Blackhawks come up empty again
Somebody put out a search party for the 2016-17 Blackhawks.
Quick.
Because whatever team has taken the ice in the Hawks' first two Stanley Cup playoff games against Nashville looks nothing like the one that won 50 times and captured the top seed in the Western Conference this season.
After squeezing out a 1-0 win in Game 1, the pesky, hardworking, blazing-fast Predators overwhelmed the Hawks on Saturday and roared to a 5-0 victory and now own a 2-0 series lead.
Game 3 is Monday in Nashville.
"That was frustration to a different level," said coach Joel Quenneville. "That wasn't fun to watch. … Everybody was responsible - from the coaches down to every single player. So we've got to get out of this mess and (this) hole."
Ryan Ellis, Harry Zolnierczyk and Colton Sissons all scored the first postseason goals of their careers in the first 33 minutes and Pekka Rinne made 30 saves for Nashville. Ryan Johansen and Kevin Fiala closed out the scoring with a pair of third-period goals.
This was the first time in franchise history that the Hawks have been shut out in the first two games of a seven-game series. It is the fourth time since Quenneville took over as coach that they've fallen into an 0-2 hole. They climbed out of it once - in 2014 against the Blues, but both of those losses came in St. Louis.
"We've been in some tough spots before," Jonathan Toews said. "Didn't think after two games at home that we'd be talking about this already - that it's do or die - but we're going to go into that next game with that mentality."
While it's true the Hawks caught a couple of rough breaks (Richard Panik hit the post 45 seconds into the game and Toews did the same in the second period), for the most part they look utterly lost and seriously need their best players to find another gear.
Game 2's lowlights were too numerous to list in full, but included:
• Patrick Kane not going for pucks - ones that are going around the boards, or ones that are sitting right in front of him. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook losing pucks or attempting lazy chip-ins that get stopped by Predators and brought back the other way.
• Toews, Panik, Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov and Ryan Hartman - who combined for 115 goals this season - combining for just 7 shots on goal in the first two periods.
• Nick Schmaltz getting pounded by 5-foot-9, 180-pound Viktor Ardvisson.
About the only Hawk who appears to understand we're in mid-April is Marian Hossa.
"We have to throw this game in the garbage and realize what kind of deep hole we're getting into," Hossa said. "We know we've got way more. It's not good enough what we did tonight. We've got to find a way to find ugly goals, and I believe as soon as we score a goal the momentum will start rolling. We had so many guys who scored over 20 goals, so just get the first one … and we can build on it."
If they do, they'll get back in the series. If not, a second straight first-round exit is all but certain.
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John Dietz's 3 stars
1. Pekka Rinne, Predators. Big goaltender has yet to allow a goal in two games. Oh, and he had 2 assists in Game 2.
2. Ryan Ellis, Predators. Scored the game's first goal just 3:44 into the first period and blocked 3 shots.
3. Colton Sissons, Predators. His net-front presence a big reason behind huge second-period goal that made it 3-0.