The Nashville Predators complete their rather difficult October schedule with a back-to-back beginning tonight in Chicago, finishing tomorrow at home against the New York Islanders. This finishes an October schedule that was a difficult one, and so far, the team has come through OK, despite injuries and some uneven play. Tonight should be a dandy, considering what transpired just a few weeks ago at the UC.
The Chicago Blackhawks have been maddeningly uneven thusfar this young season. They started out like a house afire, scoring 15 goals in the first two games... including pasting 10 on the defending Stanley Cup champs. Then they went into a win one lose one cycle, now seems to be in a win one lose two cycle since the last time these two teams met. After the Hawks OT win over the Preds on 10/14, they have lost to the Blues and Oilers, then beat the Coyotes, then lost to Vegas. Chicago is 2 points ahead of the Preds in the Central having played one more game than Nashville.
Chicago has been getting excellent goaltending in Corey Crawford, the reason they have maintained a decent record but, an unstable but sometimes effective blueline and a lot of youth up front to compliment Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane has been inconsistent at best. This is finally a rivalry from both sides as the UC was pretty amped up to see the Preds two weeks ago, I expect the same level of energy tonight.
For the Predators, the game two weeks ago was a bit of a turning point… or a wake up point as it was their best road game of the season to date and set the team in the right direction. Now, about that 5 on 5 play Tuesday night…. Aberration or new normal? Well… considering the effort and time spent in yesterday’s practice, I’ll go with aberration. A lot of work, battle drills, work on 50/50 pucks… it was apparent that the message was received. This team needs to be better 5 on 5.
Keep an eye on Filip Forsberg, one more goal sets a new record for October goal scoring for the franchise. His seven October tallies are tied with James Neal for most in the month. The JOFA line has been clicking with Forsberg leading the way. The second line has been generating chances but seems a bit snakebit, unable to finish some golden opportunities due to a bad bounce or a slightly off target shot. I'll be watching how Kevin Fiala reacts to his whiffed shot from Tuesday.
On the injury front, the Blackhawks IR list is empty. Nashville still lists Ryan Ellis and Nick Bonino. Everyone else appears healthy.
The watchword for both teams is puck possession. Both have struggled in this area at times, both use that as a key piece of their game and when each team is not strong in that stat… they do not have solid results. It may be a bigger problem for the Blackhawks… they have been out shot in 80% of their games and only two teams in the league are giving up more shots per game then Chicago. The Blackhawks have been out worked in a lot of their games this season, unusual for a team of this pedigree. Their power play has been just OK… again... unusual for this team.
Let’s face it… the team that finds consistency in puck possession will take a huge load off of their goaltender. Game time is 7:30pm. Pregame starts at 6:30 on 102.5 the Game. Pregame on Fox Sports Tennessee gets started at 7pm, game time is 7:30.
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Random Notes
- Joel Quinneville shook up the lines in practice yesterday… as did Peter Laviolette. The Preds bench boss also shook up the D pairs… I expect to see Sam Girard in the lineup tonight.
- Patrick Kane is in the middle of a six-game point streak. His 12 points lead the team.
- This is the first of 11 sets of back-to-backs in the 2017/18 season for Nashville.
- Think Rinne’s not hot? Think again… his save percentage is up to .933 on the young season and his GAA is at 1.99.
- KHL Watch – Eeli Tolvanen’s Jokerit club has now dropped three in a row after a 15 game win streak. They lost to Barys Wednesday 3-2 in overtime but Tolvanen scored again, keeping up his point per game pace. Tolvanen has 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points in 23 games. He is in a 3 way tie for 4th in KHL goal scoring. Jokerit takes on Dinamo Minsk later today.
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