Predators remain pests for Blackhawks in 3-2 loss
Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, the sky is not falling for the Blackhawks.
Not yet, anyway.
While it's true that coach Jeremy Colliton's team has lost eight of 11 - including a 3-2 setback to Nashville at the United Center on Sunday that dropped them into fifth place in the Central Division - it doesn't mean the season is suddenly over and their playoff dreams have been dashed.
After all, just four days ago everyone was giddy over the fact that the Hawks swept Joel Quenneville's Florida Panthers to theoretically get their train back on the track.
Well, another derailment occurred over the weekend, thanks in large part to a pesky bunch of Predators (18-17-1) who have won five straight and jumped over the Hawks (16-15-5) into the final playoff spot in the division.
"All teams go through ebbs and flows through the year," Colliton said. "This is ours, and we got to nip it in the bud. The positive is (because of) how we played earlier we're still in a good position in the standings."
Despite being throughly outplayed much of the night, the Hawks were still in a good position Sunday after Alex DeBrincat scored a pair of third-period goals just 110 seconds apart to make it 2-2.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, a Kirby Dach turnover in the defensive zone led to the game-winning goal by Roman Josi with 6:33 remaining. Viktor Arvidsson and Eeli Tolvanen assisted with some sweet passing that led to Josi walking down the middle and snapping a shot off that beat Malcolm Subban.
"Those are games that we're gonna have to win down the stretch to make it to the playoffs," said DeBrincat, who has 18 goals to equal his total from all of last season. "Obviously we did a good job coming back, but we've got to stick with it and hold that tie to the end or battle and get another one."
The Predators were a pain all night, getting in passing lanes, nipping at the Hawks' heels and yielding few scoring opportunities. They also took a 2-0 lead thanks to some crazy caroms - the first of which was a double deflection of an Arvidsson pass that hit Calvin de Haan's skate and richocetted off Subban's right leg. The puck trickled into the net at 4:43 of the first period.
Calle Jarnkrok scored 14 minutes later when Mattias Ekholm's turnaround shot bounced off him and past Subban.
DeBrincat and Colliton both agreed the Hawks have gotten away from what made them so successful during the first half of the season.
The fire, the hustle, the decisiveness, the compete level, the physicality - it's gone MIA for large portions of recent games.
"(Be) willing to play a zero-zero shift and just leave the next line in a better spot," Colliton said.
So stop guessing on no-look passes, assuming a teammate is there. Take an extra second or a different angle on a clearing attempt. Don't hand the puck to the opposition - as Subban did to Arvidsson on that first goal.
"Do little things that will help your teammates have a chance at success," Colliton said. "It may not be you who makes the play to win the game, but you can set the table for them. And then hopefully they do it for you.
"I just feel like we were missing that edge to our game and just the commitment to do the little things that help you win."
Strome out:
Dylan Strome became a father Sunday and did not play against Nashville. Matthew Highmore drew back into the lineup for just the second time in 13 days.
Slap shot:
Ian Mitchell had an assist for Rockford in a 5-4 loss to the Chicago Wolves on Sunday. Mitchell was assigned to the IceHogs on Saturday. Defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk had a goal and an assist as Rockford fell to 6-10-1.