The Chicago Blackhawks (18-19-7) play the back end of a weekend back-to-back against the Nashville Predators (20-19-4) at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Saturday marks the second of four meetings between the Central Division foes in the 2025-26 season. Nashville won the first meeting, 4-3, at the United Center on Nov. 28. Ryan Donato, Ryan Greene (PP), and Wyatt Kaiser were the three goal scorers in the game for Chicago. Matthew Wood, Steven Stamkos, Luke Evangelista, and Ryan O\u2019Reilly (GWG) had the tallies for the Predators. Juuse Saros stopped 24 of 27 shots faced to earn the win in net.<\/p>\n
Last time out, a short-handed Blackhawks bunch had their four-game winning streak snapped, falling 5-1 to the Washington Capitals at the United Center on Friday in their first of two games this weekend. <\/p>\n
While Connor Bedard made his return after missing the last 12 games, the Blackhawks were still down several players due to a flu\/stomach bug running rampant in the locker room. Louis Crevier, Ilya Mikheyev, and both goaltenders, Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom, were unable to play due to illness. Minor-league starter Drew Commesso was recalled from the AHL and made his third career NHL appearance against Washington. He stopped just 19 of 24 shots faced in the loss. Rookie Oliver Moore (PP) was the lone goal scorer in the game.<\/p>\n
The Predators are coming off a 2-1 shootout win over the New York Islanders in their last time out on Wednesday to begin a four-game homestand. O\u2019Reilly had the lone tally in regulation for Nashville, while Filip Forsberg netted the shootout winner. Juuse Saros stopped 30 of 31 shots faced for his 17th win of the season.<\/p>\n
Nashville is 2-2-0 in its first four games of the New Year and currently sits one point ahead of the Blackhawks in the Western Conference standings. The Predators are three points back of the Utah Mammoth for the final wildcard playoff spot, while Chicago is four points back.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s everything to note before the puck drops at approximately 7:00 p.m. CT in Nashville.<\/p>\n
Blackhawks Regular Season Notes (Last Five Games)<\/p>\n
What a start to 2026! Ilya Mikheyev scored twice to help the Blackhawks beat the Stars 4-3 at the United Center. It\u2019s Chicago\u2019s second win in five days over Dallas.<\/p>\n
Captain Nick Foligno comes up clutch with the first shootout goal of his NHL career to give the Blackhawks<\/a> a 3-2 win in the Nation\u2019s Capital. Teuvo Teravainen and Ryan Donato also scored in the victory against the Washington Capitals, while Spencer Knight stopped 32 of 34 shots.<\/p>\n It was the Tyler Bertuzzi Show<\/a> on Sunday, as he carried the Blackhawks to their third consecutive win with a hat trick. Bertuzzi scored all three goals, including the overtime winner, to overcome a late deficit and beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2.<\/p>\n What a complete team win! Seven different players scored a goal, and 13 recorded a point in a 7-3 beatdown over the St. Louis Blues<\/a>. Both special teams units were also spectacular as the Blackhawks\u2019 winning streak reached four games.<\/p>\n Connor Bedard was back, but the Blackhawks were still stretched remarkably thin against the Washington Capitals. An illness\/flu bug swept through the locker room, leaving several players unavailable. Chicago couldn\u2019t extend the winning streak and fell 5-1 to the Capitals<\/a> for their first loss of 2026.<\/p>\n Blackhawks Projected Lineup<\/p>\n Forward Lines<\/p>\n Tyler Bertuzzi \u2014 Ryan Greene \u2013 Andre Burakovsky<\/p>\n Connor Bedard \u2014 Oliver Moore \u2014 Nick Lardis<\/p>\n Teuvo Teravainen \u2014 Jason Dickinson \u2014 Ryan Donato<\/p>\n Colton Dach \u2014 Nick Foligno \u2014 Landon Slaggert<\/p>\n Defensive Pairings<\/p>\n Alex Vlasic-Connor Murphy<\/p>\n Wyatt Kaiser-Artyom Levshunov<\/p>\n Kevin Korchinski-Matt Grzelcyk<\/p>\n Scratched<\/p>\n F \u2014 Sam Lafferty<\/p>\n Injured<\/p>\n D \u2014 Louis Crevier (illness), G \u2014 Spencer Knight (illness), F \u2014 Ilya Mikheyev (illness), F \u2014 Frank Nazar (face), G \u2014 Arvid Soderblom (illness)<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n The Blackhawks did not hold a morning skate on Saturday, as they traveled from Chicago to Nashville late on Friday night.