Less than 24 hours after working their way back into a playoff spot, the Nashville Predators will try for two more points this afternoon when they face the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2 p.m. CT puck drop at United Center. Today’s contest is the fourth and final meeting between the division rivals this season; the Preds have a pair of wins against the Hawks thus far.
Nashville won its third straight game when it beat the Vegas Golden Knights by a 4-1 final yesterday afternoon, and those recent results have given them the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
Now, they’ll emphasize a better start than they had yesterday as they look for another victory in Chicago.
“A good start would be the first major thing,” Preds Alternate Captain Ryan O’Reilly said following yesterday’s win. “We don't get ahead of ourselves. We should be a little disappointed, a little embarrassed about our start, and respond tomorrow. It's not going to be an easy game by any means. We have to kind of get right to our game.”
“It’s just the belief of the guys in this room, and that's all that matters,” Preds Alternate Captain Steven Stamkos said yesterday. “The coaching staff has a belief, the players have a belief, and it's not always going to be pretty. We understand at this time of the year, points are more important than how good the game looks, but you want to build, and we have. We've put a decent stretch together here the past six, seven games and collecting points. It's there for the taking. We play some teams that we're battling right with here coming up, so every game is big.”
Goaltender Juuse Saros (upper body, day-to-day) remained out of the Nashville lineup on Saturday. Matt Murray backed up Justus Annunen. Forward Joakim Kemell was the lone healthy scratch for the Preds against Vegas.
The Good Guys:
Stamkos tallied twice, while O’Reily and Jost also found the back of the net for the Preds on Saturday. Annunen made his second straight start and allowed just one goal on 40 shots against Vegas.
O’Reilly has 24 goals and leads the Preds with 64 points, followed by Filip Forsberg with 30 goals and 59 points. Stamkos has 33 goals and 55 points on the season, while Luke Evangelista has 39 assists and 48 points. Roman Josi has 11 goals and 46 points from the blueline. Annunen is now 8-9-2 in net for Nashville.
The Opposition:
The Blackhawks are out of the playoff picture and have lost three of their last four outings, including a 4-1 loss to Colorado on Friday. Connor Bedard leads Chicago with 28 goals and 65 points, while Tyler Bertuzzi also has 28 goals and 49 points. Goaltender Spencer Knight is 18-19-9 in net; Arvid Soderblom is 6-11-3.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 74-53-(4)-12 all-time against the Blackhawks, including a 33-29-(1)-9 mark on the road. Nashville is 8-2-0 in the last 10 versus Chicago and 4-1-0 in the last five at United Center.
The Predators have earned at least a point in 32 of their last 38 games against the Blackhawks (28-6-4), holding Chicago to two-or-fewer goals 30 times in that span. Nashville recorded a 16-game point streak against Chicago from Jan. 9, 2020-March 4, 2023 (13-0-3), tied for its longest point streak against a single opponent in franchise history (16 GP vs. Columbus from Nov. 15, 2006-March 28, 2008). The Predators and Blackhawks have played against each other 143 times, Nashville’s most against any single franchise.
Nashville Notables:
After sitting 32nd in the NHL standings on Dec. 8, the Predators enter Sunday’s game occupying the Western Conference’s second Wild Card position with 73 points (32-28-9). Since Dec. 9, Nashville has gone 22-14-5 (49 points), the fifth-highest point percentage (.598) in the Western Conference.
Steven Stamkos tallied his 238th career power-play goal in the second period yesterday, moving past Brendan Shanahan (237) for seventh place on the NHL’s all-time list. It was also Stamkos’ 101st career game-winning goal, tying Jarome Iginla for 10th place on the NHL’s all-time list
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for today’s contest begins at 1:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and Chris Mason will have the call on the television side. Max Herz and Hal Gill will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network.
