Chicago Blackhawks (11-15-4) vs. Nashville Predators (19-11-2)
January 1, 2022 2:00 pm EDT
The Line: Nashville Predators -172 / Chicago Blackhawks +138; Over/Under: -5.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Chicago Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators meet in NHL action from Bridgestone Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Chicago Blackhawks will look to bounce back from a 4-3 OT loss to Dallas last time out. Patrick Kane leads the Blackhawks with 25 points including 7 goals and 18 assists while Seth Jones is second with 23 points including a team-high 20 assists and Alex DeBrincat also has 23 points with a team-high 17 goals this season. Marc-Andre Fleury’s gone 9-10-1 with a 2.86 GAA and a .913 save percentage in goal for Chicago this year while Kevin Lankinen is 2-5-3 with a 3.43 GAA and an .884 save percentage.
The Nashville Predators will look to rebound from their own 4-3 extra time loss to Columbus last time out. Roman Josi leads the Predators with 29 points, including 10 goals and 19 helpers while Mikael Granlund also has 29 points with a team-high 24 assists. Matt Duchene has 27 points with 13 goals and Ryan Johansen has 25 points with 16 assists. Filip Forsberg’s also added a team-high 14 goals and Alexandre Carrier has a team-high +8 plus/minus rating. Juuse Saros has seen the bulk of the action in goal for Nashville, going 15-9-1 with a 2.29 GAA and a .923 save percentage this season.
Chicago is 3-13 in their last 16 Saturday games and 1-4 in their last 5 games against the Western Conference while the under is 6-1-2 in their last 9 division games. Nashville is 5-1 in their last 6 division games and 7-2 in their last 9 games overall while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 games as a favorite.
I get the case for Chicago and the plus money, but I think Nashville’s back to back losses aren’t anything to ring the alarm about. It was a back-to-back spot after having their win streak snapped, and that’s just not the right mindset for Nashville to be in if they wanted to have a chace at getting a result there. I think Chicago has brighter days ahead, but lots of guys are missing for the Blackhawks here and I think Nashville takes advantage with a win in this one.
