NHL Preview Roundup: Nashville Predators vs Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild vs Colorado Avalanche
Nashville Predators at Chicago Blackhawks (8:30 p.m. ET)
The Nashville Predators pounded the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 and notched up another win on Monday with a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets to take their winning run to three games.
Now they will again face the Blackhawks at home on Tuesday and a victory will put them on equal points with Chicago.
The Predators are sixth in the Western Conference with a 29-16-4 record and just two points behind the Blackhawks who occupy fifth spot.
It will be a tough game for the Blackhawks as they will be missing their talisman Jonathan Toews for the encounter.
Toews played in the last game between the two sides through injury but this time will not be able to take to the rink.
However, Chicago did have a break between their games, while the Predators will be playing consecutively, one game after another.
"We've got some time off and some extra days there. Hopefully he can progress," coach, Joel Quenneville told the Blackhawks' official website.
"Time is in our favor with the whole week off. There's no good time to get injured, but it's all part of the season. Everybody deals with it."
The Blackhawks have home advantage and the Predators will be hampered by exhaustion and will be favourites to avenge their big 5-2 defeat and regain momentum.
Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche (9:00 p.m. ET)
A battle for the eighth spot in the Western Conference will be played between the two sides on Tuesday but the Avalanche will be more confident of picking up the win.
Minnesota Wild has won just two games in the New Year and ended a losing run of four games straight with a mammoth 5-2 victory on Saturday over the Dallas Stars.
The Wild 23-18-7 are currently a single point behind the Avalanche occupying the eighth spot in the Western Conference and have the best opportunity to gain some momentum and regain the advantage in the race to the playoffs.
"It's a team that we are right with in the playoff race, and it's a huge game," Wild centre Matt Cullen said.
Colorado have had a better start to 2012 winning five games out of ten but lost out to the surging Anaheim Ducks on Sunday by a close 3-2 margin.
"I thought we deserved a better fate," Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. "We obviously played a good game. We had a couple of breakdowns that they capitalized on."
The loss keeps Colorado just about in the playoff zone with a 26-22-2 record and a win is a must on Tuesday if they want to consolidate their advantage.
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