Game 2 is Saturday night at the United Center. As the teams head to Nashville, the Hawks are in serious trouble after dropping the first two games at home in the playoffs in the Joel Quenneville era.
Although the Blackhawks' outshot the Predators by a narrow margin of 30-29, the Predators' speed and physicality prevailed. There's have been way too many sloppy passes, lazy sticks, and lost puck battles, which has led to the Hawks being content keeping things on the perimeter.
The Predators added two more in the second. Corey Crawford made 19 saves for the Blackhawks.
Dating back to past year, Patrick Kane has just one goal in nine playoff games.
The Predators slowly began to take over the game however, converting on four rush chances of their own to build a 5-0 lead. Still, Chicago's stars powered them to a near 60 percent goals for total, which translated to the favorable regular season record.
The injury forced Rielly, Jake Gardiner and Matt Hunwick to play heavy minutes late into the night. The Blackhawks are entering the zone by chipping the puck down and chasing after it where they are met with consistent pressure against the boards.
The Chicago Blackhawks entered the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the favorites to lift Lord Stanley.
"It's obviously not good enough", Crawford said.
Over his last 10 games dating back to the regular season, Rinne has a save percentage of.954 and has posted three shutouts including both games in the playoffs.
North Korea threatens weekly missile tests as tensions soar over Korean peninsula
Global concern has been growing over the deteriorating situation, with China expressing fears war could break out "at any moment". The North has warned of a nuclear strike against the United States if provoked. "That still remains a fact - a hard fact".
Pierre LeBrun: If it wasn't for the fact I picked the Blackhawks to win the Cup before the playoffs, I would have picked the Predators to win this series - I absolutely hate picking against them.
The Blackhawks talked before Game 2 about making adjustments, such as crowding Rinne and playing with more of an edge.
The Blackhawks will look to force a game 5 tonight in Nashville at 8:30pm CT. Anytime the puck nears the front of the net, the Predators are descending on the goal scorers and taking away scoring opportunities.
Furthermore, it would not surprise me to see more aggression from the Hawks' defense with regards to stepping up in the play.
Things don't look good if you're a fan of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Game 3 is Monday night in Nashville.
In the case of the Blackhawks, this statement rises above being a hackneyed cliché, and actually hits on a fundamental truth of the team in the first two games of this series: they have played with zero urgency, and as a result, they have been shutout in the first two games of a series for the first time in over 80 years.
The biggest question is whether luck will continue to remain on Nashville's side. Credit them as much as anything for the team's struggles. Pekka Rinne is human; they just need to find his flaws. Advice for the Preds? "That's how desperate we've got to be". Calgary is winless in Anaheim since April 25, 2006, when the Flames won a playoff game in a series won by the Ducks.
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