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Predators-Blackhawks Preview (Apr 13, 2017)
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks begin the Stanley Cup playoffs as one of the heavy favorites to be left standing when everything is said and done.
The Nashville Predators, meanwhile, know what they will have to do to avoid being eliminated just as things are heating up.
For Nashville, which begins its playoff quest Thursday night at the United Center, the Blackhawks represent the perennial Cup contenders the Predators hope to be one day. Chicago has its fourth Stanley Cup since 2010 in its sights while the Predators have won just three playoff series in their 17-year history.
"Facing a team like Chicago first, it's going to bring out the best out of us as a group," Predators captain Mike Fisher said, according to The Tennessean. "We know they're a great hockey team.
"They finished first (in the Western Conference) for a reason...I think it's a good thing. That's something you always look forward to. We're going to have to face the best right away."
The Predators may start the series short-handed, which, for a team eyeing a first-round upset, isn't ideal. Forwards Colin Wilson and Calle Jarnkrok missed Wednesday's Predators practice with lower-body injuries and their status for Game 1 is uncertain, The Tennessean reported.
Wilson and Jarnkrok have both been significant contributors to Nashville's offense. Their absence would impact the depth of a team that already had its hands full even at full strength.
The Blackhawks have flourished this season behind four balanced lines and a game plan predicated on speed, which the Predators realize they will need to slow down if they are going to have a chance.
"You move 10 years from now and you look back, when you think about this period of time, I think the game has changed, a little bit faster and more skilled," Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne said, according to the Tennessean. "I think Chicago has a lot to do with that as a team. I think that goes to show how much impact they've had throughout the league and the whole game."
The Blackhawks offense will be even stronger after center Artem Anisimov returned to the ice Tuesday after being sidelined since March 14 with a left foot injury. Anisimov bolsters a second line that already has plenty of firepower between wingers Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin.
Chicago also welcomed back defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, who was away from the team last week as his wife prepared to give birth to the couple's second child. The Blackhawks will begin the series without defenseman Michal Rozsival, who underwent surgery Tuesday to repair facial fractures and winger Andrew Desjardins, who remains day-to-day with a lower body injury.
But as the Blackhawks prepare for what they hope is yet another lengthy Stanley Cup run, they do so not taking anything for granted. Regardless of how much success they've had in recent years or the role they play as one of the main contenders to hoist the Cup at the end of the road, they will take one series at a time starting Thursday against the Predators.
"It's a long road to get there," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "It's a long enough road to get to where we are right now. "We're happy about the way the season has gone and where we are as a team. We're right where we want to be a team going into the playoffs. We're as prepared as we can be."
