Blackhawks looking desperate

Angry. Incensed. Furious.

That's how Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville expects his team to feel now that it faces a shocking 0-2 deficit to the feisty, more determined and more desperate Nashville Predators in their best-of-seven opening-round Stanley Cup playoff series.

Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Corey Crawford certainly didn't appear very mad in the postgame locker room Saturday after Nashville's 5-0 win in Game 2, but that may have been because they were utterly shellshocked at what has transpired.

As for Brent Seabrook? Yeah - he's steaming.

"I'm (ticked) off," the veteran defenseman said Sunday before the Hawks flew to Nashville for Monday's Game 3. "I think we all are. … It was embarrassing, losing 5-0.

"It was a tough night last night and tough to sleep, but we have to get back on the horse."

Getting on the horse in the first place might be a good place to start. Almost unbelievably, the Hawks' last playoff goal came 3:20 into the second period of their Game 7 loss to the Blues last season, meaning they haven't scored in the postseason in 157 minutes and 40 seconds.

That's more than two-and-a-half games.

Quenneville and his players often talk about how the team's "best players need to be their best players," so it's prime time Artemi Panarin, Kane and Toews start figuring out a way to score. Kane and Toews in particular have been alarmingly quiet since as far back as the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.

To wit:

• Toews scored 38 goals in his first 111 playoff games. He has 1 in his last 15.

• Kane had 49 goals in his first 109 postseason games. He has 2 in his last 16.

• Panarin has 2 goals in nine career Stanley Cup playoff games.

Starting Monday, this needs to change.

"I haven't scored a goal in two games," Kane said. "Not acceptable. As an offensive guy, you pride yourself in that. I've got to be better personally."

If he is, perhaps the Hawks can actually advance out of this round by pulling off a magic act that has been performed by just 13 percent of NHL teams that fall into 0-2 series holes.

As a franchise, the Hawks themselves fall right in line with those percentages. Since 1980, the team has lost the first two games of a seven-game series 14 times. They've only advanced twice - in 1995 against Toronto in the conference quarterfinals and in 2014 against St. Louis in the first round.

Quenneville's teams have overcome other nasty deficits, including a 3-1 hole to Detroit in 2010 and 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 holes to Anaheim in 2015. They also nearly got past Vancouver in 2011 after going down 3-0, as well as Los Angeles in 2014 and St. Louis in 2016 after going down 3-1.

But let's remember something else here - this squad is made up of guys like Artem Anisimov, Artemi Panarin, Richard Panik, Nick Schmaltz, Ryan Hartman, Jordin Tootoo, Tanner Kero and John Hayden - all players who weren't part of most of those teams.

"It's a new year, it's a new team and this is a new situation," Toews said. "The mentality and the things you have to do on the ice aren't so different. Our No. 1 focus is just all those little cliches, just take it one step at a time."

One desperate step at a time. One determined step at a time. And perhaps one angry step at a time - as long as that step doesn't cross the line the way Ryan Hartman did late in Game 2 when he punched Craig Smith after checking the Predators' center.

"Obviously you've got to make sure you're composed going into the game," Quenneville said. "It's going to be a loud building. They're going to be at their best.

"So we've just got to be at that next level of getting ourselves engaged to one or two more levels to get playoff ready and what's going to be needed to get ourselves back in this series."

Said Hjalmarsson: "It's time to shine now. Let's move forward. … We've got to find a way to come up with some big goals and change the direction of this series a little bit here.

"That's what we're focused on heading into Game 3 and making this a whole different series once that happens."

• Follow John on Twitter @johndietzdh

Red alert

The Blackhawks have fallen into 0-2 series holes three times under coach Joel Quenneville. Here is how those series ended up:

<b>2009 conference finals vs. Detroit</b>G1: Red Wings 5, Blackhawks 2

G2: Red Wings 3, Blackhawks 2*

G3: Blackhawks 4, Red Wings 3*

G4: Red Wings 6, Blackhawks 1

G5: Red Wings 2, Blackhawks 1*

<b>2011 conference quarterfinals</b>G1: Canucks 2, Blackhawks 0

G2: Canucks 4, Blackhawks 3

G3: Canucks 3, Blackhawks 2

G4: Blackhawks 7, Canucks 2

G5: Blackhawks 5, Canucks 0

G6: Blackhawks 4, Canucks 3*

G7: Canucks 2, Blackhawks 1*

<b>2014 first round</b>G1: Blues 4, Blackhawks 3*

G2: Blues 4, Blackhawks 3*

G3: Blackhawks 2, Blues 0

G4: Blackhawks 4, Blues 3*

G5: Blackhawks 3, Blues 2*

G6: Blackhawks 5, Blues 1