Preds' losing streak gives Blackhawks hope of catching up
Just a week and a half ago, it seemed pure fantasy that the Blackhawks or Blues could catch the Predators for the Central Division title.
But suddenly, Nashville's vaunted defense and goaltending have sprung a leak and one of the NHL's top teams is in the midst of a five-game losing streak. Goalie Pekka Rinne (.926) still ranks fifth in the league in save percentage, but he has stopped just 88.2 percent of his shots in his last four games.
"Yeah, five in a row … it's hard to believe," Predators center Mike Ribeiro told reporters after a 4-3 loss to the Islanders on Thursday. "But I think it's a good test, now that we're in this situation, to really battle out of it. No one said it was going to be an easy season. Now it's time to grind it out."
Four of the five losses have come against the top teams in the league, including one against Minnesota, which is 17-3-2 since Jan. 15. Nashville's schedule lightens up a bit with the next four games coming against Winnipeg (76 points), Arizona (49), San Jose (72) and Los Angeles (74).
This skid has allowed the Hawks to creep within 6 points of the Predators while playing one fewer game. But Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg and coach Joel Quenneville said their team isn't focused on Nashville just yet.
"Let's look to catch the team ahead of us (St. Louis)," Quenneville said. "I think that's our motivation. … Certainly Nashville had a tough week and everybody's going to have some good and bad stretches over the course of the year. Ourselves, we're looking to put a good stretch together."
Said Versteeg about watching the standings: "You pay attention, but it's not like it keeps you up all night. Hopefully in the end you do catch that team ahead of you. We understand where we're at, and we know we need wins to get home-ice advantage."
Oduya skates:
Defenseman Johnny Oduya was on the ice Friday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury on Feb. 22. The Hawks are hoping to have him back for Thursday's game at Arizona.
"It felt pretty good, obviously nice to come back and skate with the guys (after) being in isolation for 10 days," he said.
The 33-year-old veteran said there will be no easing back into the lineup, promising to "go full throttle" when he gets the green light.
"I'm not going to pace myself," he said.
'Excited' about debut:
Andrew Desjardins, whom the Hawks acquired from San Jose at the trade deadline Monday for Ben Smith, was asked how he was feeling hours before stepping on the United Center ice for the first time as a Blackhawk.
"I'm excited, but I'm also trying to stay composed a bit," Desjardins said. "I don't want to be going too crazy out there and having too much energy out there." He also said he expected the national anthem to "fire me up. I can't wait."
Desjardins was credited with 7 hits and 2 blocked shots in just over nine minutes of ice time. Only Joakim Nordstrom (8) had more hits.
He said it:
"It's a compliment to his consistency, his professionalism, his approach. When you talk about leaders, Johnny comes to the forefront of a lot of people's minds, including ours. Game in, game out he wants to be the best he can be. As a group, we couldn't ask for a better leader."
- Coach Joel Quenneville on Jonathan Toews reaching the 20-goal mark in all eight of his NHL seasons