The Chicago Blackhawks looked to wrap up their four-game home stand with a win against the Nashville Predators at the United Center on Friday night. The Hawks are coming off a sloppy 6–3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday in a game that saw multiple defensive breakdowns. The Hawks reinserted Philipp Kurashev back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch against the Canucks. Petr Mrazek started in net against the Preds’ Juuse Saros.
First period
The Blackhawks struck first when former Predator forward Craig Smith broke in 2-on-1 with Lukas Reichel, who fed Smith for the tap-in. For Smith, it was his third of the season at the 2:55 mark. Nolan Allan picked up the second assist for his first career point. The Hawks had a strong first period but only had one goal to show for it. The Hawks outshot Nashville 13–11 at the end of 20 minutes.
Second period
The Hawks took a 2–0 lead when Connor Bedard scored his second of the season. Alex Vlasic pinched in along the boards and fed Bedard in the slot, who one-timed it past Saros at the 5:14 mark.
The Hawks appeared to have taken a 3–0 lead on a power play goal by Teuvo Teravainen, however, Nashville challenged the play for offside. As a result, video review determined the play was offside and the call on the ice of a goal was reversed.
The disallowed goal may have jumpstarted the Preds, as moments later, Filip Forsberg scored his third of the season. Gustav Nyquist entered the zone and found Forsberg in the middle of the ice and he split the defensemen and skated in alone and beat Mrazek at 13:41 to cut the deficit to 2–1.
Nashville tied it at 2–2 when Nyquist scored shorthanded at 16:59. Seth Jones was stopped on a point-blank shot from the slot and the Preds attacked the other way. Nyquist skated in 2-on-2 on the left wing and fired a wrist shot past Mrazek. For Nyquist, the goal was his second of the season and 200th of his career. The teams were tied 2–2 after 40 minutes.
Third period
Nashville took the lead with a power play goal by Brady Skjei at the 13:07 mark. Skjei skated the puck up the right half wall and fired a wrist shot past a screened Mrazek for his second of the season to put the Predators up 3–2 and they held on for the win.
Analysis
A promising start turned into a disappointing outcome. The Hawks were flying in the first and jumped out to a 2–0 advantage, however, the game turned when a Hawks goal was overturned by replay in the second period. Credit the Predators for staying patient and mounting the comeback, which was also bolstered by an outstanding performance in goal by Saros. Among the positives for the Hawks was the play of Bedard, who finally scored his second of the season after being somewhat snakebitten the last few games.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Blackhawks, who will head to Texas for a Saturday night game against the Dallas Stars and the first of five straight on the road. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CDT on CHSN with the radio call on 720 WGN.