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Nashville Predators (23-9-2) at Chicago Blackhawks (24-10-2) 7:30PM Central SN1/SNP/FS-TN/CSN-CH
THE BUZZ
Brad Richards returns from injury absence tonight for Chicago, forcing a bit of a lineup shuffle. #91 takes over his former spot, centering Patrick Kane and Kris Versteeg—a very potent line over recent weeks prior to the injury, and Patrick Sharp bumps down to Marcus Kruger’s “fourth… line. This really gives the Hawks what appears, on paper at least, to be some great scoring balance.
And they’ll need it tonight against a very stingy, and very good thus far, Nashville Predators’ club, sitting just two points behind the Hawks (by virtue of two games less played).
Due to a matchup against Colorado the other night, Hawk coach Joel Quenneviulle moved Kruger up to center Kane and Versteeg with solid results. Post-game comments from the coach indicate that we might see Kruger in that spot again in certain situations.
THE NUMBERS
Power Play Nashville, 28th, 13.5% Chicago, 14th, 18.7%
Penalty Kill Nashville, 20th, 79.6% Chicago, 1st, 91.0%
THE LINEUPS (PROJECTED)
Nashville
Forsberg Ribeiro Smith Cullen Fisher Neal Wilson Jarnkrok Jokinen Nystrom Gaustad Beck
Josi Weber Ekholm Ellis Bartley Jones
Rinne
Chicago
Saad Toews Hossa Versteeg Richards Kane Bickell Shaw Carcillo Sharp Kruger Smith
Keith Seabrook Oduya Hjalmarsson Rundblad Erixon
Crawford
All for now. Look for a recap tomorrow.
JJ