Bringing in the New Year at home
Home games against the Chicago Blackhawks always bring out an extra intensity from the fans. This will be the first home meeting for the Predators against the Blackhawks of 2021-22 and one of four matchups with them overall.
I’ll be interested to see if this game ends up being a primetime game on ESPN or TNT as it will be the same day as the Winter Classic. Since it’s a holiday from work for most, I would expect the NHL to take advantage of that with some nationally televised primetime games on this day, and the Blackhawks and Predators always seem to get a couple national games against each other.
The Predators played a major role on why the Blackhawks missed the playoffs in the shortened season last year by beating them seven of eight times. Let’s keep that domination going, but something tells me this will be a much more competitive series in 2021-22.