The Predators look to end their road trip on a high note as they take on Chicago tonight. In an already tight Central Division, neither team can afford to drop any points.
The Chicago Blackhawks
Tonight’s Opponent
Tonight’s Opponent
Not only are the Hawks the defending Stanley Cup champs, but they have a guy on their team who is just absurdly good right now. Patrick Kane is in the midst of a 22-game point streak, and he is going to want to extend that tonight against Nashville.
Kane is the hottest player in the league right now. He leads the NHL in point (42) and assists (26), and is second in goals (16). He had single handedly kept Chicago in the thick of things in the Central Division. Just to give you an idea of how important Kane has been to his team, the next closest person on the team in points is at 27 points.
The thing with handling a streak like Patrick Kane’s, is that you can’t take for granted the other talent on his side. Yes, he does account for a large number of the teams points, but that doesn’t mean the other guys are slouches. Take his line mate, Artemi Panarin for example. This is only his first year in the league and he is second on the team in points. Kane is making everyone around him better, and that is a scary thing.
That’s not even mentioning Jonathan Toews. He has had a slow start, but once he starts to produce, this team is going to be a threat once again. How does a team that continues to let key pieces from the championship run go, and still be relevant? It’s amazing how they keep finding players to step up when it matters the most.
The Nashville Predators
Not much to say here. The Predators are going into the second night of a back to back. Not to make it even tougher, but it’s a divisional game as well.
The Preds have been inconsistent on offense lately, and that has been taken note of.
Predators AM lines vs. BOS: Forsberg-Jarnkrok-Neal Wilson-Ribeiro-Arvidsson Hodgson-Sissons-Smith Nystrom-Gaustad-Watson/Salomaki
— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) December 7, 2015
Coach Laviolette changed things up last night. It will be interesting to see if he sticks with this lineup for tonight’s game, or continue to mix things up to find the perfect combination.
One thing that is going good for Nashville is Shea Weber. He was voted the NHL second star of the week yesterday, and has really settled into his game as of late. AS a captain, he has been stepping up to the plate. Now the Preds need some others to do the same in order to get back on track.
Reasons To Watch
- Divisional games are always fun to watch. They are high intensity, hard fought games. It is pretty much the closest thing to playoffs you can get in December
- As much as I hate to say it, the Kane streak is pretty impressive. It will be interesting to see what kind of game plan Nashville puts together to try to stop it. /
Drink Of Choice For Game Time
I will be drinking a Lagunitas IPA during this one tonight.
Sights And Sounds
FS-TN for TV and 102.5 The Game for radio. A little bit of a later start tonight with a 7:30 pm CST puck drop.