close
close

Yiamastaverna

Trusted News & Timely Insights

    • Boat on the River: Blackhawks vs. Predators
    Duluth

    Boat on the River: Blackhawks vs. Predators

    Eira Gwyneth Posted on

    The Chicago Blackhawks will play their last game at the United Center in nearly two weeks, hosting the Nashville Predators on Friday night.

    After making arguably one of the most spectacular moves this summer with the signing of Steven Stamkos (and universally praised for all of their offseason moves), the Predators had a miserable start to the season, going 1-5-0 Lead and were defeated by 23:14 points in their first six games.

    They barely got into the win column in their last game, a 4-0 win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Evangelista each had a goal and an assist, defenseman Roman Josi had two assists and goalkeeper Juuse Saros made 33 saves in the win. Nashville will look to use the momentum from the Boston game to start a small winning streak in Chicago.

    As mentioned above, offense has obviously been a problem for Nashville: their 2.33 goals per game is currently the fifth-worst in the NHL. The main reason for this is the lack of quality of their shots in 5-on-5 play: both the Predators’ shot attempts (65.58 per 60) and goal-scoring rates (32.13) are currently in the top 6, but their expected goals (2.42) is 21st in the league. That’s not as minor as the Blackhawks’ lack of good chances, but it certainly wasn’t good for Nashville.

    O’Reilly and Filip Forsberg lead the team with two goals and four assists each in four games, Jonathan Marchessault and Luke Evangelista each have one goal and three assists and Novak has scored three goals so far. The rest of the forward group, including Stamkos, has only one point or less so far. With his two assists in the last game, Josi increased his total on the season to five, but the points are behind for the rest of the defense.

    Defensively, the Predators are a bit of a mixed bag: They’re great at limiting shot attempts (52.51 per 60 against, third-to-last), but their shots on goal (28.8, 17th) and expected goals suppression (2.45, 14th) They are mediocre at 5-on-5. However, the biggest problem was in net, as their goalie allowed 3.55 goals against (fourth-worst) and they only had a save percentage of 0.877 at 5-on-5 (third-worst). However, Saros is coming off a shutout and is just two seasons removed from a season with a .919 save percentage. He’s been a finalist for the Vezina Trophy in the past, so he could always go one better. Scott Wedgewood has only played one game, allowing four goals on 20 shots. Normally it would be a foregone conclusion that Saros would be in the starting lineup, but at yesterday’s practice coach Andrew Brunette didn’t know his starter; Like the Blackhawks, the Predators are playing two games in a row this weekend, so they will plan their goalies accordingly.

    After beating Boston, Nashville’s lines remain the same:

    An interesting note: The Predators on Monday recalled 21-year-old prospect Zachary L’Heureux from the Milwaukee Admirals, who was in action for his first NHL game against Boston. L’Heureux had quite the coming out party last season in the AHL playoffs, where he had 10 goals and five assists in 15 games.

    While the Predators are having their best game of the season, the Blackhawks just had their worst game, falling to the Vancouver Canucks in a sloppy 6-3 loss on Tuesday. It was another example of the Blackhawks failing to start a game on time, an issue that has plagued them the past two seasons and one they need to seriously work on, especially considering they lack the offensive depth to overcome early deficits to overcome. After recent consecutive losses, their record is now 2-4-1, the second-worst record in the Central Division (behind only the Predators).

    Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen still lead the forwards with seven points each in seven games, but both have gone pointless in the last two games. The good news is that even though Bedard hasn’t scored a goal, he is statistically having a “dominant” season so far. The goals and points will definitely come for the young star, and Teravainen will help him get to the next level.

    However, the rest of the striker group lacks offensive power and consistency. If the group can do more, it needs to be better defensively, which means limiting the kind of sloppy games like Tuesday’s against Vancouver.

    At training on Thursday, Philipp Kurashev was back in the lineup in midfield on the second line. As a result, Andreas Athansiou will sit. Alec Martinez (groin) skated with the team for a short time, but left part of the team during practice. It sounds like it’s unknown when Martinez will be back, but he will be joining the team on their upcoming road trip.

    Speaking of Kurashev, both the player in question and coach Luke Richardson briefly addressed the healthy scratch:

    Bedard has great confidence in Kurashev’s return to make a difference:

    Interestingly, Alex Vlasic was at the point for the first power play session in both training sessions. He took over that role from Seth Jones during the Canucks game, and Richardson could continue in that role for a bit longer.

    Petr Mrazek will start in net. Not that it’s entirely his fault, but Mrazek hasn’t had his best start to the season so far, with a save percentage of .887 and a goals-against percentage of 3.24.

    Richardson also mentioned that Laurent Brossoit is still a little ways away from training, let alone in game-ready condition, so Arvid Soderblom will be with the Blackhawks for a while and will get the nod Saturday against the Dallas Stars.

    In non-game news, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman mentioned in his “32 Thoughts” article this week that the Blackhawks are one of the few teams looking to improve at center (Thought #4).

    That’s not surprising considering center has been the team’s biggest weakness in recent seasons, but it’s also a little frustrating Because It’s not surprising: why didn’t they try to address this well-known center problem in the summer? Of the many players signed in the offseason, none were centers.

    The Blackhawks already had enough evidence that neither Kurashev nor Reichel performed as well (or at all) at center as they did on the wing in the NHL. They also knew before camp that Frank Nazar would have had to deliver some serious WOW to make the team, and even then it probably wouldn’t have been the right decision since he needs some time in the AHL. The argument that centers that fit the Blackhawks’ needs weren’t available this summer is valid, but if so, that’s still true now.

    Maybe “Rant Time with LBR” will be a new feature on SCH.

    In other positive news outside of the game: Artyom Levshunov is expected to make his debut with the Rockford IceHogs this weekend. The IceHogs have back-to-back road games against the Manitoba Moose on Saturday and Sunday.

    Story from the tape

    Blackhawks — Stats — Predators
    43.71% (32nd) – 5 against 5 Corsi For – 51.47% (9th)
    42.37% (31st) – 5v5 Expected Goals for – 53.05% (6th)
    2.17 (32nd) – Goals per game – 3.24 (10th)
    3.52 (29th) – goals conceded per game – 3.02 (T-13)
    46.3% (29th) – Faceoffs – 50.4% (16th)
    16.60% (28th) – Powerplay – 21.6% (16th)
    75.76% (27th) – Penalties – 76.9% (T-22nd)
    (All statistics from last season)

    Here’s how to watch

    When: 7:30 p.m. CT
    Where: United Center, Chicago
    TV: N/A
    Web stream: ESPN+, Hulu
    Radio: WGN 720

    LEAVE A RESPONSE

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Eira Gwyneth
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like

    ads