Predators Give Away a Point, Fall in SO to the Blackhawks

The Nashville Predators traveled to Chicago to face the Blackhawks in their last regular season meeting. The game would also determine first place in the Central Division where the Blackhawks currently lead the Predators by two points. The Predators are 1-1-1 against the Hawks in their previous matchups.

Pekka Rinne was in net for the Predators while the Hawks had Corey Crawford between the pipes.

The Predators jumped on the Hawks in the first period, outshooting them 18-12 and carrying the play for much of the period.

Roman Josi staked the Predators to a 1-0 lead at 11:50 with a blast from the face off circle just after the Predators had killed of a Blackhawks penalty.

Colin Wilson battled in front of the net and got a shot from close in that Crawford could not control. Craig Smith followed Wilson's shot a put a wrister inside the post to make it 2-0 at 17:12.

James Neal made it 3-0 off a pass from Wilson that bounced off his leg and past Crawford at 7:28 of the second period. Neal drove to the net and created traffic in front of Crawford and put himself in perfect position to deflect the shot from Wilson.

The Hawks cut the lead to 3-1 as Brad Richards scored just after the Predators had killed off a penalty at 10:33.

The Blackhawks pulled to within 1 at 15:38 as the puck was slid in under Rinne by Andrew Shaw in a scramble around the goal crease.

The Predators saw their lead evaporate as Marian Hossa tied the game on the power play at 17:43. Hossa wired a shot over the shoulder of Rinne into the top corner.

Just as the Predators had jumped on the Hawks in the first period, the Hawks responded with the significant push back of their own. The Predators were dominated after their third goal, registering just one shot on goal in 11 minutes of the second period.

James Neal scored on the power play with just under a minute to play in the second period as Filip Forsberg took a shot that was kicked out by Crawford and on to the stick of Neal, who buried the puck into the open net at 19:04 of the second.

A good response by the Predators, but one that should not have been necessary.

Chicago tied the game with 1:13 left in the game as a shot through traffic could not be controlled by Rinne and Brian Bickell slammed home the rebound.

In the overtime, both teams had some chances and Rinne in particular had to come up with some big saves. Neither team could find the back of the net and the game would be decided in a shootout.

In the shootout, Jonathan Toews tallied the only goal and the Blackhawks won the game 5-4.

Some observations:

• Colin Wilson continues his strong play. I have spoken about his speed and puck handling, but the Predators second goal was a result of Wilson going to the hard area in front of the net and battling to get the shot off. Wilson has shown that he is not afraid to battle in front of the net, and that is a dimension that the Predators need.
•  Roman Josi is just smooth. He is a solid defender that has great speed, deft puck handling skills, and a deceptively good shot. When he carries the puck and joins the rush, it's like having another highly skilled forward on the ice.
• James Neal elevates his game against elite competition. He has 5 goals in 4 games against the Blackhawks this season. I really like the chemistry that is developing between Neal and Wilson.
• Up 3-0 and seemingly in control of this game, the Predators got back on their heels and let the Blackhawks take the play to them for the bulk of the second period. This type of play- going into a shell and letting the opponent dictate the play- is not the way you can play against an elite team like the Hawks. When the Predators are attacking and playing their game, they are the equal of any team in the League. When they sit back as they did for a majority of the second, they can get blown out of the barn.
• The Hawks have a very potent power play. The Predators did a good job on the penalty kill tonight, killing 4 of 5 Hawks power plays in regulation.
• Rinne gave up some goals with a lot of traffic in front of him. I can't fault him for those goals as the Hawks had a lot of traffic and a lot of whacks at the puck from in close. The defense has to do a better job of clearing the front of the net and helping him out. That said, Hossa did beat Rinne cleanly with a blast on the power play.

The Predators gave away a point tonight. this was a game that they should have locked down and put away but didn't.

Learn from it.

My three stars:

1. James Neal

2. Colin Wilson

3. Jonathan Toews

Predators Fall to the Blackhawks 3-1

The Nashville Predators relinquished first place in the Central Division by dropping a 3-1 decision to the Chicago Blackhawks at the Bridgestone Arena.

The Hawks took a 2-0 lead into the third period off goals by Brandon Saad and Marian Hossa before Colin Wilson answered just 34 seconds into the third  with a wicked wrist shot that beat Scott Darling.

The Hawks cemented their first regulation win of the season over the Predators with a Hossa empty net goal.

