Tag: Chicago Blackhawks

Predators overthrow Blackhawks 3-1, Preds now Third in Central Division

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Mike Fisher continues his dominance against the Central Division.

The Predators may have just destroyed the Columbus Blue Jackets last night, but that didn’t seem to effect them much when game time rolled around tonight in Chicago as the Predators smashed the Blackhawks 3-1 in regulation. With this win, the Predators are  now third in the Central Division, knocking Chicago down to fourth. Here are the highlights from tonight’s extraordinary win in the Windy City:

KEY POINTS:

  • Brian McGrattan was scratched yet again tonight, along with Francis Bouillon, who did make the trip to Chicago. His travel to Chicago with the team gave hope as to if he would play tonight, but it was nothing but false. A surprise scratch was Jerred Smithson, who is still feeling the effects of his recent upper-body injury. Hopefully, it’s just a precautionary scratch.
  • Craig Smith took Chicago by storm at 11:49 in the first, sending the wrist-shot passed goalie Corey Crawford. Smith’s 11th goal of the season was assisted by Matt Halischuk.
  • Mike Fisher wasted no time after Craig’s goal to seal his own against the Blackhawks at 17:34 with a wrist-shot. Patric Hornqvist was Fisher’s only assistant on his 12th goal of the season.
  • The second period was relatively quiet compared to the first, with neither team scoring, despite five power play opportunities between both teams. However, new kid Brandon Yip has proven himself physically as he took on Steve Montador during this period. At first, it looks as if the two are just hugging, but Yip throws some damaging punches, clearly the victor in this fight. Here’s the video:
  • Chicago would finally get the ball rolling at 7:20 of the 3rd period, Dave Bolland with a slap shot that narrowly slipped passed Pekka Rinne on the power play.
  • Colin Wilson would capitalize on the empty net at 19:47, his 10th goal of the season. He was assisted by David Legwand and Ryan Suter.
  • Not many shots were taken throughout this game, with only 26 from the Predators and 25 from the Blackhawks. Despite this, Pekka Rinne had his share of action tonight, with most of the play in the Predators zone. Pekka was remarkable as ever, enough for him to take the lead in this NHL 2012 Vezina Trophy poll:

Yes, it's in Finnish, but that doesn't mean anything!

  •  The Predators started showing some fatigue after the first period, a sure sign that they played the night before. However, although Chicago did put pressure on the Predators, it just wasn’t enough to sidetrack them from wanting the third position in the Central Division. The Predators gave up several penalty kills to Chicago, 5 to be exact, and the Blackhawks were able to use one to their advantage. Luckily for the Predators, Pekka and the defense avoided more than just one power play goal. Here are the four penalty offenders:
  1. Mike Fisher – 1:17 2nd Period – Tripping
  2. Brandon Yip – 13:12 2nd Period – Fighting
  3. Mike Fisher – 6:53 3rd Period – Delaying Game – Puck over Glass
  4. Martin Erat – 8:41 3rd Period – Hi-Sticking
  5. Shea Weber – 15:17 3rd Period – Too many men/ice
The Predators will take on the Minnesota Wild next Tuesday in Minnesota, but before then, Shea, Craig, and Ryan will participate in the All-Star Game this weekend, with events starting this Thursday night.
Until then,
GO PREDS.

(Photo Credit: Christian Petersen/Getty Images North America)

Predators blast the Blackhawks 5-2

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The Predators with their first win over the Blackhawks this season.

The Predators welcomed Central Division rival (for the first time this season) the Chicago Blackhawks into Smashville tonight before a sold-out crowd, the 15th for the Predators. Although the crowd was about 55% Preds fans, 45% Blackhawks fans, the Predators didn’t seemed too phased by the large amount of red throughout the arena. With Chicago being 4th in the league (3rd in the division) and the Predators being 8th (4th in the division), a win over Chicago would be a huge boost for the Predators. And, in true Predators form, Nashville whipped the Blackhawks 5-2 in regulation. Here are the highlights from tonight’s game:

KEY POINTS:

  • A surprising scratch tonight was Matt Halischuk, who was given the night off for new kid Brandon Yip to hit the ice for the first time as a Predator. Brian McGrattan was also scratched for the night and, as expected, Ryan Suter is still out due to an upper-body injury.
  • Marián Hossa gained the first goal of the night, putting Chicago up over the Predators at 15:05 with a nice backhand shot. However, the Predators fans didn’t have to wait long for the home team to respond…
  • At 17:19, Craig Smith chipped a nice wrist shot passed Corey Crawford on the power play, his 10th goal of the season. He was assisted by both Ryan Ellis and Sergei Kostitsyn. There’s a good reason why Nashville is 2nd in the league on the power play.
  • Kevin Klein wasted hardly any time during the second period, sending the Predators up 2-1 with a wrist shot. He was assisted by both David Legwand and Gabriel Bourque and this is his 3rd goal of the season.
  • The Predators continued to dominate in the second period, with a wrist shot goal from Colin Wilson at 11:14, his 9th goal of the season. He was assisted by David Legwand and Patric Hornqvist.
  • Sergei Kostitsyn, who was denied a goal earlier in the game, finished up the second period with a wrist shot at 16:03. This was SK74’s 12th goal of the season and has a 27.3% shooting percentage. Also, a side fun fact, Sergei is the only player this season to score two Frosty goals. He was assisted by Mike Fisher and Martin Erat.
  • Marián Hossa scored his second goal of the game (20th for the season) at just 48 seconds into the 3rd period, making Preds fans wonder if the Blackhawks would try to redeem themselves in the third.
  • However, Patric Hornqvist renewed faith with a nice slap shot at 3:08, his 13th goal of the season. It looked like at first Kevin Klein had sealed the goal, which would have made for his first multi-goal in a game. However, after it was rewarded to Klein, it was soon given to Hornqvist. Maybe next time, Klein!
  • The Predators out-shot the Blackhawks by only one shot, 23 to 22 and Pekka Rinne was able to block all but two. After allowing four goals, Corey Crawford was pulled and replaced by Ray Emery (Yea, he played for Anaheim last season…). Emery blocked four of five shots during the third, but it just wasn’t enough to save the Blackhawks in Smashville.
  • There weren’t many penalties during this game, with the Predators only giving the Blackhawks one power play chance. The Blackhawks, however, gave the Predators two chances, one of which the Predators capitalized on. Here is our one Predator who faced the penalty box:
  1. Jack Hillen – 14:08 3rd Period – Roughing
  • Francis Bouillon was injured during the first period and left the ice for the remainder of the game. According to Head Coach Barry Trotz, Bouillon’s injury does not look serious, but there’s no way of truly telling. We are hoping this upper-body injury does not involve a concussion again. There is a good chance someone will be called up from Milwaukee due to Bouillon’s injury, and it could possibly be Jonathon Blum. Time will tell.

With this win over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Predators are now 9-2-2 against the Central Division and are now 28-16-4 on the season. The Predators have Sunday off, but welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets into Nashville on Monday night. The Predators will then take on Chicago once again on Tuesday night in Chicago.

Thanks for coming down, Chicago! We’ll see you Tuesday!

Until then,
GO PREDS.