Preds look to rebound by staying out of penalty box
Q: Your thoughts on the Blackhawks going to Corey Crawford in net for Game 2?
A: To me, the right thing to do and the easy decision is to go back to Corey Crawford. He's your No. 1 guy. There's multiple reasons about what happened in the first period as to why you were down 3-0. You make an adjustment and you win the hockey game.
But you go back to your starter and give him that opportunity. It's his net. You're very happy and it's incredible how well Scott Darling played and what happened in that game to turn it around to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 (series) lead. But Corey Crawford is the No. 1 netminder. You go right back with him in Game 2.
Q: Can you remember seeing a performance like Darling's?
A: (One thing that helped a lot was) only having to face 4 shots in the second period - and I don't think there was a quality chance in there. It gave him a good opportunity to settle into the game and be in a position where he'd be a little more comfortable and maybe not quite as nervous.
But to try and figure out a guy who had that kind of performance in relief, getting 42 saves in a game that went to double overtime, I can't think of a guy who ever did that.
Q: How devastating of a loss was this for the Predators?
A: There was so much emotion and energy at the beginning of the game. They're up 3-0 after the first period, everything is going in their favor. … For them to find the game tied up in the second period and then losing in overtime, obviously it's really tough to take. It could have gone either way. For a team that maybe doesn't have quite as much as experience inside the locker room in dealing with those types of losses, it might be a little bit tougher to swallow.
It's one game and you have to have that mentality. Their coach, Peter Laviolette, has been there before. I think his message to his team is, 'Hey, it's only one game. We played well, we did the right things. If we stick with those things, we're going to be successful.'
Q: What is the key for Nashville for Game 2?
A: The 3 goals that got the Blackhawks back into (Game 1) were special situations (power play, 4-on-4). The Predators will say 'we have stay out of the penalty box, we have to be better at our special teams, we have to be more disciplined.' When you're in control of a hockey game the way Nashville was after the first period, the one thing that have to keep in mind is keep everything in sync and don't shoot yourselves in the foot. At the beginning of the second period when they started taking some penalties, that obviously was the opportunity the Blackhawks needed.
• Murray is in his 15th year as a member of the Blackhawks broadcast team and his eighth as the color analyst for the team's radio broadcasts. The Selke Award winner was a five-time 20-goal scorer who played 15 years in the NHL. Follow him on Twitter@muzz19.