Heading into Sunday’s game, speculation was centered on what lineup changes would happen for Chicago, besides in net. Head Coach Joel Quenneville made the right decisions as the Hawks beat Nashville 4-2; grabbing a 2-1 series lead.
The changes paid off quickly for the Blackhawks as Andrew Dejardins put home his own rebound late in the first period, giving the home team a 1-0 lead. It was his first payoff goal since 2012 when he played with San Jose.
“That was a really important first goal,” Hossa said. “[Desjardins] just jumped into Game 3, and I think had a really strong game for us. Guys like that give us more energy and he’s a guy who plays a physical game and that kind of brings energy.”
Nashville saw themselves behind for the first time all series, and wasted little time tying the game.
Only 31 seconds into the deficit Mike Ribeiro found himself all alone in the slot and ripped a wrist shot past Scott Darling’s glove. The second period took shape fast with two goals in the opening minute.
Chicago took the lead back when a Jonathan Toews wrist shot to the back of the net after receiving a nifty drop pass from Marian Hossa.
The Predators struck back, again on the very next shift. Mattias Ekholm used a screen and beat Darling to the short side, knotting the game at two. Brendan Saad
reignited the home crowd when he stole the puck in the defensive zone and went coast-to-coast at 3:38, making it a 3-2 game.
Things settled back down as both teams tightened up their defense, leading to hard its and not many shots.
The Blackhawks grabbed their first two-goal lead of the series when Brent Seabrook’s slap shot beat Pekka Rinne at the 12:41 mark.
Dejardins won’t show on the score sheet but made a great play to keep the puck in the zone, allowing his team to make a line change that lead to the Toews and Andrew Shaw assists.
The focus heading into the game was how Scott Darling would perform in his NHL Playoffs debut. The rookie made 35 saves in the victory.
“It was obviously a little bit nerve-wracking, but exciting at the same time,” said Darling, a 26-year-old rookie from the Chicago suburb of Lemont, Ill., who started instead of Corey Crawford. “It couldn’t have been a better game from the team to help me in my first playoff start. Every time I get to step on the ice at the United Center, I’m lucky. Every game is exciting.”
The Chicago area native becomes the first Southern Professional Hockey League alumnus to register a NHL playoff victory. For the first time in this series the team will enjoy more than 48 hours off between games.
“We put a lot of attempts at the net and lots of shots and lots of quality scoring chances,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. “[Darling] made some big saves, some we probably wished we had another look at. They played a fast game [today]. I think it caught us a couple of times, even when we had pucks on the walls. It seemed like their speed from behind caused some quick turnovers, and they were able to come back at us.”
Game 4 drops the puck at the United Center on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. Central Time.
Follow Adam on Twitter @Adam_PHN and you can always reach him at adam.minnick@prohockeynews.com
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