Neal's Hat Trick Leads the Predators to 3-2 Win Over the Blackhawks

How about that trade for James Neal?

The Predators, who acquired Neal from Pittsburgh to add scoring punch, got what they were looking for as Neal had a natural hat trick to lead the Predators to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Bridgestone Arena.

Ben Smith had given the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 12:21 of the first period by beating Pekka Rinne with a flip over his pads from in close.

Neal answered by beating Antti Raanta from the left face off circle with a snap shot over the stick at 19:12 of the first period.

Neal gave the Predators a 2-1 lead 16:12 of the second period as he blasted a shot  from the right side of the slot that Raanta had no chance. Neal showed that he can scorch a shot, and although he was unscreened, Raanta could not get the glove up fast enough on that heater.

Neal gave the Predators a 3-1 lead at 1:52 of the third period as Raanta could not control the shot from Ryan Ellis from the left face off circle. The puck trickled out to the right side and Neal was driving the net. He was able to tap the puck into the open net before Raanta could get back into position.

Chicago is a talented team and everyone in the building knew they would be making a strong push in the third period.

They did just that, out shooting the Predators 17-6. Rinne made some incredible saves to thwart some very scoring chances by the Hawks.

The Blackhawks made it interesting when Andrew Shaw knocked a puck out of mid-air and over the shoulder of Rinne at 12:36 of the third (it looked for all the world like that puck was played with a high stick, but the officials let the play stand).

Rinne was called upon to shut the door, and he and the defense did so in the face of some good pressure by the Hawks, including the final 1:25 with Raanta pulled for an extra attacker.

Some observations:

• Going back to last season, the Predators are 5-2-1 against the Blackhawks. The Predators are 43-39-2-9 all time against the Hawks. They are 24-16-6 against the Blackhawks at Bridgestone Arena.

• The line of Neal, Ribeiro, and Forsberg has become a legitimate threat for the Predators. With the hat trick tonight, Neal leads the team with 5 goals. Ribeiro has picked up points in five straight games. Forsberg leads the team in points (1G-6A) and assists, with 6.

• The last hat trick for the Predators came on January 1, 2012 by Sergei Kostitsyn.

• Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford did not make the trip with team due to an upper body injury.

• The Predators power play was 0-2, continuing their struggles. I will say that the two power plays looked much better tonight with more movement and traffic in front of Raanta. This is an area that the team obviously has to improve upon.

• The Predators committed only one penalty, which they successfully killed. One of the keys to winning was to not give the potent Hawks power play opportunities and tonight the Predators played very disciplined hockey.

• Rinne was outstanding, making some great saves, especially in the third period when the Hawks turned up the pressure. He is playing with confidence and the team feeds off that confidence.

• The Predators continue to struggle in the face off circle, winning only 45% of the draws. Paul Gaustad was 50% (12 of 24), the best among the forwards that took more than one face off. Mike Ribeiro was a woeful 5 of 16.

• The Hawks had not given up a third period goal all season until tonight.

This was a huge win for the Predators, not only because it was against a divisional foe, but because this is a win that the team can build upon. It has to boost their confidence and let them know they can not only play with the best teams in the NHL, but they can win those games.

It feels good to get this win, but it is just a step in a long season.

But this is learning it can take those steps.

My three stars:

1. James Neal

2. Pekka Rinne

3. fillip Forsberg

• The Predators are the only team not to have a regulation loss this season.

Predators Win a Wild One Against the Blackhawks

Two games to go in the season, games that are meaningless for the Nashville Predators. The first of those games would be at Bridgestone Arena against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Would the Predators mail it in against the powerful Hawks?

Absolutely not!

The Predators won a wild affair 7-5 in front of a capacity crowd that was almost evenly split between fans of both teams.

Until a Shea Weber empty net goal sent the hawks fans scrambling for the exits.

Both teams combined to score 7 goals in a wild third period. The Predators scored twice in the final minute to seal the win.

Chicago scored the first two goals of the game as Ben Smith and Marian Hossa tallied for the Blackhawks.

The ice was decidedly tilted in favor of the hawks until Craig Smith scored a beautiful goal off his faceoff win. he went top corner on Antti Raanta to make it 2-1 at the end of the first period.

Ryan Ellis tied the game at the 6:32 mark of the second period.

Matt Carey scored his first NHL goal to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead at 13:16 of the second period.

That set up a wild third period.

Matt Cullen tied the game, chipping in a rebound of a Mike Fisher shot. Colin Wilson put the Predators in the lead for the first time as he slapped home a rebound of a Shea Weber shot.

The game was tied at 4 by Jeremy Morin at the 8:00 minute mark of the third period.

Paul Gaustad gave the Predators a 5-4 lead, taking a pass from Craig Smith and blowing a shot from the slot past Raanta.

The Predators could not hold the lead as Andrew Shaw beat Pekka Rinne with a slap shot at 18:25 of the third period.

Looking like the game would go to overtime, the Predators refused to relent and pressured Raanta and the Hawks defense. That effort paid off as Patric Hornqvist drove the net a potted a rebound of a Matt Cullen shot at 19:01 of the third period.

Shea Weber sealed the win with an empty net goal at 19:46.

Some observations:

• The Hawks had a tremendous advantage in zone time in the first period. The Predators rarely visited the offensive zone and Rinne was forced to deal with a lot of traffic in front of his net. The Hawks generally created havoc in front of the Predators netminder throughout the game and did a good job of taking away Rinne's vision on some of their goals. Rinne was not especially sharp tonight, but dis make some big saves during the course of the game.

• Raanta had a relatively easy first period, but when the Predators started getting shots on goal and driving the net, he was unable to handle the pressure. The Predators did a good job in the final 40 minutes of getting shots on goal and driving the net for rebounds.

• Patric Hornqvist has a goal and an assist tonight to give him 52 points for the season, a career high. Hornqvist has 17 points (9G-8A) in his last 10 games.

• Shea Weber also set a career high of 55 points (22G-33A) with a goal and an assist tonight.

• Weber joins Hornqvist and Craig Smith as team leaders in goals, each with 22.

• Pekka Rinne picked up his 10th win of the year.

• Marian Hossa did not play for the Blackhawks after the first period.

• The Predators are 8-1-2 in their last 11 games. The captured the season series with the Hawks, winning 4 of 5 contests.

This was a resilient, character win for the Predators. They could have easily rolled over, going down 2 goals in the first period.

Instead, the battled and never quit.

This is something to build upon in the coming season.

My three stars:

1. Patric Hornqvist

2. Craig Smith

3. Paul Gaustad