Nashville Predators at Chicago Blackhawks: Pre-Game Primer

TV-Radio...

7:30 p.m. CST   TV: Fox Sports Tennessee.  Preds Radio Network (102.5-FM The Game)

Stage Setter...

The Predators continue on their amazing run and make one last pit stop on the road in Chicago to play the Blackhawks before getting some deserved time off over the All-Star break. The Predators are 9-2-0 in January while Chicago has cooled slightly and are 5-4-2 for the month. With a regulation win, the Preds could move past the Hawks in the standings and into third place in the Central Division.

Make the jump for everything else...

Western Conference Standings...

        Team        GP Pts
1. * Detroit         49 67
2. * Vancouver 48 62
3. * San Jose  46 58
4. St Louis 48 64
5. Chicago          49 64
6. Nashville 49 62
7. Los Angeles    50 58
8. Colorado        50 54
9. Minnesota       48 53
10. Calgary         49 52
10. Dallas            47 50
11. Phoenix         49 50

Prior Meetings...

The Preds and Blackhawks have met twice this year and have three more meeting slated for the rest of the year. Chicago won 5-4 in overtime on Halloween at the United Center and the Predators won last Saturday at home 5-2 in one of the Preds better games in recent memory. The Predators are 15-22-2 playing in Chicago but has been more than competitive in recent years.

Last Time Out...

Nashville finished their season series with Columbus last night in a 4-1 win highlighted by two goals from Mike Fisher's and Pekka Rinne's 17th win in his last 19 decisions.

Chicago has been idle since last Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Predators in Nashville

Top Scorers (G-A-Pts)...

Nashville - M. Erat (11-24-35), S. Weber (10-24-34),  D. Legwand (13-17-30), C.Smith (10-18-28), M. Fisher (11-16-27), R. Suter (5-22-27), S. Kostitsyn (12-14-26), and C. Wilson (9-17-26).

Chicago - M. Hossa (20-32-52), J. Toews (27-23-50), P. Kane (11-3-41), P. Sharp (20-20-40), V. Stalberg (14-15-29), D. Keith (3-24-27), D. Bolland (14-11-25), and N. Leddy (2-22-24).

In Goal (W-L-O, GAA, save %)...

Nashville - P. Rinne (possible start) (27-11-4, 2.39, .924) and A. Lindback (2-5-0, 2.50, .898)

Chicago - C. Crawford (Starter) (18-11-4, 2,88, .902) and R. Emery (11-3-2, 2.57, .907)

Other Comparisons...

Teams	Predators	Blackhawks
Record	29-16-4 (62)	29-14-6 (64)
Last 10	8-2-0	5-3-2
Home Record	16-7-3	19-5-4
Road Record	13-9-1	10-9-1
Power Play (rank)	22.3 (2)	18.8 (9)
Penalty Kill (rank)	83.3 (11)	78.3 (28)
Goals For (rank)	2.74 (12)	3.30 (3)
Goals Allowed (rank)	2.55 (9)	2.82 (17)
Shots For (rank)	27.5 (26)	32.0 (6)
Shots Allowed (rank)	31.1 (22)	29.2 (9)
Penalty Mins (rank)	9.6 (5)	10.4 (10)
Faceoff % (rank)	49.5 (20)	52.1 (3)

Injuries...

Nashville -  Francis Bouillon (upper body).

Chicago. Dan Carcillo (knee), Patrick Sharp (upper body), and Jonathan Toews (upper body).

Notes...

• Predators are 11-2-0 in the last 13 and have averaged 3.15 goals while allowing 1.76 in that span.
• Three players have at least 11 points in the last 13 games; Mile Fisher (6g,6a), Marty Erat (3g, 9a), and Sergei Kostitsyn (7g, 4a).
• Rinne is 17-2-0 in the last 19 decisions starting with a win in Columbus on December 8.
• Nashville is 10-2-2 against the Central Division this season. 
• The Predator Penalty Kill has been perfect for seven games and 13 of last 15.
• Nashville is 5-2-0 in the front end of back to back games and 2-4-0 on the back side. They will have four more this season after tonight.
• Craig Smith leads the Preds in road points with 17 (6g, 11a) in 22 games.
• The Predators are 23-2-2 when scoring more than two goals and 22-1-1 when the opponent gets two or less goals.
• The Predators are 13-0-1 when Nick Spaling scores. 
• The Preds have comeback from a 2 or 3 goal deficits 6 times this season

Other Predator Previews...

Predators.com
The Tennessean
Ryan Porth
Amanda DiPaolo
Dirk Hoag
Paul McCann
Fang Finger
Predatorial

Chicago Media...

Hawks.com
Second City Hockey
The Sun Times
The Daily Herald
Chicago Tribune
CSN Chicago

Game Notes from NHL Media Services

A Look Ahead for the Preds...


Tonight                                     @ Chicago Blackhawks 7:30 p.m.
1-25 to 1-30                             All-Star Break
Tuesday (1-31)                         @ Minnesota 7 p.m.
Thursday (2-2)                          @ Philadelphia 6 p.m.
Saturday (2-4)                           St. Louis 7 p.m.(Bridgestone Arena)

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass