Players to Watch: CHI vs NSH (1/26/21)
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Those two games back at the United Center sure were fun, weren’t they? Well, the Blackhawks are back on the road and will take on the Predators down in Nashville. I wouldn’t blame you for blocking out these recent memories - but the Blackhawks lost their first 4 games of the season, which were also on the road.
Records coming into this 2-game series:
Blackhawks: 2-3-1
Predators: 2-3-0
The basic statistic that has interested me the most this season is goal differential (Goals For - Goals Against = Differential). The Blackhawks went into the games against Detroit with a -11 DIFF. They now sit at -4 which is a great improvement. Nashville comes into this series sitting at -5. Keep in mind, they’ve played one less game. The Blackhawks have 19 goals for and 23 goals against. The Predators have 12 goals for and 17 goals against. Compared to the Hawks, they’ve been better at keeping pucks out of the net but worse at scoring. With Chicago giving up 20 goals in their first 4 games, these stats are going to be incredibly wonky early in the season. They are interesting to look at regardless.
I wish I could predict what we’ll see coming from Nashville. But, even when they have down seasons or stretches, they seem to always pick it up a notch against the Blackhawks. I have a nagging feeling that the season trends won’t matter much going into this 2-game series. So, let’s just take a look at my three players to watch.
Kevin Lankinen
Well, well, well . . . Do the Blackhawks have their starting goaltender? From a very small sample size, it sure seems like they might. He picked up the only point in the first 4 games of the season by getting game 4 to overtime. Then, he went on to play incredibly well in the two games against Detroit. While Nashville has fallen in the standings a bit, they’re still better than Detroit. These games will be a better measuring stick to see how Lankinen looks in the NHL. I doubt he takes both Nashville games as they are on back-to-back nights, but I bet he gets the first one.
Calvin de Haan
When I say Calvin de Haan had a rough start to the season, I mean he had a ROUGH start. Over the last few games, it looked like he was beginning to settle in.
Things to note:
There were no preseason games and some players need a few games to get up to game speed.
The games he looked better in . . . were against Detroit.
So, do we see good de Haan or bad de Haan?
Sorry, I had to.
Dominik Kubalik
Kubalik has been on the second power play unit - much to the annoyance of the Blackhawks fanbase. With Alex DeBrincat placed on the COVID Protocol list, do we see Kubalik bumped up to the 1st unit? You hate to see the units messed with when they are clicking at such an effective rate, but now they have to be. Kubalik has one of the best shots on the team, why not see if he works up there?
Don’t look now, but the Blackhawks are currently 3rd in the Central Division while the Predators are 7th. Nashville has a game in hand, and the Blackhawks just picked up 4 early points against Detroit. The standings are not going to stay this way, but it’s fun to see for now.