CHICAGO, Ill. — With top seeds losing their first game in their respective series the past few days, the Chicago Blackhawks seemed to have the same hesitation in their minds as they faced the Nashville Predators in Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinal Series. It took two former Blackhawk players to fuel the Predators on to a 4-1 victory.
The Blackhawks had not faced the Predators in over three months even though they are divisional rivals. Nashville was definitely a different team than the one they faced back in December as they finished strong to make it into the playoffs going 11-3-1 to finish the season.
In the first period, both teams played tentatively but Nashville went better than was expected keeping the shots close to their opponents only to be out shot by a 10-7 margin.
The middle frame though proved more to the fashion of how they game should’ve looked on paper where the Blackhawks dominated the play throughout. Chicago scored the first tally of the game at the 9:43 mark as Patrick Sharp fired a shot from the wing into the glove of Pekka Rinne. For some reason the puck dropped into the crease where Patrick Kane was charging through the slot to slip the puck on in. Chicago held Nashville to only six shots on goal while firing twelve of their own.
But in the third is where the tide turned for Chicago. Early in the period, former Blackhawk, Steve Sullivan broke away with the puck and had an easy shot but the post was the only thing that held him back. Then J.P. Dumont, another former Chicagoan, backhanded a lazy shot from the near lane thinking he would get a rebound to a teammate only to have it take a weird bounce over the pad of Antti Niemi and in near the far post to knot the game at a goal a piece at the 1:31 mark.
Later in the period, the Blackhawks lost the puck on a turnover in their own blue line as David Legwand attacked with a point blank shot where Niemi made the initial save that knocked him on his back. That is where Dumont found the puck in front of a laid out net minder where he took the snap shot up and over for his second of the game which turned out to be the eventual game-winner.
The Predators closed out the scoring with two empty net goals from Jerred Smithson and Martin Erat.
This victory came to a team who had the 5th best road record in the league. Head Coach Barry Trotz changed his defensive-minded team to one that attacked and had a controlled puck possession throughout the game instead of one that sits back and protects its end. Both teams kept pace in being the least penalized with only two called on each side. This was the first playoff road win for the Predators who have never gotten past the first round in their four previous playoff appearances.
Overall the game was evenly played out as the first period, the two teams played to get a feel of how the game will be played but then in the second the Blackhawks took over but they couldn’t take there high-octane offense further than the one goal. Each team manages and even 26 shots for the game.
Western Conference Quarterfinals (best-of-7) W2 Chicago Blackhawks vs. W7-Nashville Predators Game 1 – Friday, Apr. 16 – Nashville 4 at Chicago 1 Game 2 – Sunday, Apr. 18 – Nashville at Chicago, 7:30 Game 3 – Tuesday, Apr. 20 – Chicago at Nashville, 8:00 Game 4 – Thursday, Apr. 22 – Chicago at Nashville, 7:30 *Game 5 – Saturday, Apr. 24 – Nashville at Chicago, 2:00 *Game 6 – Monday, April 26 – Chicago at Nashville, TBD *Game 7 – Wednesday, Apr. 28 – Nashville at Chicago, TBD
Nashville Predators leads series 1-0
Contact Matt.Chin@prohockeynews.com
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