Blackhawks Come Up Short In Nashville
After a dominant win at home on Monday night, the Blackhawks had to travel to Nashville where they were swept out of the 2017 postseason.
Early, the Preds were bringing it. Filip Forsberg beat Anton Forsberg to give Nashville a 1-0 lead 3:16 into the game.
But the Hawks fought back – something we didn’t see in April.
Less than two minutes after the Forsberg goal, Alex DeBrincat saved an icing and fed Tommy Wingels to tie the game.
DeBrincat stayed hot after his first career hat trick on Monday, and after a prolonged point drought Patrick Sharp picked up the second assist on the Wingels goal.
Chicago had to kill a Cody Franson penalty in the last couple minutes and Duncan Keith took an unsportsmanlike penalty after the final horn, giving Nashville a power play to open the second. The Hawks had a 14-7 shot advantage after 20 minutes.
The Hawks successfully killed the Keith penalty but Austin Watson gave Nashville a 2-1 lead at 3:48 into the second. Chicago would get a late power play in the second with PK Subban in the box but couldn’t convert.
After 40 minutes, Chicago had a 25-20 shot advantage but trailed 2-1 on the scoreboard.
Patrick Kane got fined earlier on Tuesday but frustration caught up to him early in the third. He was sent to the box for high-sticking and Nashville made the Hawks pay. Roman Josi extended the lead to 3-1 while Kane was in the box. It appeared the Josi shot was redirected off Brent Seabrook’s skate.
Seven minutes later, the Hawks would claw back into the game with a goal from Lance Bouma.
John Hayden set up the goal, Bouma’s second of the season. Jan Rutta also picked up an assist on the Bouma goal.
Wingels went to the box at 12:48 but the Hawks were able to kill off the penalty.
At 15:37, DeBrincat was tripped by Josi and the Blackhawks got their third power play of the night. After 1:35 of empty power play time, coach Joel Quenneville pulled Forsberg skated to the bench for an extra attacker with 2:45 left on the game clock.
Nashville killed the penalty and Forsberg had to come back out for a neutral zone faceoff, but quickly retreated to the bench once the Hawks got control of the puck.
Chicago had a series of attempts in Pekka Rinne’s kitchen in the final minutes with the extra man on the ice but couldn’t beat Nashville’s netminder.
For the third time in as many games already this season, a game between the Blackhawks and Predators was decided by one goal. Unfortunately for Chicago, this round went to Nashville.
Seabrook had the lowest ice time on the Hawks’ blue line, skating only 14:29 in the loss. Connor Murphy skated 16:42 and led the Hawks with three blocked shots. Cody Franson skated 18:46 and finished tied with Kane for the team lead with six shots on net.
Richard Panik, who’s been dormant for some time, skated only 8:14 and was minus-one in the game. He had the lowest ice time on the Chicago roster on Tuesday night. Hayden skated 9:17 but led Chicago with five hits and added a blocked shot with his assist on the Bouma goal.
Jonathan Toews won 12 of 22 at the dot while Artem Anisimov won nine of 19 faceoffs. The Ryan Hartman experiment at center continued; he won two of nine draws in the game. Wingels won half of his ten faceoffs.
Forsberg had a decent night in net for Chicago, stopping 29 of 32 in the loss.
The Hawks host Dallas on Thursday night.
Showed some fight. Had a sluggish stretch and still managed to keep it a one goal game.
Patrick – don’t be stupid.
Good effort by the Hawks as a team. Seabrook was noticeable in a bad way tonight despite only 14 plus minutes. Turnover machine plus pulling up on josi slap shot goal right after Wingels gives it up on a block like a warrior. Rinne was the difference otherwise we win this game.
No shame in that loss, 2nd of back to back, Crawford night off Forsberg played well. Lots of chances with little luck coulda had 5 or 6. Even if they caught a break on review looked like interference from my slant. Panik was somewhere else tonight, be trade bait if he keeps that up.
Love the crosschecks they let other team get away with. 12/38. In the 3 games with NAS which ever team played better didn’t win 2-1/2-1/3-2 weird.
