Blackhawks: A chance to redeem themselves in Nashville

The Chicago Blackhawks played a mess of a game the last time they were in Nashville, and tonight is a chance to redeem themselves.

The Chicago Blackhawks were in a bad way after their last visit to the music city. The Nashville Predators smoked them and the 3-0 score doesn’t really tell the story about how bad the Hawks were in that game. They outshot them 51-20 and that is just unacceptable hockey to be played by a team of the Blackhawks caliber. They are not a Stanley Cup contender by any means but in no way should they be dominated like an AHL team like they were the last time they were in Nashville.

The Blackhawks have a chance to redeem themselves tonight against the Predators when they visit them. They are on a bit of a hot streak as they’ve won three of their last four games. They have a long way to go before being officially back in the race but they are on their way. If they can get a big win here in Nashville that could go a long way for their confidence.

The Blackhawks have been impressive in their last few games and it has to do with the play of Patrick Kane. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the team relies heavily on Kane to win and he has been getting the job done lately. He is on a seven-game point streak right now and there has been a lot of winning that has gone with it. In those seven games, he has six goals and eight assists for fourteen points. The change of pace has been a major factor in Kane’s elevated game lately. He has also been elevated since being placed on a line with Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome. Those three make magic on the ice and they hope it continues in Nashville.

After a solid win against the Vegas Golden Knights, this is a chance to get another big win against a Western Conference power. Nashville is a team that scores by committee, they have an awesome defense, and gets great goaltending. They are one of the most complete teams in the National Hockey League and if things go their way it would surprise nobody if they were competing for the Stanley Cup in June.

They have a new addition this year in Matt Duchene to lead their group of forwards. He currently leads all forwards on the Predators with 15 points. What makes Nashville so strong, however, is their great defense. Even after trading P.K. Subban to the New Jersey Devils, they have Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, and Roman Josi who are all really good. In fact, Josi and Ellis are Nashville’s two leading scorers. This is all going to be a major challenge for Chicago but it is a necessary test.

Corey Crawford was in net in their last game against Vegas. They have a back to back this weekend on Saturday and Sunday so you can expect Crawford and Robin Lehner to each get a game. Nashville hasn’t played since Tuesday and they don’t play again after this game against the Blackhawks until this upcoming Tuesday. That means you can fully expect them to use Pekka Rinne the goal. Rinne is currently 8-2-2 with a 2.60 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. There is no doubt that there is going to be some good goaltending in this game no matter what.