Juuse Saros made 19 saves, but the Nashville Predators couldn't finish their offensive chances against goaltender Alex Stalock.
The Nashville Predators welcomed the Chicago Blackhawks to Bridgestone Arena tonight for a game with interesting playoff implications for both teams. With a regulation, overtime, or shootout loss the Blackhawks would be eliminated from the playoff picture. Nashville is still in the chase for a wildcard spot after tonight, but with the second hardest strength of schedule through the remainder of the regular season, two points against the 23-38-6 Blackhawks would be helpful as Nashville chases Winnipeg in the standings.
Both team took the ice tonight looking different after the trade deadline and recent injuries. The Blackhawks are learning to play without Patrick Kane who is now with the New York Rangers and Jonathan Toews who is out due to injury. Young Taylor Raddysh has stepped up for Chicago in recent games along with Seth Jones and Andreas Athanasiou. Tonight Alex Stalock got the start in net for Chicago after Petr Mrazek left the game against Boston on Tuesday with a groin injury.
The Predators were again without Filip Forsberg, Juuso Pärssinen, and Ryan McDonagh who are each day-to-day with injury. Juuse Saros took his place in net.
Game Recap
The first half of the opening period was punctuated by stops and starts due to icing calls. The Predators best offensive chance came in the first ten minutes on a breakaway by Phil Tomasino, but Stalock was able to stop the puck from leaking past the goal line.
The first opportunity on special teams came as Jujhar Khaira headed to the penalty box at 15:35 for interference. Nashville's power play recorded two shots on goal, but couldn't capitalize on the man advantage. It was Chicago that got on the scoreboard first with a two on one opportunity with just :45 remaining in the period. Lukas Reichel was credited with the unassisted goal.
Just 2:33 seconds into the second period, Mark Jankowski headed to the penalty box for a two minute high sticking infraction. Nashville generated a shorthanded chance, but Stalock made the save. The penalty expired and the teams returned to five a side. At 6:05 Kiefer Sherwood drew an interference penalty, and Nashville went back on the power play. Again, the best chances were generated by the penalty killing team, and after two minutes the teams returned to full strength.
Saros came up with keys saves on quality shots by Chicago as the Blackhawks evened up the shot count. At 13:40 Nashville was awarded a penalty shot after Alex Stalock tripped Rasmus Asplund, but Matt Duchene was unable to score on the shot. As the teams headed into the second intermission, Nashville maintained a small advantage on shots on goal but Chicago still held the 1-0 lead.
The Predators generated shots on net early in the third period but still couldn't score on Stalock. A turnover in the defensive zone at 8:01 led to a goal by Joey Anderson to give the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead.
The Blackhawks hoped to extend their lead as the period wound down, but Juuse Saros made terrific saves on Chicago's few high danger shots. The Predators continued to outshoot the Blackhawks but were unable to finish those chances.
With less than three minutes to go, Saros headed to the bench and the Predators added an extra attacker. With :24 remaining Roman Josi finally got Nashville on the board. The Predators made a last second push, but time expired giving Chicago a 2-1 win.
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