duchene (2a), Ryan Johansen (2a) and Dante Fabbro (2a) - have two points apiece.
The Opposition:
The Blackhawks (2-3-1) picked up their first two wins of the season in their last two games - both against Detroit - including a 6-2 victory over the Red Wings on Sunday.
Patrick Kane leads Chicago with seven points (3g-4a), followed by Alex DeBrincat with six points (2g-4a) and then Connor Murphy (2g-3a) and Duncan Keith (5a) with five points each. Both Malcom Subban and Collin Delia were winless in their starts, but goaltender Kevin Lankinen is 2-0-0 in net for the Hawks.
However, the Blackhawks will be without DeBrincat and Adam Boqvist in Nashville as they were both added to the NHL's COVID protocol list on Monday afternoon.
All-Time Meetings:
The Predators are 53-50-(4)-10 all-time against the Blackhawks, including a 30-22-(3)-3 record at Bridgestone Arena. The Preds have earned at least a point in nine of their last 12 games against the Blackhawks (7-3-2). Nashville has limited Chicago to two-or-fewer goals in 10 of their last 12 meetings.
Nashville and Chicago split their four-game, regular-season series in 2019-20, with the Preds outscoring the Blackhawks by a combined score of 8-2 in their two victories. On Jan. 9, 2020, the Preds defeated Chicago, 5-2, at the United Center in a game that featured goaltender Pekka Rinne's first career goal.
Notables Versus Chicago:
Ryan Johansen has 22 points (5g-17a), including six multi-point games, in 33 career regular-season meetings with the Blackhawks. Mattias Ekholm has a goal and five assists in his last eight games versus the Blackhawks. He's recorded 12 points (2g-10a) and a +12 rating in 29 career games against Chicago.
Viktor Arvidsson has scored in three of his last six contests against Chicago, including his record-breaking 34th goal of the 2018-19 season on April 6, 2019, the most in a single season in Preds history. Rocco Grimaldi has tallied four assists in his last four games versus the Blackhawks.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for tonight's 7 p.m. CT puck drop from Nashville begins on FOX Sports Tennessee at 6:30 p.m. CT with the Predators Live! pregame show hosted by Lyndsay Rowley and Terry Crisp. Willy Daunic, Chris Mason and Kara Hammer have the call on the television side, while Pete Weber and Hal Gill will broadcast on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network. Pregame coverage on the radio begins at 6 p.m. with Darren McFarland. For broadcast information and channel locations throughout the country,
click here
.
Streaming Info:
Listen to a Live Radio Feed
(only active during the game broadcast window).
Watch a Live Stream of the game
on the Fox Sports Go App or
Watch on NHL.TV