Rozner: Blackhawks sleep their way to big hole

Nearly to a man, the Blackhawks insisted their effort would be better in Game 2 than it was in the opener.

They had far too many passengers for the first 30 minutes of Game 1 - and not the type that would put up a fight getting dragged off a plane.

But the Hawks slept through Game 2 Saturday night as well, getting shutout again, and find themselves in a monstrous 2-0 hole heading to Nashville for Game 3 Monday night.

The Hawks were a great road team in the regular season and they'll need to be over the next few days if they have any hope of getting back in the series.

"One shift at a time," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. "It's baby steps. Be angry."

That feels like the right idea.

"Everyone is responsible for this, all of us," Quenneville said. "Not too many positives tonight."

The Preds have earned their lead in this series, but the Hawks have contributed in a big way with a shocking lack of effort, especially knowing the stakes in Game 2.

Outside of a consistent attempt to get to the net by 38-year-old Marian Hossa - the oldest player on the team - the Hawks have displayed little desperation through 120 minutes and have every right to be down a pair of games to the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

"Our best players have to play like our best players," Quenneville said. "They lead the charge."

In particular, Patrick Kane has been indifferent for six periods and doesn't seem excited about chasing down a loose puck, let alone getting to the net, but he's hardly alone.

In fact, Kane and Jonathan Toews now have combined for a single goal in the Hawks' last 9 postseason games, a Kane tally in Game 5 against St. Louis a year ago.

"We have to better. Each guy has to take ownership," Kane said. "You have to look in the mirror. I have to be better myself."

The first period of Game 2 looked much like the first period of Game 1, with the Hawks getting outskated, outhit and generally outplayed in every way, but the surprise was how nervous the Hawks looked and how much they were fighting the puck.

Their only power play of the first period was so bad they got booed by the home fans and failed to get a shot on net while barely getting set up in the offensive end.

"It wasn't good, but we have a chance to steal a game there now," Kane said with great optimism. "You wipe the slate clean and start over."

Nashville got the only goal of the first only 3:44 into the game and made it 2-0 about 3 minutes into the second, which plays right into the Preds' style. It allows them to sit back and wait for the Hawks to make mistakes, then take advantage.

The Preds' third goal came with 7 minutes left in the second and that was the game, but it didn't stop the Hawks from looking terrible in the third.

Perhaps nothing defined the first two games quite like the fourth Nashville goal, when Brian Campbell took his ever-loving time getting back to retrieve a puck.

Campbell got beat, naturally, and after Filip Forsberg banked it off Corey Crawford, a slow-skating Trevor van Riemsdyk couldn't get to the rebound and Ryan Johansen fired it past the Hawks' goalie for a 4-0 lead.

Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne assisted on that goal, giving him a pair for the game, which is obviously two more points than any Hawks player in the series since Rinne has yet to give up a goal.

"I don't think I would have planned for that," said Nashville coach Peter Laviolette, who was the Flyers' boss in the 2010 Cup Final. "We have a lot of respect for that team.

"They're the benchmark with three Cups in seven years. The core is the same. We know they're dangerous."

The Hawks have come back from 2-0 series deficits in the past, and they could certainly do it again, but they've looked rather slow the first two games of this series and will need to find their desperation quickly in Game 3.

The Hawks will have something to say about any such notions Monday night in Nashville. A win and they can scoff at any criticism.

A loss and they can start pondering those questions while on the golf course.

In the meantime, their slogan - "One Goal" - hangs in the air like a punch line.

One goal Monday night would be a good place to start.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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