Chicago Blackhawks suffer another tough loss to Predators
Two bad minutes out of 60.
Doesn't seem like a lot, does it?
But that's all it takes for a playoff-caliber team to cash in on mistakes and claim victory, which is exactly what happened Monday as Nashville defeated the visiting Blackhawks 5-2.
The Hawks (21-20-5, 47 points) are now 0-4-2 against the Predators (25-21-1, 51 points) this season, scoring just 8 goals in those six games.
"It (stinks)," said Alex DeBrincat. "We had a few breakdowns. About two minutes of poor hockey and they scored 4 goals."
The Hawks were forced to go with five defensemen after losing Wyatt Kalynuk early in the first period. It meant heavy ice time for Duncan Keith (25:29), Connor Murphy (25:24), Nikita Zadorov (22:28) and Calvin de Haan (21:55).
"It just seems to be a constant thing here where we're playing a lot of games with five 'D' " said coach Jeremy Colliton. "And it's hard. It's hard on our guys because it's a tough level. Big games, they're intense, they're physical."
The game was tied at 1-1 after one period thanks to DeBrincat's 23rd goal of the season, and it was still 3-2 entering the third thanks to David Kampf's first.
The Predators' 2 goals in the second period came 51 seconds apart off a brutal defensive decision by Zadorov and a brutal turnover in the offensive zone by Keith.
But it was an 18-second span early in the third that really sealed the Hawks' fate.
Nashville made it 4-2 at 0:23 when Tanner Jeannot tipped in a shot past Kevin Lankinen. Seconds earlier, Jeannot ripped off Murphy's helmet, which forced Murphy to go to the bench because if he stays on the ice it's a penalty.
"It's really frustrating," Murphy said. "I don't really like that rule to take yourself out of the play. Obviously you're not knocking your own helmet off. ...
"That guy ends up getting a free path to the net to score. I've got to get some clarity on that. Maybe it's worth taking a penalty and keep playing because it's crazy to allow a guy go to the net."
On the next shift, Luke Kunin ended up all alone in front of Lankinen (17 saves) after Keith fell down in the defensive zone. Kunin's goal made it 5-2 and ended Lankinen's night. Malcolm Subban came on and made 8 saves.
Not only are the Hawks 4 points behind Nashville, but they also fell into seventh place after Dallas beat Detroit in a shootout. The season figures to be on the line for Colliton's team when the Predators invade the United Center for back-to-back games Wednesday and Friday.
"For us to win these games, we've got to be at close to our top level," Colliton said. "It's a great challenge for us. We want to rise to it.
"For a lot of the game we were very good. Ultimately the mistakes we made are tough to recover from. It's just tough to come back when you put yourself in a hole.
"We definitely showed what it looks like to give ourselves a chance to beat that team and we're gonna need to bring that next time out. It's still there for us."