Missed opportunities cost Chicago Blackhawks in loss to Preds
It may be days, or even weeks, before Patrick Kane stops shaking his head over a hard-luck first period in which he easily could have scored 2-3 goals against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.
Kane failed to cash in, though, then took a bad cross-checking penalty in the third period, and the Predators won a key Central Division contest 3-2 over the Chicago Blackhawks.
"Great start. In the second period we slowed down a bit," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville told reporters. "They're a good hockey team. You can't have a lull in the game and you've got to keep the pace up."
Nashville took a 2-1 lead into the third period and made it 3-1 on Roman Josi's power-play goal at 2:32. Lance Bouma stuffed home a shot to make it 3-2 at 9:38, but the Hawks never got the equalizer.
Tommy Wingels scored the Hawks' other goal and nearly tied it on a backhanded attempt with 47 seconds left, but Predators goalie Pekka Rinne managed to extend his right leg in time. Nick Schmaltz also had a chance to knot the score but failed on a short-handed breakaway with 6:33 left.
"While we're happy with some aspects, the biggest thing is we didn't come away with the 2 points," Wingels said. "I think we kind of got away from our game there in the second period. They outshot us, outchanced us. For whatever reason, we were back on our heels.
"Other than that, it was a good effort. It's a tough team here, a tough building to play in."
And tough when your superstar comes oh-so-close to having a truly special night.
• Four minutes in, Kane was robbed by a lunging Rinne on a one-timer, then hit the right post on another shot seconds later.
• Five minutes later, Kane, standing just outside the goal crease with the Hawks on a power play, couldn't kick a pass from Artem Anisimov to his stick in time with Rinne completely out of position. A bewildered Kane was shown shaking his head over and over again on the bench.
• Then with 5:14 left, Kane took a feed from Jonathan Toews and fired a bullet that Rinne (37 saves) turned aside.
If all of that wasn't bad enough, a linesman also slowed Kane down on what would have been a 2-on-1 rush with 7:45 remaining. Kane finished with 6 shots on goal but had his seven-game points streak snapped.
Quenneville challenged Auston Watson's goal that gave Nashville a 2-1 lead at 3:48 of the second period, arguing goalie interference. The officials ruled the contact was incidental, however, and the goal stood.
"(Watson) was in the paint and he picked his stick there," Quenneville told NBCSN. "And he was there before the puck arrived. So that's what we looked at."
The Hawks (12-9-3, 27 points) return to action Thursday when they host Dallas. Nashville (15-6-3, 33 points) moved into a tie with Winnipeg for second place in the Central Division. Both teams are just 2 points behind St. Louis (17-6-1).