Played good again that’s what matters. That make up believe call in the TB game better not make a diff. in the 1/2/3or4 seed placing in div. We get our ass to 10 over .500 the 1/2/3/4 seed might be in our div.
Puts us at 4-1-1 in this 7 of 10 against top 10. Before we started a 7-3/6-3-1 in this would be good. Then we can go on a roll.
Well get our fair share of wins in these last 4 games.
good effort, poor results, can’t be a contender without beating teams like Stl, Nash, & Minny. Kings are also playing well the Hawks face them this week too! Close but not good enough
Forsberg didn’t play poorly but Rinne was the difference tonight.
Kane needs to be smarter than lose his cool and take a bad penalty that ended up giving them the winning goal. So does Keith who should know better than take a stupid unsportsmanlike penalty. The Preds are difficult enough to beat without 2 veterans putting the team down a man with undisciplined penalties.
Beauty pass by DCat and Hayden is looking better all the time.
Kane like pass from DCat-Forsling looks good.
Sorry but Seabrook not good enough-and 2 game own goal streak.
Watched with a friend who’s not a Hawk fan and he questioned that’s Brent Seabrook? Yes unfortunately his skills have regressed that badly.
Love Seabs but he’s hurting this team, especially if he plays many games in a week-
It was a strong effort by the Blackhawks. Bad or untimely things are still plaguing the team. A 2 on 1 was thwarted when a ref got in Kane’s way. A tripping no-call that would’ve helped. That sissy unsportsmanlike penalty on Keith. C’mon!!! Again, the 4th line was solid. The 3rd line was solid. 1 & 2 were kept down. I don’t like that. Other teams shut down lines are doing just that to our top 2 lines. Panik is playing his way off the ice. Why not put Sharp at center and Hartman on wing. Either that or give Kero some ice time at center. Maybe Hartman should get a bump to the top line, sit Panik, Kero centers DeBrincat and Sharp. Either that or give Hayden that bump to the top line. It’s missing that extra effort. Defensively, a solid game. Yes, Seabrook had a puck go off his skate. That doesn’t mean he’s hurting the team. His ice time has been cut…dramatically. He’s still serviceable. He’s just not where he used to be. Age is a mutha!!! I’m sure Q now sees this and is adjusting for it.
Great third period. Schmaltz, Sharp, Wingels and Franson with grade A chances and it would not go in.
Fact : Nashville is better than us. Rinne got over the hump in the first round last year and now thrives pretty much every time he plays the Hawks. Sadly the tide has turned as Chicago owned Nashville from 2010-2015.
Hawks are 2-5 against Central Division teams. Very problematic.
Realistically we might only be a wild card team at best. No shame in that.
Has anyone seen Richard (Flash in the) Panik ?
Gustafsson out of Icehogs lineup for awhile upper body (possible concussion).
Kane takes a dumb penalty and Saad collapses his side of pk box leaving backside wide open and people trying to find a way to blame Seabrook. Obviously he has his issues and is struggling, maybe shouldn’t play back to back games but trying to give Forsberg a clear look and Josi with what look a possibly a little bit of misfire going off his skate is just shitty luck.
Could be a 4 seed which is officially a wildcard seed. Depending on other div we could have a better record then those teams which really means were in that 4 or 5 seed area when they used to do the 1-8 seeds.
Remember the sch hasn’t evened out yet. It will during games 20-60.
Ian re- watch the first goal -7 -when the goal is going in—Seabs is constantly getting turned around with poor positioning and ends up taking no one -it’s a trend-
I mentioned this after last game-own goals happen, it’s his ability to adjust his body in front of the net and take the body and stop chances that I’m noticing. It’s as if he gets disoriented.
Sometimes the goalie will bail him out (Crow has quite often) but it’s happening more and more.
Give it to christmas, after kings the schedule is pretty favorable. 2 days off at Caps then 3 home games against Sabres, Coyotes & Panthers followed by 3 division games @ Jets & Stars and host Wild between them and @ NJ with no back to backs or l9ng stretches off then the break so a chance to be in good position by then. When they play Vegas or Oilers in early January is halfway point of season so will see how 50 point mark looks then.
