In Chicago, the Nashville Predators took a 5-1 win over the Blackhawks on Friday night. 
The Predators scored three power play goals on three chances.
Kevin Lankinen made 25 saves in the win.
“Actually that was my first time playing at the United Center back with the Preds,” he said. “Yeah, it was special to me a little bit because a lot of great memories. Obviously I’ve been here before but haven’t got the start. So it was fun to stand for the anthem and kind of soak it all in. It’s always a special building, for sure.”
Nashville improved to 46-29-9, they are three points clear of the Vegas Golden Knights for the first wild card in the Western Conference.
“These are hard games to play,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “There could be a letdown. There could be a little bit of foot off the gas. I thought we just stayed true to our identity and played our style of game. There were moments maybe where we weren’t as sharp early. I thought in the third period we closed the door pretty good.”
Filip Forsberg hit for a hat trick in the win, he has 46 goals on the season, a franchise record.
“I don’t know if the importance of it is that big, but it’s obviously awesome,” Forsberg said of the goals record. “The franchise has had a lot of great players, and to be mentioned to one of them is obviously something that’s cool. Hopefully I’m not done yet.”
Forsberg potted his first of the night, off the power play, at 5:53 of the opening stanza. He scored off a shot from above the right circle.
Nashville pushed the lead to 2-0 on a strike by Kiefer Sherwood at 19:03 of the first, scoring off a rebound of his initial shot.
Forsberg notched his double at 5:22 of the second middle frame, scoring after he dropped the puck into the Chicago zone before chasing it down for a shot from the slot. His second goal extended the lead to 3-0.
The Blackhawks dropped to 23-51-5 off their third straight loss.
“Yeah, obviously not a great start,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “They’re a big, strong team again — we’ve played a few of those lately. Just turnovers and mistakes in the [defensive] zone and our penalty-killing, which has been pretty good in the second half of the year especially, just weren’t sharp. We had times when before we took the penalty we couldn’t get it out of the [defensive] zone.
“It’s just a case of them wanting the puck more and they were more determined.”
Nashville stretched the lead to 4-0 on a power play strike by Jason Zucker midway through the second period. He scored off a rush up ice on the left left boards before cutting into the slow slot for a backhand shot.
Lankinen got an assist on the goal.
“It was pretty basic,” Lankinen said. “I just stopped the puck behind the net, and the boys took care of the rest. Yeah, fun one. I think that was the first one of the season, so I’ll take it.”
Chicago stopped the Preds run at 16:58 of the second with a goal by Philipp Kurashev, scoring off a two-skater power play to make it 4-1.
Forsberg collected his hats at 1:37 of the third period, scoring from the left circle to make it 5-1 for the final count on the scoreboard. 
Arvid Soderblom made 35 saves in the loss.
The Predators announced that Juuse Saros, Ryan McDonagh, and Gustav Nyquist, were scratches in the match. The reason given was roster management.
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