9:00 P.M.: Blackhawks Head To Nashville For Game Three

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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.