Kane's 'fluky' goal a stunner
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Blackhawks had a bad bounce go against them in a stunning Game 1 loss to the Predators at the United Center.
Monday night, the breaks appeared to even out as the Hawks scored a "fluky" first-period goal in building a lead and then held off the Predators down the stretch for a series-clinching 5-3 victory before a sellout crowd at Bridgestone Arena.
Patrick Kane, doing nothing more than trying to get out of the way along the boards in front of the Predators' bench, was credited with the second goal as the Hawks regained the lead moments after the Predators had tied the score in a wild first period.
"Patrick Kane is trying to jump out of the way and it goes in," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "You talk about a goal scorer finding a way to score."
Kane's goal was a real head-scratcher: Brent Seabrook's toss from beyond the blue line deflected off the leaping Kane and eluded Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne for a 2-1 margin at 9:54.
"It was kind of a fluky play," Kane said. "(Seabrook) tried to dump it in and it hit my leg and went in the net. Those are the breaks sometimes you get, and that's when you know things are going your way."
Rinne was outside the crease and didn't appear to see the puck until it skipped past him into the net. The bang-bang play started with a faceoff win by Jonathan Toews in the neutral zone.
Kane's fourth goal of the playoffs startled the crowd, which was roaring moments earlier when Shea Weber tied the score at 1-1 with a wrist shot from the blue line.
"I was just trying to get it deep," Seabrook said. "Kaner did a spin-o-rama jump or something and it went into the net."
"At first I thought it hit the linesman," Toews said. "It's tough for a goaltender. That's one of those shots that's fluky, whether it hits the glass or hits a player. They're thinking of playing the puck and, fortunately, it worked out for us."
Kane's goal answered J.P. Dumont's quirky score in Game 1, a backhand dump that bounced through Hawks goalie Antti Niemi for a 1-1 tie in the third period. Dumont's goal sparked a rally for Nashville that led to a 4-1 victory.
The Hawks needed everything they could get Monday as they won their third straight game in the Western Conference quarterfinals to capture the series 4-2.
"Sometimes you get a break like that," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We had a nice momentum thing when we scored that and the next thing you know it's a 3-3 hockey game.
"We didn't take advantage of it the way we should have."
The first period featured a little bit of everything. The teams combined for 7 goals, Nashville snapped an 0-for-22 power-play streak, and Predators captain Jason Arnott scored twice after being shut out in the first five games.
The Hawks boosted their advantage to 3-1 when Patrick Sharp won a battle in the crease for his fourth goal of the playoffs. Marian Hossa set up the goal by sweeping past Dan Hamhuis and feeding Sharp on the doorstep.
However, Nashville showed its resiliency, trimming the deficit to 3-2 at 15:44 on a power-play goal by Arnott. The Predators tied the score when Arnott deflected in a Hamhuis shot attempt from the left point.
Earlier in the shift, Hamhuis knocked Dustin Byfuglien off his skates with a hip check.
The Hawks scored the final goal of the period when Toews punched in a rebound of a Duncan Keith attempt with 31 seconds to play.
"It's the hockey we're not really looking to play," Kane said. "We made some turnovers we probably shouldn't have, and they capitalized on them. We need to make sure to clean that up."