Connor Bedard Back On Scoresheet, But Blackhawks Outworked in 4-2 Loss at Nashville

Chicago drops third straight and falls to 5-10-0. Bedard with assist on Kurashev goal, but held to just one shot on net, three shot attempts.

Taylor Hall returned to the lineup with solid effort. Connor Bedard and his line got feisty at times and back on the scoresheet.

Still the Blackhawks were outworked too often, fell behind and never caught up in a 4-2 loss to the Predators in Nashville on Saturday.

"Our battle, our compete level has got to keep rising," coach Luke Richardson said. "I think they won a few more than us tonight." See video.

Philipp Kurashev scored on a rebound of Bedard's one-timer in the second period. Tyler Johnson fired in his fifth goal with 7:45 left in the third to cut it to 3-2, as Corey Perry was parked at the edge of the crease and screening Preds goalie Kevin Lankinen. 

Bedard, along with linemates Kurashev and Nick Foligno, helped Chicago scrap back into this one, but Chicago dropped its third straight. 

Nashville snapped a four-game losing streak, icing it when Cole Smith fired into an empty net for his second goal of the contest.

Lankinen made 29 saves in his first game against the Blackhawks, his first NHL team. Chicago's Arvid Söderblom stopped 28 shots, and needed more support as the Preds stuffed in two goals from the crease and scored off a turnover by rookie defenseman Kevin Korchinski.

Bedard, who entered as the NHL's leading rookie scorer, upped his totals to nine goals and 14 points in 15 games with an assist on Kurashev's third goal of the season.  

But Bedard managed just one shot on goal at Bridgestone Arena, where the Blackhawks made him the NHL's top draft pick on June 28. He also fired one shot wide and had another blocked.

Bedard has 45 shots on goal for the season, second among NHL rookies behind Adam Fantilli of Columbus.

Bedard is minus-7 on the rebuilding Blackhawks. Only three other rookies, including Korchinski, (minus-10) have worse marks so far.

Nashville led 2-0 after the first period, scoring late in the frame. Chicago started quickly and had earlier chances, but couldn't break through.

Lankinen stopped prime opportunities in the opening minutes, including a 2-on-1 shot by Hall and a breakaway by rookie defenseman Alex Vlasic. 

"I liked our push (at the end), but we've got to somehow find a way to get up on teams when we have good start like that," Richardson said. See video.

Then the Predators came on. 

Yakov Trenin opened the scoring at 12:07 after Korchinski lost the puck in the corner. Gustav Nyquist's power-play goal from a scrum made it 2-0 with 1:28 left in the period. Both Nyquist and Ryan O'Reilly had missed open nets during the man advantage before Nashville converted it.

Kurashev cut it to 2-1 at 13:05 of the second. Lankinen blocked Bedard's one-timer from the left cricle and Kurashev buried the rebound. See Kurashev in video.

Smith deflated the momentum, digging out and jamming in a loose puck with 3:40 left to restore a two-goal Predators lead as Chicago's coverage was slow to react. Two Blackhawks defenders were nearby, but didn't tie-up Smith.

Hall returned to the lineup and made his presence felt, skating hard with five shots on goal and two others that were blocked.

Hall, the 2017-18 Hart Trophy winner, was most recently hurt at the end of the Blackhawks 5-3 win at Tampa Bay on Nov. 9. He appeared to have suffered a lower-body injury and hobbled of the ice following a collision along the boards with Michael Eyssimont.

Hall, with two goals and two assists in his first eight games, was playing well when he was sidelined. He missed four games earlier with a shoulder injury, suffered in Boston in the Blackhawks second game of the season on hit from from Brandon Carlo. See Hall's assessment of his game in the video.