Game Day: Blackhawks vs. Preds Preview

The Nashville Predators are set to ring in 2022 this afternoon as they host the Chicago Blackhawks at Bridgestone Arena with a 1 p.m. CT puck drop on this New Year's Day.
This afternoon's contest is the third of four meetings between the division rivals this season; the Preds and Hawks have met twice already in Chicago with each team prevailing once in overtime, including a 3-2 victory for the Predators last month.

After exiting the holiday break on a seven-game win streak, the Predators dropped a pair of contests on a back-to-back set to close out 2021 - a 5-3 loss in Washington on Wednesday followed by a 4-3 defeat in a shootout at Columbus on Thursday. Despite those results, however, the Predators haven't been discouraged by their play, and they'll look to start the new year by getting back in the win column today.
"When you talk about identity and you watch tonight's game, by probably every statistical measure, we certainly deserved to win," Predators Head Coach Hynes said following Thursday's loss. "Now, we didn't find a way to do it, and as I said, I think you look at the competitiveness, guys battling in the overtime to kill the penalty, a back-to-back coming off the long break versus a rested team… When you look at [our] team, the last two games, [the identity is] clearly there. I really appreciate the way that the guys are working. We got one point, should have gotten two tonight, so we've got to keep going. We've got a huge game against Chicago on Saturday, and we'll just continue to move forward… The most important thing you've got to remember in this - you may not win every game, but you don't want to lose your identity, and our identity is there."
Prior to Thursday's game, the Preds recalled forward Matt Luff from the taxi squad and reassigned forward Mathieu Olivier to the taxi squad.
Captain Roman Josi, as well as forwards Colton Sissons and Tommy Novak, all spent their second straight game on the COVID protocol list on Thursday.

The Good Guys:

Michael McCarron, Nick Cousins and Ryan Johansen all tallied in regulation for the Predators on Thursday night, while David Rittich took the loss in net. McCarron's goal was his first as a member of the Preds, and Matt Duchene assisted on the goals from Cousins and Johansen.
Josi is Nashville's leading point-getter, but Mikael Granlund is right behind with 24 assists and 29 points, followed by Duchene with 13 goals and 27 points. Johansen has nine goals and 25 points on the season, while Filip Forsberg has 14 goals and 23 points in 23 games. Goaltender Juuse Saros is 15-9-1 in net with a .923 save percentage.

The Opposition:

The Blackhawks have not played since Dec. 18, a 4-3 overtime loss in Dallas. The Blackhawks (11-15-4) have lost two straight games in OT, including that result against the Preds on Dec. 17. Patrick Kane (7g-18a) leads the team with 25 points, followed by Alex DeBrincat (17g-6a) with 23 points and former Preds defenseman Seth Jones (3g-20a) with 23 points. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is 9-10-1 in his first season in Chicago.

All-Time Meetings:

The Predators are 61-50-(4)-12 all-time against the Blackhawks, including a 34-22-(3)-3 record at Bridgestone Arena. The Preds have earned at least a point in 19 of their last 22 games against the Blackhawks (15-3-4), holding Chicago to two-or-fewer goals 19 times in that span.
The Predators went 7-0-1 vs. the Blackhawks in 2020-21, their most wins against Chicago in a single-season in team history. Nashville out-scored Chicago 25-14 last season, allowing two-or-fewer goals in seven of those contests. The team's seven wins against Chicago in 2020-21 were its most vs. a single opponent in a season since 2007-08 (seven vs. Columbus); it also was the fifth time in Preds history they won at least seven games against an opponent in a single season.
Nashville is currently on a 12-game point streak against Chicago (9-0-3). This will be the 128th time the Predators and Blackhawks clash in the regular season, Nashville's most games played against a single opponent.

Notables Versus Chicago:

Mikael Granlund has 30 points (8g-22a) in 40 career contests vs. the Blackhawks. Mattias Ekholm has two goals and eight assists in his last 18 games vs. the Blackhawks. He's recorded 16 points (3g-13a) and a +19 rating in 37 career games against Chicago.
Ryan Johansen has 26 points (7g-19a), including six multi-point games, in 42 career regular-season meetings with the Blackhawks. Luke Kunin posted eight points (4g-4a) in eight games against Chicago in the 2020-21 season.
Juuse Saros is 6-2-2 with a 2.17 goals-against average, .927 save percentage and one shutout in 11 career appearances vs. the Blackhawks.

Watch & Listen:

Coverage for today's 1 p.m. CT puck drop from Nashville begins at 12:30 p.m. CT with the Predators Live! pregame show on Bally Sports South 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 5 p.m. with Darren McFarland. For broadcast information and channel locations throughout the country, click here.