SB Nation Stanley Cup Playoffs -- Quarterfinal Round
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For more, visit our Predators blog, On the Forecheck, and out Blackhawks blog, Second City Hockey.
Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - Pekka Rinne stopped 26 shots as the Nashville Predators took a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 to take the series lead in a Western Conference quarterfinal matchup.
David Legwand had a goal and two assists while Joel Ward and Shea Weber each notched goal for the Predators, who now hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Martin Erat added a penalty-shot tally late in the game.
Tomas Kopecky scored the lone goal while Antti Niemi was charged with all four goals on 35 shots for the Blackhawks, who failed to build on a 2-0 win in Game 2 on Sunday.
Nashville, which has never won a playoff series, will have the opportunity to take a commanding lead in the series on Thursday in Game 4 from Music City.
Nashville drew first blood in the game at the 13-minute mark of the first period. Legwand had the puck and skated behind the net out to the right side where he sent a pass to the front. Steve Sullivan's one-timer was stopped by Niemi, but the rebound sat at the doorstep and Ward was able to backhand it in.
Chicago, though, tied the game later in the first on the power play. Kris Versteeg tipped a pass from the slot to the front of the net where Kopecky backhanded it past Rinne with 2:25 left in the frame.
In the second, Nashville scored twice in the first half of the frame for a 3-1 lead.
The first goal came four minutes in as a clear out of the Nashville end resulted in a 2-on-1 back the other way and Sullivan chipped the puck from the right circle to the slot where Legwand tipped it in on the fly.
Near the midway mark of the frame, Weber cranked a shot from the high slot that changed course off the stick of Chicago's Marian Hossa and snuck past Niemi.
Rinne was sharp in the second stanza as he stopped all 10 shots he saw to allow Nashville take a two-goal lead into the final period.
Late in the third, Erat was hooked on the arm during a breakaway by Dustin Byfuglien. He was awarded a penalty shot and buried a wrister into the right corner with 5:35 to play to seal the win.
Nashville was still without forward Patric Hornqvist, who has missed the past two games with an upper-body injury. Also, defenseman Denis Grebeshkov, who has been sidelined since March 7 with a groin injury, did not play. Both players were questionable coming into the game...The Predators are 0-4 all- time in playoff series, having lost twice to Detroit (2004, 2008) and San Jose (2006-07)...Legwand has five points in the series...Chicago went 1-for-4 on the power play while Nashville was 0-for-5.
Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne made a pretty fantastic save in the first period of a scoreless Game 4 against Chicago on Tuesday night. Who took the shot? Pekka Rinne did. Man, that guy's good.
Nashville would go on to win, 4-1.
For more, visit our Predators blog, On the Forecheck, and out Blackhawks blog, Second City Hockey.
Nashville (Sports Network) - The second-seeded Chicago Blackhawks will try to build off a shutout victory when they visit the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena for Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.
The Blackhawks were stunned in the opener of this best-of-seven series on Friday, dropping a 4-1 decision to the seventh-seeded Predators. However, Chicago and goaltender Antti Niemi rebounded nicely with a 2-0 win in Sunday's matchup at United Center to even the set at one game apiece.
Niemi stopped all 23 shots he faced to make his first playoff win a shutout, as the Blackhawks evened the series with Nashville.
Patrick Kane and Dave Bolland scored the game's only goals for the Central Division champions.
"You look at Game 1 and you can probably say we should have won that one; a couple bad bounces," Kane said. "I think we knew that if we played the same way we had a good chance of winning. I thought we played even better tonight."
With the win, Chicago ensured that all eight playoff series started 1-1, marking the first time in NHL history that has happened.
The Predators, meanwhile, were unable to make it two straight road wins after scoring four times in the third period Friday to earn the franchise's first away victory in the postseason. Nashville had been 0-10 on the road in the playoffs before the Game 1 victory in Chicago.
Pekka Rinne made 31 saves on Sunday for Nashville, which is 0-4 all-time in playoff series.
"We made it easy on (Niemi)," said Nashville head coach Barry Trotz. "I don't want to take anything away from Chicago. They played a solid game, but we didn't fight for those inches to be in his face more and make him fight through (traffic) to find pucks."
The Blackhawks won the season series with the division rival Predators, 4-2. Chicago won twice at home in the series and twice in Nashville. This is the first-ever meeting between the clubs in the playoffs.
Nashville, which will also host Game 4 on Thursday, had a strong 24-14-3 home record during the regular season. The Blackhawks posted a 23-14-4 mark on the road.
The Predators hope to have forward Patric Hornqvist back tonight after the Swedish winger missed Game 2 with an upper-body injury. Hornqvist, who led Nashville with 30 goals during the regular season, played in Game 1 before aggravating an injury and sitting out the second contest.
Hornqvist is questionable for tonight along with defenseman Denis Grebeshkov, who has been sidelined since March 7 with a groin injury.
Nashville Reaction: Not Many Negatives With Predators
The Nashville Predators are quietly dominating the Blackhawks at their own game: even strength play. Pekka Rinne's goaltending has been outstanding and the entire team is clicking. Dirk Hoag of On The Forecheck is struggling to find negatives:
Even when criticizing the Preds, he finds something positive about their play. Nashville holds a 2-1 series lead and will meet the Hawks on Thursday at 8:30 in Nashville.
Apr 21 2:49p
by Dirk Hoag
of On the Forecheck
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