The Chicago Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators are playing live on the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs schedule on Wednesday night and the series starts on the NBC Sports Network and is streaming online from the NBCSN Love Extra website at Bridgestone Arena past 8:30 pm ET and has Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane looking to get things going for the Hawks.
The Blackhawks come into the game as the away team and they finished behind the Preds in the central this year. Both teams ended up behind the Blues and now they will play to see who faces off against that team and the Blackhawks have plenty of experience to look back on. The team is reportedly getting Kane back after dealing with an injury and that would be huge if the team wants to get back to the finals.
Last year Chicago ended up losing to the LA Kings in the west final and now Los Angeles isn't even in the playoffs. The Blackhawks come in as one of the best goaltending teams in the league, as they were second in goals against. The team was 17th in scoring and 20th in power play percentage, but they also were 10th in penalty kill percentage and should be very tough this time around.
The team comes in after a loss to end the regular season with the Avs and now they have the Predators on Wednesday and then again on Friday night. The Predators are looking to make some noise, as they have not been to the playoffs since back in 2012 and they could be motivated to win against Chicago. The Blackhawks have depth on their lines and that will be big as they try and make another Cup run.
Kane had a fractured clavicle and he is expected to play in Game 1 and if he misses that, he surely will be ready for Game 2 after getting cleared by the doctors. The Predators come in after finishing the season with a loss against the Stars and they were ranked ninth in the league in goals against this season. The special teams were not special and the team ended up in the top half of the league in goals per game.
The Blackhawks have won two Stanley Cup titles in the last five years and they know how to get things done and that will be big for the team this time around. The Hawks have Brad Richards, who made it to the Cup last year with the Rangers and he will be motivated to get a championship after coming close last season.
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