The Chicago Blackhawks are back on the road, heading down to Nashville on Saturday to face the Predators in the second game of a back-to-back weekend.
This will be the the fourth and final meeting between the two teams this season. The Predators won the first two games of the season series, but the Blackhawks managed a 6-2 win in their last matchup about a month ago. Both teams are in a race for the bottom: only five points separate the Blackhawks and Predators from the second-best lottery odds in the 2025 NHL Draft, although the Predators do have a game in hand. Still, despite those circumstances, neither team is looking to lose to a division rival. Nashville might have a little more momentum as they’re 5-5-0 in their last 10 while winning their last two games: 6-3 and 5-3 victories over the Boston Bruins and Seattle Kraken, respectively. In comparison, Chicago are 4-4-2, but a questionable call in overtime against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday could be all that stands between the Blackhawks and a four-game winning streak.
Considering the trade deadline just concluded, neither team looks the same as when they last met. The Predators traded four veteran players: Gustav Nyquist (to Minnesota), Tommy Novak (to Pittsburgh) and Luke Schenn (to Pittsburgh, though he was then flipped to Winnipeg) were moved in the days leading up to the deadline, and then Mark Jankowski was sent packing on Friday (to Carolina). They also acquired Michael Bunting on Wednesday via trade (from Pittsburgh, though he is on IR after an appendectomy), and claimed Jakub Vrana (from Washington) and Jordan Oesterle (from Boston) off waivers on Thursday. Nashville also recalled forward Kieffer Bellows from the Milwaukee Admirals.
With their current roster, the lines below are what the Predators rolled at the morning skate on Saturday. Justus Annunen, who has a .898 save percentage in 13 games this season, looks to be the starter.
NSH lines vs CHI
— Nick Kieser🏒 (@KieserNick) March 8, 2025
Stamkos – O’Reilly – Evangelista
Forsberg – Sissons – Marchessault
Vrana – Svechkov – Smith
Bellows – McCarron – L’Heureux
Skjei – Blankenburg
Del Gaizo – Stastney
Englund – Barron
Annunen 🥅
Saros
The Blackhawks made their own moves since they last saw the Predators in February. The biggest is obviously Seth Jones who was traded (to Florida) a week ago to get Spencer Knight, but they also moved Craig Smith and Petr Mrazek (both to Detroit) in exchange for Joe Veleno. The latter is the only incoming player for Chicago that could play against Nashville on Saturday since Knight was the starter on Friday, though it’s unknown exactly if Veleno will rotate in. The Blackhawks also decided to keep their leading goal scorer, Ryan Donato.
Since the Blackhawks played the night before, they did not have a morning skate on Saturday. The lines and pairing will likely be similar since they won against Utah, with the caveat that Veleno could sub in for Pat Maroon or Philipp Kurashev on the fourth line. Arvid Soderblom will be in net against Nashville.
Blackhawks lines in warmups vs Utah:
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 8, 2025
Dach-Bedard-Nazar
Teravainen-Donato-Mikheyev
Slaggert-Foligno-Bertuzzi
Maroon-Reichel-Kurashev
Vlasic-Crevier
Del Mastro-Murphy
Kaiser-Martinez
Knight
The Blackhawks will be looking to keep momentum going after winning three of their last four games and pushing the last game to overtime. In those four games, Donato (4 G, 3 A) and Teuvo Teravainen (2 G, 5 A) lead the team with seven points while their linemate Ilya Mikheyev (2 G, 2 A) is next with four. Lukas Reichel (1 G, 2 A), Tyler Bertuzzi (3 A), and Alex Martinez (1 G, 2 A) each have three points, too. In fact, only four Chicago players don’t have points during that four-game span.
Perhaps most importantly, Connor Bedard ended a seven-game pointless streak against Utah, scoring in overtime and picking up an impressive assist. Let’s hope that was just the beginning for the young star to break out to end the season.
CONNOR. BEDARD. OT. WINNER. ARE. YOU. NOT. ENTERTAINED. pic.twitter.com/kUuCPgqcdL
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 8, 2025
Blackhawks — Statistic — Predators
43.80% (32nd) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 51.03% (10th)
42.72% (32nd) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 51.66% (11th)
2.78 (25th) — Goals per game — 2.63 (29th)
3.48 (29th) — Goals against per game — 3.34 (28th)
44.7% (31st) — Faceoffs — 52% (8th)
26.2% (7th) — Power play — 19.9% (21st)
81.0% (10th) — Penalty kill — 80.7% (12th)
(All stats from this season)
How to watch
When: 7 p.m. CT
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville
TV: CHSN
Webstream: ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720