The Chicago Blackhawks opened a four-game homestand at the United Center on Tuesday night against their Central Division rivals, the Nashville Predators. The Hawks looked to snap a three-game losing streak against a Predators team off to a 12–12–0 start to the season. Anthony Beauvillier made his home debut for the Hawks, and, after being a healthy scratch on Sunday in Minnesota, Lukas Reichel returned to the lineup with head coach Luke Richardson hoping a one-game break would lead to more offensive production from the former first-round selection. Arvid Soderblom started between the pipes for the Blackhawks while the Preds went with their top goaltender, Juuse Saros.
The Hawks opened the scoring at 5:57 of the first when Nick Foligno scored his third of the season. Seth Jones pinched in behind the goal line and found Foligno to the left of Saros. Foligno found some space to stuff it in to give Chicago a 1–0 lead, which would stand after one period.
St. Nick pays a visit to the UC 🎅 pic.twitter.com/nr3bY6ZJWh
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The Predators tied it at 2:11 of the second frame. A Tyson Barrie shot from the slot was stopped by Soderblom, but rookie Luke Evangelista was there on the doorstep to poke in the loose puck for his fourth of the season.
Just 26 seconds later, the Preds took a 2–1 lead. Nashville won a defensive zone draw and quickly rushed up the ice. Colton Sissons and Mark Jankowski skated behind Hawks defensemen Connor Murphy and Kevin Korchinski. Sissons’ shot was stopped but Jankowski was there to pounce on the rebound for his first of the season.
The Blackhawks did not take long to even things up, as Foligno found a wide-open Jason Dickinson at the top of the right circle, and he snapped a wrist shot over the blocker of Saros. For Dickinson, it was his eighth of the season to tie the game at 2–2.
Dickinson SNIPE ties it back up 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/Yotsxal4zV
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The Hawks regained the lead when the Hawks skated in 3-on-2 and Jones dropped the puck off to Foligno, who then fed Joey Anderson. Anderson’s shot from the left circle was stopped, but Foligno crashed the net and tapped in the rebound to give Chicago a 3–2 lead. It was Foligno’s second of the game and fourth of the season at 5:21 of the second.
HIS SECOND OF THE GAME pic.twitter.com/ZUYC2naBaw
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Ryan O’Reilly tied it at 3–3 on the power play with his 12th of the season. Filip Forsberg shot the puck on net from the left half boards, which Soderblom stopped, but O’Reilly was on the doorstep and had inside positioning and scored on the backhand at 12:59 of the second. A wild second period ended with the teams tied at 3–3.
After a scoreless third period that produced plenty of chances, the teams would head to overtime. There was lots of end-to-end action in overtime but the game remained knotted at 3–3 with both teams headed to their first shootout of the season.
The shootout opened with Gustav Nyquist skating in to the right of Soderblom and snapped a wrist shot through the five hole.
Connor Bedard evened things up when he skated in, stickhandled then lifted a forehand shot over the glove of Saros.
Connor Bedard scores his first NHL shootout goal, and it’s a BEAUTY! pic.twitter.com/kgD7aK8rGp
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O’Reilly gave the Preds an advantage when he skated in from the left side and lifted a backhand past Soderblom.
After Tyler Johnson’s attempt was stopped, Forsberg won it for the Predators.
Analysis
The Hawks put together a much better effort than their last three games, which earned them a point; however, their losing streak is now up to four. They were much more aggressive on the puck in all three zones, using their speed and crashing the net. While the power play did not cash in, it looked much more organized, as their passes were quick and crisp and it led to a few scoring opportunities. Reichel’s return to the lineup did not generate much in a little over seven minutes of ice time. Clearly he will need to earn more ice time and an opportunity to play higher than the fourth line. The Blackhawks’ loss combined with San Jose’s comeback win in overtime against the New York Islanders dropped the Hawks into last place in the league.
The Hawks will get an opportunity to end this skid on Thursday night against the Anaheim Ducks at the United Center. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. CST on NBCSCH with the radio call on 720 WGN.