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Hawks fans can breathe a bit easier

OK, order has been restored.

The Blackhawks beat the Predators 3-0 on Thursday night in Nashville, evening their opening-round playoff series 2-2 and regaining homeice advantage.

The Hawks ended two days of civic unrest with an efficient effort they didn't demonstrate while losing Game 3.

If this were an NBA playoff, nobody would have been concerned about the underdogs taking a 2-1 lead in a best-of-seven series. That postseason usually plays to form in that league.

But this is the NHL. Upsets are common. Some lesser teams have a way of prevailing over better teams.

So Nashville's victory on Tuesday caused frayed nerves, bitten nails and sweaty palms, some of them inside the Hawks' dressing room.

How was calm restored? The old-fashioned postseason way, that's how: The Hawks played smart, competed hard and let the Predators make the mistakes.

"We captured the pace and tempo of what playoff hockey is all about," Hawks' coach Joel Quenneville said.

For a change, the No. 2-seeded Hawks didn't allow the No. 7-seeded Predators to muck up the game. When Nashville managed to do so, the Hawks out-mucked them.

A lot was said about the Hawks' best players having to play better and they did. But this was a team effort with the so-called big guns doing the big things and the so-called little guns doing the little things.

"Everybody had a good game across the board," Quenneville said.

Like, Patrick Sharp scored twice. Jonathan Toews scored once. Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa each had an assist.

Meanwhile, Bryan Bickell - playing his first NHL playoff game after spending most of the season in the minors - was a significant presence.

One of Bickell's assets is size, and midway through the first period he forced Nashville's Francis Bouillon to tackle him at the Preds' net for a two-minute interference penalty.

Ten seconds into the ensuing power play, the Hawks swarmed the Predators' net and Sharp scored his first goal of the night for a 1-0 lead.

"Bick," Quenneville said, "all of a sudden his impact was noticeable."

If Nashville scored first, who knows what might have transpired? The pressure on the Hawks to keep from going down 3-1 in this series would have intensified.

So it was extremely important that Bickell created a power play, Sharp converted it into a goal and the Hawks were able to play their game instead of Nashville's.

Oh, and Antti Niemi was another big guy playing big. Yes, he's one of the Hawks' big guys if only because their goalie has to be.

"He's been big," Quenneville said.

Not an easy assignment for a rookie, but Niemi has two shutouts in his first four Stanley Cup playoff games.

The series isn't over. The pesky Preds still can make a run even with two of a potential three remaining games scheduled for Chicago.

However, as Quenneville said, "Momentum is very important in the playoffs and we're excited to be going back home."

A relieved fandom will greet them Saturday for Game 5 in the United Center.

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