<\/p>\n The forward lines and defensive pairings listed above are from Friday\u2019s loss to Washington. Head coach Jeff Blashill said after the game that Mikheyev will travel with the team to Nashville and could rejoin the lineup. If he does, expect Landon Slaggert to join Sam Lafferty as a healthy scratch.<\/p>\n It sounds like Crevier isn\u2019t expected to make the trip. Should Crevier miss a second consecutive game, Kevin Korchinski will draw in once again.<\/p>\n Predators Projected Lineup<\/p>\n Forward Lines<\/p>\n Filip Forsberg \u2014 Ryan O\u2019Reilly \u2014 Steven Stamkos<\/p>\n Michael Bunting \u2014 Erik Haula \u2014 Luke Evangelista<\/p>\n Tyson Jost \u2014 Fedor Svechkov \u2014 Matthew Wood<\/p>\n Reid Schaefer \u2014 Michael McCarron \u2014 Cole Smith<\/p>\n Defensive Pairings<\/p>\n Roman Josi-Nick Perbix<\/p>\n Brady Skjei-Adam Wilsby<\/p>\n Nicolas Hague-Nick Blankenburg<\/p>\n Scratched<\/p>\n None<\/p>\n Injured<\/p>\n F \u2014 Zachary L\u2019Heureux (lower body), F \u2014 Jonathan Marchessault (lower body), F \u2014 Ozzy Wiesblatt (upper body)<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n The Predators are expected to roll with the same lineup from Thursday\u2019s shootout win over the Islanders.<\/p>\n Projected Goaltending Matchup<\/p>\n Stanislav Berezhnoy (0-0-0, 0.00 GAA, .000 Sv%, 0 SO) vs. Juuse Saros (17-14-3, 2.96 GAA, .897 Sv%, 0 SO)<\/p>\n Berezhnoy, who was recalled from Rockford earlier in the day, could be in line to make his first NHL start against the Predators. Both Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom missed Saturday\u2019s game due to illness. Berezhnoy is 4-4-1 with a 3.23 GAA and .889 Sv% in his first nine career AHL starts with the IceHogs this season.<\/p>\n Saros is expected to make his 35th start of the season in net for Nashville. The 30-year-old netminder stopped 30 of 31 shots faced to earn the win over the Islanders in his most recent start on Thursday. Saros is 15-4-2 with a 2.21 GAA, .924 Sv%, and two shutouts in 22 career games against Chicago.<\/p>\n 2025-26 Schedule\/Results vs. Predators<\/p>\n The Blackhawks have earned points in back-to-back games at Bridgestone Arena (0-0-2) and have logged points in three of their last four games against Nashville overall (1-1-2)<\/p>\n 11\/28\/25 \u2014 4-3 L, United Center<\/p>\n 01\/10\/26 \u2014 Bridgestone Arena<\/p>\n 02\/26\/26 \u2014 Bridgestone Arena<\/p>\n 03\/22\/26 \u2014 United Center<\/p>\n 2025-26 Team Stats & Leaders<\/p>\n Chicago Blackhawks:<\/p>\n Goals \u2014 Tyler Bertuzzi (22)<\/p>\n Assists \u2014 Connor Bedard (25)\/Andre Burakovsky (19)<\/p>\n Points \u2014 Connor Bedard (44)\/Tyler Bertuzzi (34)<\/p>\n GF\/GP \u2014 2.82 (24th)<\/p>\n GA\/GP \u2014 3.16 (20th)<\/p>\n PP% \u2014 23% (8th)<\/p>\n PK% \u2014 84.7% (3rd)<\/p>\n FOW% \u2014 47% (28th)<\/p>\n Nashville Predators:<\/p>\n Goals \u2014 Steven Stamkos (18)<\/p>\n Assists \u2014 Luke Evangelista (25)<\/p>\n Points \u2014 Ryan O\u2019Reilly (37)<\/p>\n GF\/GP \u2014 2.77 (25th)<\/p>\n GA\/GP \u2014 3.33 (26th)<\/p>\n PP% \u2014 19.7% (17th)<\/p>\n PK% \u2014 81.7% (11th)<\/p>\n FOW% \u2014 52% (6th)<\/p>\n How To Watch, Listen, & Game Info<\/p>\n Chicago Blackhawks (18-19-7, 43 points) @ Nashville Predators (20-19-4, 44 points)<\/p>\n 7:00 p.m. CT \u2014 Bridgestone Arena<\/p>\n Head Coaches: Jeff Blashill (CHI), Andrew Brunette (NSH)<\/p>\n TV\/Stream: CHSN (Ball\/Pang), FDSNSO<\/p>\n Radio: WGN 720 AM (Wiedeman\/Konroyd)<\/p>\n For more Blackhawks news, visit Chicago Hockey Now<\/a> and like our Facebook Page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow us on X:<\/p>\n @chihockeynow<\/a>, @JackBushman2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Blackhawks (18-19-7) play the back end of a weekend back-to-back against the Nashville Predators (20-19-4) at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5114],"tags":[37717,45621,49202,45780,49204,191,96,490,5,231,4,43551,50709,22654,190,109,5222],"class_list":["post-506908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-washington-capitals","tag-blackhawks-game-day","tag-blackhawks-game-day-previews","tag-blackhawks-how-to-watch","tag-blackhawks-lines","tag-blackhawks-starting-goalie","tag-capitals","tag-chicago-blackhawks","tag-drew-commesso","tag-hockey","tag-nashville-predators","tag-nhl","tag-predators-lines","tag-predators-starting-goalie","tag-stanislav-berezhnoy","tag-washington","tag-washington-capitals","tag-washingtoncapitals"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116241542939277070","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}