Sharp, Saad help Blackhawks over Predators
Nearly six months after being swept out of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Nashville Predators, it appeared the Chicago Blackhawks were going to suffer yet another brutal defeat at the hands of their pesky division rivals.
But with Nashville clinging to a 1-0 lead and time running short, Patrick Sharp finally solved Pekka Rinne with 5:36 remaining and Brandon Saad gave the Hawks an unlikely 2-1 victory when he tapped in a Patrick Kane pass with 1:55 left in overtime Saturday night at the United Center.
Corey Crawford (37 saves) again was sensational in net, giving up just a power-play goal by Filip Forsberg at 18:16 of the second period. The Hawks improved to 4-1-1.
Saad now has 6 goals.
"It's just a great pass," he said. "I hop on the ice, tick-tack-toe play. Kaner makes a great play."
It was hardly a great game by the Hawks, though, as they were again flummoxed by the Predators' neutral-zone trap. Over and over, Hawks forwards had the puck stripped just as they'd cross into the offensive zone.
"It was just tough sledding out there," Sharp said. "That was a well-coached team, pretty disciplined through the neutral zone. I don't think we entered their zone with possession too many times throughout the whole game. We had to grind it out a little bit."
It was the same story in the playoffs, when Nashville (2-2-1) shut out the Hawks in Games 1 and 2 at the United Center. Sharp's goal snapped a nearly 175-minute scoreless stretch for the Hawks against Nashville at the UC.
Sharp scored when he backhanded a shot past Rinne after taking a pass from John Hayden. Nashville coach Peter Laviolette was furious that Ryan Hartman wasn't called for holding - and then flinging - Matt Irwin's stick just as Sharp tied the game.
"Playing an unbelievable game to that point and have it taken away from us like that is ridiculous," Laviolette said.
The Predators outshot the Hawks 18-11 in the first period, and that didn't include a short-handed breakaway attempt by Viktor Arvidsson that went wide of Crawford.
Because of what happened against Nashville last April, reporters tried to play up the revenge angle, but Sharp said this is a new season.
"Everyone had a foul taste in their mouth for what happened here in the playoffs," he said. "That's behind us now. Nashville's been a rival of ours - a tough division opponent for years. …
"Everybody's good in our division. Whenever we have one of those games, whether we have history or not, it's important to play a good, strong game against them. They did that tonight against us and we were just able get one in overtime there."
Slap shot:
Minnesota's Marcus Foligno suffered a facial fracture during his fight with John Hayden on Thursday. Hayden, who wished Foligno a "very speedy recovery" Saturday, landed a huge right cross during the brawl.