Predators Game Day Preview: Chicago @ Nashville

by Dirk Hoag on Apr 7, 2009 1:24 PM EDT

TV: FS-TN (Comcast 28, Dish Network 450, DirecTV 644)

Radio: 104.5 "The Zone" (WGFX)

It's the regular season home finale tonight in Nashville, so expect a loud and raucous crowd to cheer on the Preds as they try to stay one step ahead of St. Louis in the race for the playoffs.

Questions to be answered: (1) Will Ryan Jones be ready to go, and if so, who gets scratched? (2) After a strong game Saturday that included the winning goal in the shootout, will Ville Koistinen continue to see ice time in favor of Greg de Vries? (3) Will the Sullivan/Arnott/Dumont line stick together, or be used only in time of dire need?

Blackhawks coming in: Thanks to a three-game winning streak, Chicago seems pretty well positioned for 4th place in the West, with home-ice advantage and matchup with Vancouver in the first round.

Predators coming in: A dramatic shootout victory over Columbus Saturday night has them in 8th place, just ahead of St. Louis due to a tiebreaker (Nashville has more wins). The injury situation finally took a turn for the better with Jason Arnott back in the lineup, and Jones should be ready any day now.

Here's a look at the two teams in the main statistical categories, along with overall NHL rank:

	Chicago		Nashville
Record	43-24-11	6th	39-32-8	17th
Pts %	.622	6th	.544	17th
Goals For/Game	3.15	5th	2.51	24th
Goals Against/Game	2.59	5th	2.70	9th
5-on-5 GF/GA	1.15	5th	0.95	19th
PP%	19.3	13th	15.4	25th
PK%	80.6	17th	83.5	3rd
Shots/Game	33.1	4th	29.0	19th
Shots Against/Game	28.7	7th	29.4	11th
FO %	48	23rd	52.2	3rd

Next, let's see which players draw penalties, and which ones head to the box (data through April 5):

Chicago	Penalties Drawn			Nashville	Penalties Drawn
Player	Draws	Fouls	Pen +/-	Player	Draws	Fouls	Pen +/-
Ben Eager	32	43	-11	Jordin Tootoo	50	45	+5
Patrick Kane	31	19	+12	Martin Erat	25	24	+1
Jonathan Toews	28	23	+5	Ryan Jones	24	10	+14
Kris Versteeg	27	14	+13	Dan Hamhuis	23	25	-2
Colin Fraser	27	17	+10	Vern Fiddler	22	13	+9
Dustin Byfuglien	27	28	-1	Joel Ward	21	12	+9
	Penalties Taken				Penalties Taken
Ben Eager	32	43	-11	Jordin Tootoo	50	45	+5
Dustin Byfuglien	27	28	-1	Ryan Suter	18	36	-18
Brent Seabrook	16	27	-11	Shea Weber	16	35	-19
Matt Walker	16	25	-9	Greg de Vries	15	24	-9
Duncan Keith	8	25	-17	Dan Hamhuis	23	25	-2
Jonathan Toews	28	23	+5	Martin Erat	25	24	+1