The streaking Nashville Predators moved into a Western Conference wild-card spot on Saturday.
On Sunday, they’ll aim to strengthen their playoff positioning.
Winners of three straight and four of six, Nashville (32-28-9, 73 points) is set to visit the slumping Chicago Blackhawks (26-31-12, 64 points).
Nashville is coming off Saturday’s 4-1 home victory against the Vegas Golden Knights. Coupled with the Los Angeles Kings’ home loss to Buffalo by the same score, the Predators climbed into the final wild-card spot in the West.
“It’s just the belief in the guys in this room, and that’s all that matters,” Nashville’s Steven Stamkos said. “The coaching staff has a belief. The players have a belief. It’s not always going to be pretty. We understand at this time of the year points are more important than how the game looks, but you want to build and we have.”
Stamkos tallied two goals and an assist for the Predators while Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and assist to back a 39-save effort from Justus Annunen.
Stamkos and O’Reilly scored on the power play in the second period as special teams continued to be an asset in the club’s surge. Stamkos moved past Brendan Shanahan with his 238th career goal on the man advantage, good for seventh all-time.
“As a group there’s urgency there (on the power play),” O’Reilly said. “We’re putting pucks at the net, and we’re winning battles. We’ve got to keep building off of that. Obviously, the last couple of games that’s helped us, and we’ve got to continue to do that.”
Chicago will aim to salvage a split of an abbreviated two-game homestand before playing four straight on the road next week.
Playing the second leg of a back-to-back on Friday, the Blackhawks were outmatched in a 4-1 loss to the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche.
Wyatt Kaiser scored the only goal for the Blackhawks while goaltender Arvid Soderblom kept the hosts somewhat close by making 45 saves.
“(Colorado’s) level is a level that we want to get to,” Chicago forward Ryan Greene said. “They’re going to be a contending team this year, so that’s definitely a measuring stick.”
No matter the foe, the Blackhawks know they must improve their special teams to stay afloat during the stretch run.
Colorado scored two power-play goals on five opportunities as the Blackhawks get acclimated to different personnel amid various injuries. Forward Andrew Mangiapane and defenseman Louis Crevier missed the game with undisclosed injuries. Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said he expected the duo to rejoin the lineup during its upcoming trip.
“Penalty kill’s one of those things where there’s so many different nuances that happen,” Blashill said. “We certainly have our structure, but I don’t know any way to learn it without going through it.”
Nashville can clinch the season series with a victory. The Predators won 4-3 in Chicago on Nov. 28 and 4-2 in Nashville on Feb. 26. In between, the Blackhawks earned a 3-0 road shutout behind call-up goaltender Drew Commesso on Jan. 10.
–Field Level Media