Some observations:

• I can't fault Predators netminder Pekka Rinne for either of the goals that he gave up. Saad's goal looked to hit the stick of defenseman Roman Josi and the shot whistled over his shoulder. The second goal to Hossa was caused by Colin Wilson being late to get back into defensive coverage. Rinne gave up a rebound and Hossa had an open net into which to shoot the puck.
• The Predators puck support in the offensive zone was just about as bad as I have seen it all season. Often, a puck carrier was out manned and had no one coming to support. This stymied the offense all night.
• This was the Hawks first regulation win over the Predators in three meetings this season.
• The Predators were once again weak in the face off dot, especially in the offensive zone. The Predators won 44% of their faceoffs and often lost them in the offensive zone allowing the hawks to get the puck down ice and short circuiting any Predators offensive threat. Mike fisher won 15 of 29 faceoffs for 52%. Mike Ribeiro was 8 of 19 (42%); Matt Cullen was 2 of 6 (33%); Calle Jarnkrok was 1 of 6 (17%); Olli Jokinen was 3 of 4 (75%); and Colin Wilson was 1 of 3 (33%). this is an area that has been weak all season and needs to improve.
• Colin Wilson continues his strong play. He had probably the best jump of any of the Predators forwards and made it a game with his goal early in the third period. Wilson has 8 points (5G-3A) in 10 games since returning from an injury on November 13.
• The Predators previous 7 games had been decided by one goal. This is the first game to be decided by more than one goal since the Predators defeated the maple Leafs 9-2.
• To the Predators fans that sold their tickets to Blackhawk fans- shame on you. I know that you made a lot of money for your ticket, but this is our barn and you allowed drunken bandwagon fans of a division rival to occupy our barn. I have no words- at least no words that I can print- for you.

Frankly, the boys got outplayed from start to finish in this one. The Hawks are a very good team and we needed to bring our best tonight to defeat them.

We didn't.

So now we begin a road trip that takes us out west for some winnable games.

Time to get back to business.

My three stars:

1. Scott Darling

2. Marian Hossa

3. Colin Wilson

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

Predators Hand the Hawks a 5-4 Victory

The Chicago Blackhawks visited the Bridgestone Arena looking for their first regulation win against the Nashville Predators.

They got it courtesy of some sloppy play by the Predators.

Chicago won the game 5-4 in a wild contest that saw the Hawks jump out to a 4-0 lead only to see the Predators claw their way back and tie the game at 4 in the third period.

Some observations from the game:

Pekka Rinne was in net for the Predators, and he was victimized by the play of the defense in front of him. The Hawks scored the first goal of the game when a centering pass across the top of the crease went off the skate of Hal Gill and past Rinne with the Hawks on the power play.

Chicago had a lead of 1-0 at the end of the first period. The Predators would open the second period a man down as David Legwand was in the box for hooking. The Hawks tallied again on the power play as the Predators defense lost Dave Bolland. Bolland was left alone to take a pass from Marian Hossa and his one timer gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead.

Patrick Kane beat Francis Buillon down the ice and beat Rinne five hole on a breakaway. Another defensive breakdown and another Hawks goal.

Viktor Stalberg once again beat Buillon down the ice and scored off the rebound of his shot to give the Hawks a 4-0 lead.

At this point, the wheels had come off for the Predators and it looked like the Hawks were going to exact a measure of revenge for the 6-1 drubbing the Predators had put on the Hawks in their last meeting.

Up to this point, the Predators had not been able to rattle Corey Crawford, although their had been a good deal of traffic and activity by the Predators in front of Crawford. Crawford even got some punches in on Paul Gaustad when he was checked into Crawford in the first period. Crawford still looked in control, and the Predators were having a difficult time solving him.

That changed when the Predators kept firing pucks at the net and getting traffic in front of Crawford.

The Predators made it 4-1 at 9:29 of the second period when Marty Erat tallied on the power play. It was a simple play, as Erat took a shot from the slot with traffic in front and the screened Crawford never saw the shot.

Just under a minute later, Shea Weber notched the first of his two goals on the night with a wrist shot from the blue line that beat Crawford. Once again, there was traffic in front and Crawford could not pick up the puck.

In the third period, the Predators pulled within one as Alexander Radulov split Brent Seabrook and Sean O'Donnell and beat Crawford with a sweet backhand move at 4:38.

Shea Weber tied the game on the power play at 7:19 of the third with a blast from the blue line that Crawford never saw. Patric Hornqvist was screening in front and did a great job of taking away Crawford's eyes on the play.

