In Chicago, the Blackhawks continued to limp through the season on a the heels of a 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night. 
Chicago has lost eight in a row, and dropped to 7-20-4.
Connor Murphy had a marker for the Hawks who had a 2-1 lead in the game, after Nashville’s Nino Niederreiter scored near the midway point of the first period for a 1-0 advantage.
“Whether it’s a lapse of focus from us, if we have a couple good shifts and feel like we’re getting rolling, we’re not staying disciplined enough to keep that going for a duration of time,” Murphy said. “And I believe that once we commit to that a little more … we’ll get rewarded for playing the right way.”.
The Blackhawks had 37 seconds of excitement in the game when they scored twice in that time span in the middle frame to take the 2-1 lead.
Murphy and MacKenzie Entwistle hit for the goals in the 17th minue of the second.
“Yeah, that can’t happen, and it really hurts,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. “We were in a position that we haven’t been in [for] a bit. We needed to be ready to battle a little harder, and I think we won a lot of stick battles and physical battles behind the nets and around the blue lines in the first two periods. Then, it wasn’t there in the third. I think that was the biggest problem of the game.”
And that was about the end of it for the Blackhawks.
Nashville’s Matt Duchene tied the game with five seconds left in the second to send the game to the third tied, 2-2.
Roman Josi put the Predators ahead to stay with a goal early in the third.
The marker set Josi as the franchise scoring leader in Nashville.
“It’s definitely a huge honor,” Josi said. “I think just being here for that long, it’s something I never dreamed of when I first started in the NHL. So many people that put a lot of trust in me, so many people I’m thankful for, teammates who have been here for so long, staff, everyone. It’s definitely a huge honor.”
The Predators improved to 14-13-4.
“Great accomplishment for Roman,” Nashville coach John Hynes said. “The franchise has had so many real good, successful players. I think it speaks volumes, not only about his talent, but his longevity and what he means to the organization. Having the opportunity to coach him and deal with him every day, I’d like to say it’s not surprising, such a talented guy that’s driven and committed.
“The consistency level that he plays with is certainly exceptional. You don’t get recognized for those things and accomplish those things if you’re not a highly talented player that’s really driven, and that’s what he is.”
Thomas Novak scored off the power play at 6:09 for the 4-2 final.
“It feels good,” Novak said. “Pretty good time of the game for us to go up two. It felt really good to get the first one out of the way coming back this year.”
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Petr Mrazek made 33 saves in the Chicago loss.
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