Hawks finally get a victory

NASHVILLE, Tenn -- After everything the Blackhawks have been through in what had grown into an eight-game losing skid, there was Patrick Sharp in a deadlocked shootout Sunday night with the streak on his stick.

And it was Sharp delivering, flipping a backhander into the net past sprawled Nashville goalie Dan Ellis for the deciding goal to give the Hawks a 3-2 shootout victory over the Predators at the Sommet Center.

Goodbye eight-game losing streak. Hello relief.

"It's nice to be able to play music in the dressing room again after a win," defenseman Duncan Keith said.

"It's just nice to get that win," said Sharp, who also scored his 22nd goal of the season in regulation. "All along we stayed positive. We know that we probably should have won a few that we didn't, but now hopefully we can get a winning streak together."

There was nothing wrong with the goaltending on this night as backup Patrick Lalime stepped in and made 35 saves in regulation and overtime and 2 more in the shootout.

"Patty Lalime stood on his head and saved the game for us," Sharp said.

Lalime got a big helping hand early in overtime when, with the teams playing 3-on-3 because of offsetting penalties, Nashville's David Legwand busted in alone on a breakaway only to be caught from behind by a streaking Keith.

Keith skated three-quarters of the ice to not only catch Legwand but make a diving lunge to poke the puck off his stick.

"I was able to get a good takeoff," Keith said. "I kind of read that he was going to have a breakaway, so I think I might have got a jump on him."

Yeah, right, said Sharp.

"That's about as fast I've seen a guy skate in my life," Sharp said. "That's a game-saver and that's why he's going to the All-Star Game."

Savard called the work of Lalime "phenomenal" and said he likely would start again Wednesday against St. Louis ahead of the struggling Nikolai Khabibulin.

"We'll think about it," Savard said. "Obviously, Patty has played two strong games the last two games (counting Montreal on Tuesday), and he'll probably get another start for sure. We'll probably do that."

The last time the Hawks won a game was on Dec. 26 against these same Predators.

"When you're in a situation like this you just want to get out of it," Lalime said.

The Hawks took a 1-0 lead into the third period thanks to Sharp's goal at 1:17 of the second on a redirection of a pass from Martin Havlat.

It was 1-1 when Robert Lang put the Hawks back ahead at 11:17 of the third, set up by a Havlat steal and a Patrick Kane pass.

"Havlat played a heck of a game for us," Savard said.

Brent Seabrook was off for interference when Legwand tied it at 2-2 on a rebound with 5:28 to play.

Kane scored to lead off the shootout for the Hawks before Havlat missed. Lalime was beaten by Radek Bonk but then stopped Martin Erat and Alexander Radulov.

"It's a big win for us," Savard said. "Our guys have been uptight a lot. It wasn't our best game in a while, but at least we battled."