Tied at 4, this was a game the Predators could take. Crawford and more than a few of the Hawks had a deer in the headlights look. Now the Predators needed to score that next goal.

Instead, it was the Hawks that tallied when Brent Seabrook scored to give the Hawks the final margin of victory. On the play, David Legwand got beat coming back and Seabrook took a nice pass from Andrew Shaw and beat Rinne with a one timer.

The Hawks are too good of a team to spot 4 goals. The fact that the Predators fought back and had a chance to win the game speaks volumes about their heart, but their play through the first 30 minutes of the contest caused them to expend an enormous amount of energy getting back into the game.

Their undisciplined play, taking 5 penalties and giving up 2 power play goals certainly did not help the effort.

The game winning goal was particularly galling. Legwand did not hustle back and left Seabrook open for the game winner. For a veteran, this play by Legwand was extremely disappointing.

The Predators finished the season series with the Hawks at 4-1-1. With 98 points, they sit one point in front of Detroit and Chicago, who tied the Detroit Red Wings with this win.

This game proved that the Predators can come back against any team. It also proved that they cannot play loose in the defensive zone and expect to win any game.

The Predators have 3 games remaining, and those 6 points are going to be important for the final seeding in the West. The Predators have to go out and capture those points.

And not hand any games to their opponents.

My three stars:

1. Shea Weber

2. Brent Seabrook

3. Ryan Suter

Predators Pound the Blackhawks 5-2

The Chicago fans in attendance in Nashville clapped and cheered during the national anthem.

Predator fans cheered when it was most important: as the clock wound down on a dominating 5-2 win over their Central Division rivals.

The Predators controlled the Hawks throughout the game, winning puck battles and stifling a very potent offense with an aggressive forecheck and solid defense to go with the solid goaltending of netminder Pekka Rinne.

The game opened as an up and down affair with both teams attempting to establish their offense, but unable to get any consistency. Both defenses were working hard in their zone and did not let either team establish a flow to their offensive effort.

That changed at 15:05 of the first period as Marian Hossa broke in on Shea Weber. Hossa made a great move to turn Weber around and slid a backhand from the slot under the pads of Rinne to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.

That lead lasted 2:14 as the Predators tied the game with a power play goal. Ryan Ellis took a shot that Chicago netminder Corey Crawford kicked out with his pad directly to Craig Smith at the side of the net. Smith buried the shot over a sprawling Crawford to tie the game at 17:19. For the rookie, this was his 10th goal of the season, 6 of which have come on the power play.

The period ended tied at one, but the Predators had out shot the Hawks 7-2, although the Hawks hit a post in the period.. Throughout that period, then Predators won puck battles, were strong on the boards, and were thwarting the Hawks in the neutral zone.

This is the Hawks, and they possess an explosive offense. This effort in the first period was going to have to continue in the second if the Predators were going to secure a critical win against a team they were chasing in the standings.

Not only did that effort continue for the Predators, it got better.

The Predators continued their strong play, and it felt as if it would just be a matter of time before they broke through with another score.

Sergei Kostitsyn scored off a rebound, but that goal was waved off as it was ruled that Kostitsyn hit the puck with a high stick. No score and no break through against the Hawks.

Yet.

That break through score came at 5:15 of the second, but not how anyone expected it to occur. Kevin Klein took the puck in over the center red line and flipped a puck toward the net. It landed on edge and took a high bounce over the shoulder of Crawford to give the Predators a 2-0 lead.

Good things happen when you put the puck on net.

Taking a cue from Klein, the Predators swarmed the Chicago net and pressured the Hawks defense and Crawford. Their effort was rewarded at 11:14 of the second as David Legwand drove the net and forced Crawford to slide to his left. Legwand deftly slipped the puck to Colin Wilson, who was alone at the right side of the crease, and Wilson knocked the puck into the open net to give the Predators a 3-1 lead.

Roman Josi bodied Hossa off the puck and had a breakaway that Crawford stopped. Josi made a strong play to take Hossa off the puck and then showed his speed as he charged down the ice. More and More, I am impressed with his play.

Sergei Kostitsyn finally got his goal as he broke in on Crawford and deked Crawford to the ice. Kostitsyn lifted the puck over the prone goaltender for a 4-1 Predators lead at 16:03 of the second period. That goal sent Crawford to and early exit and Ray Emery came in to take over in net.

The Predators had controlled the second period, much as they had the first. The shots were 11-9 for the Predators, but they had a decided territorial advantage. When they Hawks did get shots on net, Rinne cleaned up the scoring chances. Chicago hit a crossbar in the second, but their quality scoring chances were limited by the Predators defense.

