Chicago Blackhawks: Looking to end the season on a high note
Saturday: @ the Nashville Predators
The Chicago Blackhawks are closing out the 2018-19 season on the road. They will be playing the Nashville Predators at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. This game could be of extreme importance to Nashville as they are still in a tight race with the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets for the Central Division crown. Whichever two of those three doesn’t win the division will be forced to play each other in the first round, so you would think that they all value winning that division deeply.
The Blackhawks will have a say in the division winner. There will be some Blues and Jets fans hardcore rooting for Chicago on Saturday night. It is fun to play spoiler this time of year, especially when you barely are out of the playoff picture and the chances at a high draft pick are very slim regardless. The players on this team would take great pleasure in making the rival Predators road to the Stanley Cup more difficult.
The Predators are an elite team of course but they don’t have that one MVP level superstar scorer that some of the other elite teams do. Ryan Johansen leads them in scoring with only 64 points. 64 is a good number but most teams of Nashville’s stature have guys with more than that. For example, the Blackhawks are in the last place in their division and Johansen would be fourth on the team in scoring with those numbers. Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Alex DeBrincat all have more.
That is what might make the Predators so good though. They have a real strong attack from top to bottom of their lineup. They also have one of if not the best defense core in the entire NHL. Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm are the best top four in the league. That is another reason why this team is so special. They help out their goaltender, who you also may have heard of, named Pekka Rinne. Rinne has been an elite goalie for his entire career and he is still looking for that ever elusive Stanley Cup.
The Blackhawks will look to give them one more tough hurdle to climb before they start the dance. The starting goaltender is a true mystery because you would assume that the Hawks start Corey Crawford on Friday night with Dallas in town but will he get a back to back start? That is usually rare but it is possible because of all the time he has missed this season and last. It really might be good for him to get some good hard minutes before the offseason begins.
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Beyond the end of the season, we will have lots of coverage of the draft and free agency here. The Draft Lottery is on Tuesday, April 9th at 7 pm on NBCSN. The Blackhawks will learn the fate of their first round pick along with the other 15 teams that did not qualify for the postseason. Until then, stick with your team through thick and thin and enjoy the last bit of Blackhawks hockey until the fall.