We only played STL once (and that was after a 4/5/or 6 days off between games)
NAS 1-2 (2-1/2-1/3-2) I think we out played them in two of them.
MIN 1-1 I think we out played them and first one even (except wonderful offsides call)
Want to include East PIT 2-0 TB 0-0-1
I would rather be the typical 4or5 seed (in the ole 1-8 seed thing) then be 1 seed/presidents and caost/resting.
The personality of this team has changed. You no longer feel like they are out of the game. It really felt like they would tie it. Q needs to have them do puck elevation drills. They shot too many in to Rinne’s pads at ice level in scrums. ADB can be exempt as he shot one over the net and looked to the heavens. He did that a couple weeks ago too. I don’t care who they are, I would have sat Keith and Kane for those preposterous penalties. Hartman would still be picking splinters out of his ass if he had done that. Rinne has been great against the Hawks for a while now, but he’s had some good breaks. He will mean revert at some point and the Hawks will get some puck luck. Hopefully in the playoffs. It was a fun game to watch. High intensity and high skill. Hayden is a beast!
It was a good effort, but still a loss. We have to start winning the games within the division. Dallas is back to back. Got to win those games.
Preds got the bounces needed to win, Hawks didn’t bury quality chances especially Kane. Considering this was the 2nd night of a back to back this was a game that was close and could have gone either way. Hawks make Rinne look good it seems every time they play by shooting pucks low instead of top end of the net where the openings are. Hawks need to get more guys to the net as screens. Rinne comes way out to cut angles.
Good call Mo regarding crosschecking Preds. I watched the Sunday game against the Canes and they were pounding those guys with no calls made.
Dumb penalties in close games can take you down as Kane and Keith illustrated last night. Sure Kane was frustrated with some missed scoring opportunities, but he is a veteran player that knows better.
I agree with ER’s recent comments. Right now Preds and Blues are both better than the Hawks. Both of those teams have done well within divisional contests and the Hawks haven’t. That table needs to change direction big time if this Hawks team is going to make the playoffs.
Hawks skated hard last night on a back to back and again it was encouraging to see the 4th and 3rd line with some solid push. Yes, it is essential for Panik to get his game back in a hurry. This guy is really squeezing the stick. The scoring chances have been there, but he is not bearing down. As I have said many times regarding Panik, his overall game improves when he plays a heavy physical game. If he goes in that direction the goals will come.
I was really hoping for at least 1 point last night. Close doesn’t count. I still can’t get that playoff beat down from last year out of my head when I see the Preds play the Hawks. A lasting scar I’m afraid.
Lets Go Hawks!
Don’t play the Blues again until March 18th and twice in April play Avs and Jets 3 times so after March 1st also.
Only 2 divisions games in Feb. Stars and Wild, with 3 in January only other game with Preds on Jan. 3oth plus Wild and Jets. The 3 with Stars and Jets, Wild before Christmas.9 5 back to backs after Mar. 1st and a stretch off in Jan. 14th to 2oth and Feb. 24 to Mar. 1st.
I noticed the uncalled cross checks also. Right in front of the ref.
Since this was a back to back with a depleted ducks team first, why not put Forsberg against the ducks and Crawford against a much better Nashville team?
Do not fret. Look at how our Hawks played last night, compared to last year’s playoffs. In the playoffs, the Hawks could not skate with Nashville. Last night, the Hawks outplayed Nashville but the Preds got more breaks. The Hawks are faster and younger than last year. They have elevated their game in the past two weeks and continue to kick the Pens butt.
Major need: another good pivot. Apologize for even mentioning this, as all of you know this. Hopefully, this will come from within the system or a smart trade.
Good observation about how the Hawks have closed the gap vs the Preds, Original6Hawkey.
Ian, your schedule ramblings make it seem like you are the spirit brother of Morrison. Good information but really hard to digest.
The GMs need to have another meeting to clamp down and call all the crosschecking that goes on (especially to the lower back) like they are trying to do with the slashing to the hands. Guys in the NHL use their sticks on guys especially behind the play, and it has nothing to do with playing the puck, way too much.