It was expected that the Hawks would have a push in the final 20 minutes, and they did just that. Hossa struck again as Roman Josi was caught pinching in the offensive zone and could not get back into the play. Hossa took an outlet pass from Niklas Hjarmalsson and beat the defense back into the offensive zone, His backhand shot beat Rinne five hole to make it 4-2 just 48 seconds into the third period.

Whatever momentum the Hawks had from that goal was snuffed out as Kevin Klein fired a slap shot from the blue line that was re-directed by Patric Hornqvist to make it 5-2 Predators at 3:08 of the third period.

Chicago out shot the Predators 11-5 in the third period, but most of those shots were from the perimeter as the Predators did a good job of clogging the shooting lanes and forcing the Hawks to the outside.

As the clock wound down, the Predator faithful stood and cheered when it counted most- a victory over a Central Division foe that they were chasing in the standings.

With this win, the Predators have won 8 of the 10 games they have played in January. This is critical, because their opponents in the Central have been winning as well. As for how the Predators their Central Division opponents? They are 9-2-2 so far this season.

The Predators lost Francis Buillon near the end of the first period and played the rest of the game with 5 defensemen. There were some mix and match combinations on the blue line throughout the rest of the game, but this unit played very well in limiting the chances of the potent Hawks forwards.

The Hawks lost Jonathan Toews for the third period as he went out with an injury, believed to be an aggravation of his wrist injury suffered in the game against the Panthers the previous night.

The Predators are a team that is growing before our eyes. They are gelling into a solid team that is getting balanced scoring and solid defense to go with their exceptional goaltending.

This is a formula for pounding the teams they face.

My three stars:

1. Kevin Klein

2. Sergei Kostitsyn

3. Marian Hossa

Impotent Predators Fall to Blackhawks 3-0

The Chicago Blackhawks evened their season series with the Predators at three apiece with a 3-0 shutout at the Bridgestone Arena.Tomas Kopecky, Marian Hossa, and Patrick Sharp (empty netter) scored for the Hawks. No one showed up for the Predators on offense.

The shot totals for this game showed that the Predators outshot the Blackhawks by a 31-25 margin, but the Predators rarely made Corey Crawford work hard for a save. Yes, there was some desperation in the waning minutes of the contest, and Crawford had to make some key saves late. The fact remains that for the most, the Predators shot the puck right into the chest of Crawford and generated rare traffic in front of the net.

Pekka Rinne made some outstanding saves for the Predators, and without his effort, the score would have been much worse.

I feel badly for Pekka. He is an outstanding netminder that is getting absolutely zero offensive support in the last couple of games.

The Predators have fallen from 4th in the Western Conference to 8th, and run the risk of playing themselves out of the playoffs. The troubling aspect of the Predators play of late has been the impotent offensive effort. The offense has not challenged in the last two games- both shutout losses- and has struggled over their last 8 games, tallying a meager 12 goals over that span.

Here are the damning totals for the game tonight: Erat 3 SOG; Legwand 2 SOG; Fisher 2 SOG; Wilson 1 SOG; Dumont 1 SOG; Spaling 1 SOG; Sullivan, Tootoo, Kostitsyn, Spaling- all 0 SOG. The top line for the Predators mustered only five shots on goal.

This team is successful when they shoot the puck, crash the net, and score dirty goals. Inexplicably, the Predators have stopped doing that. This team has developed a mentality of pass first and shoot only when you have to, and boys, this is a formula for an early tee time in April.

This is a team that has currently lost its identity. There is not an edge to their play; the grit is gone. They have gotten away from shooting the puck and generating traffic. Yes, I know they outshot the Hawks, but they did not put pressure on the net. Traffic in front of these shots and in front of Crawford was virtually non-existent, and Crawford was given a clean look at the puck most of the night. With the offensive make up of this team, this type of play will not yield success.

So what to do?

In my view, this team has to shoot the puck. Stop passing up shots. More importantly, they have to crash the net and generate the traffic in front of an opposing goaltender. Make his life miserable. right now, they have it easy when they play the Predators.

Perhaps more importantly, this team had better develop a sense of urgency. They are risking missing the playoffs with this kind of play.

This is the playoffs right now guys.

And the question that all your fans are asking is "How badly do you want it?"

Frankly, I don't know the answer to that question.

I do know that you have the next few games to answer that question.

My three stars:

1. Tomas Kopecky

2. Patrick Kane

3. Corey Crawford