The Nashville Predators made quite a statement in the first two games of their first-round series against the Chicago Blackhawks.
A victory Saturday would give Nashville a decisive advantage with the series returning to Music City for Games 3 and 4. Viktor Arvidsson continued his sterling play, potting the first goal in the series to send Nashville into the intermission with the lead.
The Predators increased their lead to 2-0 on a partial breakaway by Zolnierczyk with 17:09 remaining in the second period.
So here is a quick three-step program to get over this rather jarring defeat that puts the Blackhawks in a sizable hole in this series.
Corey Crawford had 19 saves for Chicago, which got center Artem Anisimov back from a leg injury that sidelined him for the last part of the season, but struggled to find many good looks against a sound defensive performance by Nashville. Toews hasn't scored a playoff goal since Game 4 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.
Quenneville said he wanted to see more traffic in front of the net in Game 2 to make Rinne's job hard.
Just getting a goal at this point would be a great moral victory for the Blackhawks. Even when the Hawks have successfully dumped and chased the puck, the Preds have often pushed them to the outside of the rink into less risky areas.
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The Blackhawks have seen it all and done it all.
- Shot blocking was excellent as well last night. "I tried to get as much on it and luckily it found a way through". The errors they have been making are largely correctable strategic errors, and this team has plenty of depth on both sides of the puck if they want to make lineup changes. The NHL Playoff Odds for the game have the Predators favored to pick up the win at home here. In fact, Chicago has been on the verge of elimination or facing a two-game deficit on six occasions and have come back to either win the series or force a Game Seven. The game will be televised on CNBC and FS-South while 102.5 The Game will have the radio call.
"Overall I thought it was a much better consistent effort tonight than it was in Game 1", Predators coach Peter Laviolette said.
Also understand that the Predators are not a bad team. In that way, this defense has shown it's more able to slow the Blackhawks than in the past. Additionally, an extra option or two on the rush should help the Blackhawks overcome the neutral zone disruption employed by their opponents. Chicago will make the right plays at the most crucial moments, and Nashville is still learning how to do the same. "It's always been about us and how we play and how we prepare". He said after Saturday's loss the Blackhawks are entering desperation mode ahead of Game 3.
As per usual Pekka Rinne still might not be human, he came into Chicago and across two games stopped 59 shots, kept two clean sheets, and two assists. Keep doing what you're doing. "We have to meet it tonight and get that engagement across the board".
"I didn't think after two games at home that we'd be talking about this already, that it's do or die", captain Jonathan Toews said, "but [that's our mentality]".
That said, none of this matters when the puck drops for game three.
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