The Hawks played well enough to win last night, but Rinne played better than Forsberg. While I don’t believe moral victories have any value, I do believe trending in the right direction does and even though the Preds won the game the Hawks are still trending in the right direction. Even after the loss, I’m more optimistic about the team than I was a few weeks ago. That said, the Hawks have to start winning more games against division rivals.
Good game to watch. Loved when both teams were flying up and down the ice.
Forsberg was solid. Disappointing penalties by Kane and Keith. No reason for that. 4th line was fun to watch.
But a lost is still a lost.
The tough part to swallow is that your 4th line scored two goals. I know they don’t keep stats for that kind of thing, but the record of NHL teams when that happens has to be staggeringly way above .500.
It was basically a shutout minus two goals by a line that hardly ever scores. The problem we have with the Preds is that their big, mobile, athletic defensemen, especially the top 4, shut down our top two scoring lines pretty much consistently. That is a matchup nightmare waiting to happen if we meet them in the playoffs.
On the yrs Q had the top line go head to head against other teams top line. Our top didn’t score much and didn’t allow much. Our top line going head to head still scored more then other teams.
This allowed the 2nd line/Kaners line and the bum slayer line/3rd line to have at it. We didn’t have a good 4th line the last 2 yrs. So we couldn’t roll 4 lines properly. Now we have a good 4th line again. Things are starting to fall into place to be able to roll 4 lines/properly. When we have that we are as good as any team.
Keep getting better as we go along. How may more younger guys do we have then other top teams that upside comes along with them during these 82 games. We have a bunch.
Teams that can get away with crosschecks-interference/cheat (while refs standing right there and watch) throughout entire game. Imagine if we could play the entire game hooking the other teams players throughout the entire game how good we would be.
I was at the game in Nashville……….that facility is a DUMP!! It reminds me of the old International Ampitheater where the Chicago Cougars played in ’72.
Just like many of you, I thought the Hawks were in it the entire game. Our best player did not play, but Crow needs a rest every now and then. We still could have beat the Preds, we were coming hard in the third and just couldn’t tie it up.
No shame in this game.
Reg Dunlop …… did you get the feeling that the Nashville fans were “hockey smart”? I know the franchise has been there awhile, but sometimes in broadcasts it seems like they don’t know the rules that well. I’m originally from Southwest Missouri, and down there they would try and put banjo strings on a hockey stick and play it.
The crowd there is loud, but is it for real or is it pro wrestling loud. I wish the United Center were a little more lively at times, but not at the expense of being cheap or without class.
(I’ve been to a couple of games at the UC this year and was a bit dismayed by more attention being paid to off the ice stuff (i.e. woman roaming the stands reporting on dumb stuff, text message polls that fell flat, not much interaction from the organ player to get the crowd going, the dreaded t-shirt drop – I kind of felt like I was at a Wolves game, and that’s not good).
I am extremely happy with where the team is roster wise for what we were at before 82 games started.
Think about how good Forsling has become/is getting. How good Rutta is right off the bat and is. Debrinkat is good/no Rockford time and how good he is getting at 19. Hayden is coming along fricken nice. Schmaltz has taken it to another level got banged up a bit then now is getting to 100 full health again.
theres 5 guys right there that if you said they would be as good as they are/now before the 82 games started. Most would have said not 5 for 5. Maybe 2 of 5 at best.
PK is night and day from 16and17. Its back to 13/14/and15.
Extremely happy were on our way to being one of the top contenders again for the coming yrs. These things needed to happen at some point/and our all happening now and still need to keep upward going.
The better we do this yr the better well be for the 5 coming yrs.
Big Indian……….that’s a great question, “are the Preds fans smart?”
I don’t think the Preds fans would know a good hockey game if it fell out of the sky. They actually have a poem or song that they read after they score a goal where they actually tell the opposing team that they “suck” and the goalies name and that he “sucks”. To me, and I am an old school ex-player, ref and coach…….that is just disrespect. The one thing that I can actually take pride in with the Hawks is the CLASS that the fans and the organization has toward the league, the opposition and the opposing fans.
