It’s a new day, and it’s a new year. Happy 2024 to all! I hope you all had a relaxing holiday with family and friends. Tonight, the Hawks take the ice for the first time this year against the Nashville Predators, and let’s hope the start of 2024 is much better than the end of 2023. The Hawks continue their five-game road trip with a stop in Music City. This will already be the team's third matchup against the Predators, who have taken the first two matchups, winning 4-2 back on November 18th and then 4-3 in a shootout back on December 5th. After losing to the Stars 8-1 on Sunday, the bar is set very low for this Hawks team in terms of what to expect tonight. You have to imagine that the chances of them putting out a worse performance are slim to none, so if you are looking for a glass with a half-full view, there’s one for you.
The Predators look to be going with Juuse Saros in net, and he has absolutely owned the Hawks throughout his career. In 17 games, he holds an 11-3-2 record and a.930 SV%. He has had a tough go at things over the last 5 games, sporting a 1-3-1 record and a.847 SV%. It will be interesting to see which version of Saros the Hawks we see tonight. After a rough start to the season, the Preds seem to be finding their game just a bit. They are 6-3-1 over the last ten games and coming off a 9-5-1 December, which has helped them land in the top wild card spot in the west. With the teams that are currently chasing them in the standings having games in hand on the Preds, they need to take full advantage of weaker teams like the Hawks, as they cannot afford to leave any points on the table.
The line blender is in full effect as this team continues to deal with more injuries. Taylor Raddysh and Tyler Johnson are the latest to head to the IR, and in their place, the Hawks have recalled Katchouk and Seney from Rockford. Arvid Soderblom gets the call in net. He stopped eight of the 10 shots he faced on Sunday in relief for Mrazek.
Injury Updates
Coach Richardson gave us a small look at when we can expect to get some help from the injured reserve players. Seth Jones is expected to resume skating on his own by this weekend. Joey Anderson’s timeline to return is a bit longer than Jones, and Athanasiou’s timeline is longer than Anderson's.While those all seem like a bunch of false answers, it does tell us that these guys are dealing with serious injuries, and given how this season is going, there is no reason to rush them back. All I know is that they better keep Bedard in a bubble because if we lose him, this will be a very rough team to watch.
That’s going to be it for me. Puck Drop is set for 7 p.m. central time, and as always, Let's Go Hawks.
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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