After a disappointing loss at home on Monday night to the Calgary Flames, the Blackhawks welcomed their friends from the Country Music Capital of the World to the United Center for Wednesday Night Hockey.
Head coach Jeremy Colliton had lots of decisions to make entering Wednesday’s contest. Brent Seabrook was a game time decision (and later a scratch) with illness and Chris Kunitz took a seat in favor of the young winger John Hayden. Collin Delia also drew the start against the Predators. The lines combinations were as follows:
DeBrincat – Toews – Kahun
Anisimov – Strome – Kane
Saad – Kampf – Caggiula
Hayden – Kruger – Perlini
Keith – Gustafsson
Dahlstrom – Murphy
Davidson – Jokiharju
Delia
Davidson drew his second game in a row as well thanks to Gustav Forsling landing on the IR and Seabrook sitting as mentioned before.
First Period:
The early portion of the first period was highlighted by chances for both teams. Early on, the Blackhawks’ fourth line had an excellent opportunity. Brendan Perlini carried the puck in on the left wing boards, dumped it to John Hayden and found Marcus Kruger. Without hesitation, Kruger found Perlini wide open for a big one-timer that Pekka Rinne absorbed with no problem. However, it was encouraging seeing the bottom six get going.
Despite the quality chances early for the Blackhawks, it was the Predators who drew blood first. A great keep-in by defenseman Mattias Ekholm led to a great pass from below the goal line by Kevin Fiala. Fiala found Colton Sissons all alone in the slot for a quick snap shot goal to give the visitors the 1-0 lead seven minutes into the period.
The overall action of the period remained quiet until late in the period. After Dan Hamhuis hooked Jonathan Toews, the Blackhawks went to the power play with under three minutes remaining in the opening frame.
On the same power play, Patrick Kane set up on his right wing boards as he always does. Kane found Alex DeBrincat on the opposite side of the ice with a perfect pass through the slot. “The Cat” ripped a quick shot, narrowly squeaking the puck through Rinne’s blocker side to tie the game.
88 + 12 = 💯#Purr pic.twitter.com/9cceqhIFwR
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 10, 2019
Before the United Center fans could settle back into their seats after Chelsea Dagger rang throughout the stadium, the Predators re-gained the lead. Eight seconds later (yes, you read that correctly), Viktor Arvidsson collected his 13th goal of the season. The visitors took that lead into the first intermission, 2-1 Predators.
Second Period:
The second period was similar to most of the first frame. Neither team could crack the opposing goaltender. Pierre McGuire commented that the Predators were frustrated, while the Blackhawks were positive and optimistic on the bench during a stretch of the second period. Nashville was creating quality chances for themselves but could not capitalize on any of those opportunities.
However, the Predators’ persistence would pay off. Fresh off of the IR, Filip Forsberg fired an absolute rocket from the top of the circles on the right wing side. The shot was perfectly placed, top-shelf on Collin Delia. The play was created by Roman Josi walking to the middle of the ice, drawing the defender with him after the face-off win by the Predators. Josi’s move opened Forsberg up for the big shot. The Predators extended their lead with just under four minutes to play in the middle frame.
After the Predators extended their lead, they went to the power play after a David Kampf tripping penalty. When all looked grim for the Blackhawks, the penalty kill would turn the momentum around. After Jonathan Toews took the puck away from the Predators on the power play, he fired a pass out of the zone to an open Marcus Kruger. Kruger picked up the puck with only one defender to beat, however Kruger pulled up and found the Captain in the slot. Toews fired a high shot to the top corner to beat Pekka Rinne and cut into the visitor’s lead.
Toews with a shorty on #ToewsDay 🔥 pic.twitter.com/dUj21UnHxJ
— NBC Sports Chicago (@NBCSChicago) January 10, 2019
Toews’ play ended a stretch of momentum for the Predators. The visitors had a chance to blow the game open, however, the Blackhawks went into the second intermission only down one goal to the second place team in the Central Division.
Third Period:
Neither team had much to show for throughout the early portion of the third period. Both teams had their chances, but could not find the back of the net.
The best opportunity the Blackhawks had was a power play with about thirteen minutes remaining in the period. The two best chances on the power play both were not able to find the net as both Patrick Kane and Erik Gustafsson missed on big slapshots. The Predators had a quality chance of their own but Viktor Arvidsson hit the goalpost on the chance.
As the time was winding down, the Blackhawks began to create some pressure in the offensive zone. Late in the period, the Predators failed to clear a puck out of the zone and Duncan Keith jumped on the puck at the left wing half-wall. Keith found Kane cross-ice where he set up on the face-off dot and found Artem Anisimov in the slot to tie the game at three-a-piece. Both teams collected a point as the contest required a fourth frame of hockey to determine the winner.
https://twitter.com/CMS_74_/status/1083204662193463296
Overtime:
Overtime began with the Predators gaining possession on a face-off win. However, the Blackhawks would not control the puck in the one minute of overtime that was played. The Nashville Predators looked like the Harlem Globetrotters with the puck, retaining possession and making changes while looking for a chance to beat Delia and win the game.
At exactly the 1:00 mark, Filip Forsberg beat Jonathan Toews, one-on-one, to the net and finished on a power move against Collin Delia. The Swede’s second goal of the game gave the Predators the extra point as the Blackhawks fall 4-3 in overtime.
Quick Hits:
- Patrick Kane continued his hot streak. He is still in the NHL’s top 10 scorers and does not look like he’ll be slowing down anytime soon. Kane’s two assists gives him 58 points in 45 games played this season. The last time Patrick Kane was playing this well, he celebrated his summer with a lot of hardware from the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.
- Collin Delia once again was solid in net for the Blackhawks. Despite a record of 0-1-2 in Delia’s last three outings, the Blackhawks have continually been in each game as they continue to let Delia face an average of 41 shots per game. Delia made 27 saves on 30 shots in the loss to the Predators. If the Blackhawks can limit shots more going forward, Delia can probably steal a few games in the dog days of the season.
- Erik Gustafsson did not look good against the Predators. Notably, Gustafsson was caught watching on the opening goal of the game from Colton Sissons. Gustafsson admitted in his post game press conference that he didn’t play well, although the team as a whole did. He’s been great offensively, but he needs to clean up his play in the defensive zone if he hopes to ever be considered a top 4 defenseman in the NHL.
The Blackhawks remain in Chicago with two days off before the red-hot Vegas Golden Knights visit the United Center on Saturday, January 12th. Puck drop will be at 7:30pm CST.