My wife was upset by the disrespect that the fans show the opposition. Maybe it’s because they don’t know what good, clean, winning hockey really is in Nashville. In my opinion, they got lucky last year and their run is over. A player like Subban, who is all about himself on the ice, can never lead a team to victory over a team with “leadership” players like Crosby and Kunitz. That’s why guys like Subban and Ovechkin will never win the last game of the year, it’s about “them”. No disrespect to Subban’s off ice generosity. On the ice, it’s all about him. He almost gave up the tying goal while he was on a powerplay because he tried to make a fancy move around Hayden and gave up the puck. Championship players don’t do that kind of a move. They just don’t.
Lastly, Hayden, Bouma and Wingels played their butts off!! They were physical and provided energy to the team.
Confidence is high!! I am stepping off my “soap box”.
I have zero factual evidence but it sure seems like we have way more goals against that deflect off our defense than opposing teams. At first glance the Josi goal looked like Forsberg let in an easy one – then reply shows it hit Seabs. Recently Keith deflected one in past Crow and it happens regularly.
Hereismike I have a different take – thought it was awesome that the 4th line scored twice and while the top lines didn’t score they had many high quality chances. Kane could have had a hat trick in the first period with the grade A chances he had. Glad to see Forsberg battle in a tough environment, we will need him to succeed. One concern is that Rutta looks like all the games and minutes are wearing him down a bit, not quite as good as he was earlier. Critical to get at least four points from the next three games. If we play like last night I like our chances.
Ducks beat the Blues and Avs beat the Jets, tough year to figure. Avs acquired Paul Girard as one of the key pieces in the Duchesne trade. Girard is playing significant minutes and is a defenseman in the Keith mold. He and DeBrincat are both second rounders from the 2016 draft who have made it to the NHL ahead of most of the first round picks. Interestingly the Hawks passed on Girard who was taken two picks behind Chad Krys even though they look to be very similar as puck moving left handed defenseman. I sure hope Krys turns out to be a solid pro as Girard looks like he has a bright future.
Correction – the Avs rookie is Sam Girard, not Paul.
Presently, there has been a lot of talk about the schedule on this site. Playing top 10 teams like the Flyers. After the Hawks gave them the usual 2-point win they (Flyers) went on a real tear. In fact I heard that their fans at their last game gave them a cheer like the old Hawk fans gave Moose Vasko except it stared with a “B” and not an “M”. Remember that top ten team in Arizona earlier?
I get the Hawk Hi-lights on Tube.
Things that make me wonder:
1. How many times have the Hawks had break-a ways and scored? Most of the shots look more like passes to the goalie. The break a-ways I have seen have all been Hawk top scorers?
2. Bruce, good take on shot selection. I think the book on Rinne is to hit the pad and get the rebound, that he is too good a glove & blocker man.
3. You fellows are not giving Frosberg the support you give the Crow or Darling last year. Come on if you do not back him now it will be hard for him to put out later. That is what fans are for “SUPPORT”!
4. I thought the 2nd line also played well, it just wouldn’t go in. Kane took some fine shots, but they were from the left side. Are they playing him there so Dcat can play right wing?
5. Am I wrong or were all three Pred. Goals scored with the Cord minus Crow on the ice?
6. On the first Pred. Goal, Hawk, just a guy, 19 has the puck taken away. 19 continue to skate so so to the Pred. Blue line and bump/tie-up/check a man at the blue line. I guess he was waiting for a break a-way pass. The only problem is the man he is checking is a “Hawk”! That puts two Hawks alone out of play in their own D zone or a 5 on 3 Pred. attack. Close-up view of the goal shows Saad coming over to late, was he just out of position or covering someone else’s open man?
7. Finally 19 is doing the dirty work in front of the net screening the goalie and taking out the man to his left. The only problem is the man to his left is a” Hawk”! The shot comes, the rebound is there, but the Hawks have tired themselves up and the D clears.
For the record the top 10 teams I was referring to did not include PHI or NJ or VG or WIN. Its based only on roster and has nothing to do with current record at ay point.
Oringal6 solid post, agree.