Nashville 2, Blackhawks 1: 3 takeaways

The Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Nashville Predators on Friday night 13 days after escaping with a 2-1 win. This time it was the Predators who came away with the 2-1 victory in a game that was very reminiscent of April’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here are three takeaways from the Hawks loss.

Power play woes continue

The man advantage came up empty once again going 0 for 6. There were signs of life in the first and third periods. Puck movement looked improved and there were a few chances, but this area of special teams continues to be a sore spot. Chicago is now ranked 23rd in power-play percentage.

Quantity of shots over quality

It was evident early in the first period that the Hawks plan was to pepper Pekka Rinne. While generally the old hockey cliche of getting pucks to the net usually works out, the Blackhawks failed to do much else with their 44 shots on goal. Earlier in the season, a point was made to get bodies in front of the net. Last night Rinne was often uncontested and allowed to get clear looks from shots coming from the blue lines. If you are going to score in the NHL you need to be able to create chances off of rebounds as evident in Artem Anisimov’s shorthanded goal.

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Hawks play well… for 25 minutes

Now 1-3-1 in their last five games, coach Joel Quenneville seems to be trying everything to jump-start his team. His new line combinations were doing the trick in the first period but soon fizzled off in the second and 15 minutes of the third. The Hawks seemed to be on the verge of breaking out offensively but were not able to sustain a full 60-minute effort. Stay tuned to see what changes Quenneville has up his sleeve for tonight.

Next: Blackhawks: Nashville deserves credit for Hawks early success

The Hawks travel to Colorado to face an Avalance team playing their second game in two nights. Colorado lost by a touchdown to the Vegas Golden Knights Friday night.