Hawks looking to rebound with patience, simplicity

"We're going to see a desperate Blackhawks team. I know they're going to come with their 'A' game with tremendous intensity."

Predators coach Barry Trotz

Nobody thought this was going to be easy for the Blackhawks, but few expected them to come face-to-face with adversity so quickly into the NHL playoffs.

By losing 4-1 to Nashville on Friday in their first-round opener, the Hawks need a victory in Game 2 Sunday at the United Center in the worst way.

"Being 1-1 or 2-0 is a big difference," Hawks winger Patrick Kane said.

Especially with Games 3 and 4 to be played in Nashville.

Finding a way to solve what the Predators do defensively is a priority for the Hawks.

Nashville clogged the neutral zone in its Game 1 win, spread men across the blue line and forced the Hawks outside most of the night.

The Predators were able to neutralize the speed and skill of one of the NHL's top offensive teams - a Hawks team that might need to play more of a chip-and-chase game.

"We were looking for better plays to make that probably aren't going to be there," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Against them, patience and simplicity are probably key words that will go along if we want to have success.

"I think when we got inside the offensive blue line we were looking for a better play instead of going straight ahead and forcing plays at the net as opposed to delay plays."

Quenneville juggled his lines at practice Saturday in the first key adjustment of the series, moving Andrew Ladd up to the top line with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa, and dropping Patrick Sharp to the second line with Dave Bolland and Kane.

"We'll do what we do," Predators coach Barry Trotz said in response to the Hawks' line changes. "I don't expect the Hawks to change their whole system.

"You have to trust your game, and we believe in our game. We saw some things in Chicago's game that we didn't exploit the way we wanted to as well."

The pressure is on the Hawks to respond, from goalie Antti Niemi on out. Niemi was playing a solid game in the opener until he let J.P. Dumont's soft backhander from 40 feet bounce past him early in the third period to make it 1-1.

"We're going to see a desperate Blackhawks team," Trotz said. "I know they're going to come with their 'A' game with tremendous intensity."

The Hawks have no choice or it could be a short series the way nobody predicted.

"Hopefully we get a great start, get up on these guys and finish better than we did," Toews said. "We all know what it's going to take now. Maybe it's a good thing for us to lose the first game just to get the jitters out now. We feel we've got nothing to lose and we'll go lay it all out there.

"It's seven-game series, but we don't want to wait that long to get back on track. It comes down to we've got to step up our game."

Quenneville said the smart and patient way Nashville plays is what the Hawks need to bring to Game 2.

"You look at the first games across the league it seems like a lot of teams that were expected to win didn't win," Quenneville said. "It certainly gets your attention and the focus and concentration and the urgency that is necessary going forward.

"We take a lot of pride in our team and how we stick together and move forward. We're asking everybody to add a little more to what we did last night knowing it wasn't good enough."

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<h1>More Coverage</h1>

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<h2>Stories</h2>

<ul class="links">

<li><a href="/story/?id=374051">Hawks still working to find some power play success <span class="date">[04/17/2010]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=374050">Quenneville changes lines, reunites Keith, Seabrook <span class="date">[04/17/2010]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=374088">Murray: Keith-Seabrook pairing benefits Hawks <span class="date">[04/17/2010]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=374013">Barry Rozner: Predators prove they're no scaredy-cats <span class="date">[04/17/2010]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=374083">Niemi focuses on the next stop <span class="date">[04/17/2010]</span></a></li>

</ul>

<h2>Photo Gallery</h2>

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<li><a href="/story/?id=374003">Images of Blackhawks vs. Predators - Game 1</a></li>

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