Predators 3 Blackhawks 2
With their ninth straight loss, there was nothing but silence in the Blackhawks locker room. A hard fought 60 minutes was not enough to prevent the Hawks from falling 3-2 to the Nashville Predators. Ray Emery was in net for the Hawks, who stopped 16 out 19 shots, but it wasn't good enough. Pekka Rinnie stopped 30 out 32 shots on goal and was too much for the Hawks to handle.
Ryan Suter got the first goal for Nashville at 18:20 in the 1st period. Suter was pinching in on a play and sent a laser past Emery. The Hawks quickly countered with a goal at 19:06. Jamal Mayer's bought some time in the Nashville zone. He got the puck to Bryan Bickell for a hard quick shot tying it at 1. Nick Spaling put the Predators ahead in the 2nd period with a 55ft goal at 17:21. Marian Hossa got a goal in the 3rd period at 6:05. Ryan Ellis would score the game winner at 14:18. Emery had Ellis' shot deflect off Duncan Keith's stick in front of net.
The Hawks fought hard defensively in this game, but in the end it came down to goaltending. A positive was the penalty kill unit did not give up a shorthanded goal. Unfortunately, the power play still continues to struggle unable to convert on 3 chances.
The Blackhawks goaltending is just not providing what they need it to. The Hawks as a team did play better tonight, but Ray Emery gave up 3 goals on 19 shots. In his postgame remarks Ray Emery said on the Predators' 3rd goal, "That's one I really want to stop and it just hits off the defenseman...I really got to stop that." The Hawks are looking for a goalie win by Corey Crawford or Ray Emery. A game where they win 2-1 and it's clearly because of the goaltending. The Hawks have not had a shutout all season.
Tonight was a disappointing loss. Entering tonight on a 8 game losing streak makes this one even harder to swallow. Coach Joel Quenneville had this to say about tonight's play, “It was disappointing in a lot of ways because we were doing what we wanted to do." Marian Hossa said, “Of all the losses we’ve had lately it was one of our better games.”
The Hawks will go into Columbus Saturday to face the Blue Jackets. Right now more than anything it's becoming a mental battle as the losses stack up. Getting just one win has become difficult, but is the cure to get on the right path.
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