Nashville Predators v Chicago Blackhawks Live

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Even though the Hawks won it all last season, the team around Patrick Kane will have to work harder to establish itself in the upper echelon of the Western Conference this year. More specifically, the Blackhawks started the 2010-11 season with losses versus the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings and have yet to find their rhythm in this year's NHL campaign. Thus, Patrick Sharp and the Chicago Blackhawks will face the Nashville Predators at United Center on Thursday at 0:30 a.m. GMT.

Unlike the Hawks, the Predators rallied to a comfortable 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks and are confident to make their second straight playoff appearance down the stretch. Most importantly, Nashville's offense around Jason Arnott will have to continue to score on a consistent basis to take some pressure off the Predators' tough defensive lines. That said, there is no doubt that the Blackhawks are still the better overall team and will enter their encounter with Nashville as everyone's favorites to secure a home win.

You can watch all games of the Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of NHL live streaming.

Posted: 5th December 2009

Albeit Nashville came slow out of the gates, the team around Jason Arnott was able to get its act together and finds itself right back in the playoff mix two months into the season. Thus, the Predators will try to steal one on the road when they take on the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center at 1:30 a.m. GMT.

Unlike most other teams in the upper echelon of the league, the Hawks did not rely much on their offense to get there. Being the best defensive team in the league, Chicago frequently shutdown their opponents’ offensive lines and rallied to a 16-6-3 record. That said, the Blackhawks had no trouble finding the net and scored no less than 78 goals in 25 games thus far. Especially franchise cornerstone Patrick Kane has been on fire, scoring 9 goals and adding 16 assists for a total of 25 points.

The Predators on the other hand started the season poorly, but wasted no time to make it back to the playoff race. In fact, Nashville won eight of their last nine games and climbed all the way to the sixth place in the Western Conference. Especially the Predators’ effort at the defensive end of the ice has been very solid, led by the performance of goaltender Pekka Rinne who hold Nashville’s opponents to just 2.3 goals per contest and put up a .916 save percentage. Considering how Barry Trotz’s squad has been playing over the last weeks, the Blackhawks could have more problems on Saturday night than most fans might anticipate. Most importantly, the Predators improved significantly and have shown that their defensive energy can lead to a hard-nosed battle versus any team in the league.

You can watch all games of the Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of NHL live streaming.