So the Chicago Blackhawks aren’t invincible in overtime.
Tanner Jeannot’s tap-in sealed the Nashville Predators’ 3-2 OT victory Friday night at the United Center and broke up ended the Hawks’ six-game winning streak in overtime and shootouts.
“We have confidence going into especially overtime and especially a shootout,” said Hawks defenseman Riley Stillman, who set up Jonathan Toews for the game-tying goal to force overtime. “Our record going into this game, I don’t know what it was, but we like overtime and we really like the shootout.
“So it was one of those things where it’s disappointing, but good we got a point out of it tonight.”
Here are five takeaways.
1. The Predators were short-handed, but they gave the Hawks all they could handle.
Eight Predators players and several coaches went into the COVID-19 protocols this week, forcing the team to recall five forwards from AHL Milwaukee.
They played the kind of the game the Hawks lately have used against other teams.
“They played a hard game, they play a boring game, they trap you up, there’s not a lot of ice out there to make plays,” Hawks forward Kirby Dach said. “We just didn’t stick with it long enough.”
Added Stillman: “They did a good job in the neutral zone, in their own zone. They made it hard on us and I think that showed earlier with the shots.”
The Hawks had little room to operate offensively and the Predators broke up several back-door opportunities, particularly in the first period.
Coach Derek King called it an off night for the Hawks but added that’s part of the Predators’ game plan.
“They trap it up in the neutral zone and they’re hoping for you to get frustrated and start bobbling pucks, and then they transition well,” King said.
The NHL on Saturday shut down the Predators and Boston Bruins through Christmas because of COVID-19 oubreaks. In addition, the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs both had their next two games postponed because of virus issues.
The NHL and its players association also agreed to daily testing and other enhanced protocols to slow the spread of the coronavirus. They will take effect immediately and last through at least Jan. 1, with an evaluation no later than Jan. 7.
2. Patrick Kane got ‘whacked’ during overtime.
Kane has been sharp in overtime and shootouts this season, so it’s fitting that shortly after he got taken out by an errant puck, the Predators mounted a rush and scored the game-winning goal.
Alex DeBrincat’s defensive-zone pass to Kane was flipped up by Filip Forsberg, and the puck hit Kane in the face.
Kane briefly held his mouth but managed to carry the puck into the offensive zone and pass to Jake McCabe before skating off — just as the Predators took the puck from McCabe and launched a counterattack.
DeBrincat found himself caught in a two-on-one with Roman Josi and Jeannot, and Josi set up Jeannot for the tip-in past Marc-André Fleury.
“Caber had fallen when he gave him the pass,” King said. “And then you got Cat playing defense on two pretty good players coming down on you. Chances are it’s going in the back of the net.”
King had no indication after the game that Kane was seriously hurt: “He just got whacked in the face. I haven’t heard anything from the trainer but I’m sure he’s fine.”
3. The Hawks shot themselves in the foot by not shooting.
The Hawks put up only 19 shots on goal against the Predators’ Juuse Saros. Meanwhile, Fleury faced 31.
“I thought we started to shoot a lot more in the third. And that was the message between periods, let’s put some pucks at the net and make this guy work,” King said. “They’re making our goalie work, so let’s make their goalie work.”
There’s a fine line between being selective with your shots and being passive.
“If there’s a shot lane you take it, if there’s not, then you don’t take it,” Dach said. “You’ve got to read the play.”
King has had this conversation before with his team.
“We’ve just got to keep in their ear. I can’t bench any of them for it,” he said. “I think the whole team will be sitting there.
“You look for those lateral plays because they are tough to stop if it does click, but when we’re struggling with the puck … that’s when we need to get into the mindset of putting pucks toward the net and keeping it simple.”
4. COVID-19 gets closer and closer to home for the Hawks.
Several Predators entered the COVID-19 protocol, including forwards Mikael Granlund and Nick Cousins and defenseman Ben Harpur.
Head coach John Hynes went on the list, too, along with four assistants.
Karl Taylor served as acting head coach, and the Predators brought up several coaches and players from the AHL.
Earlier Friday, the Hawks learned that the NHL postponed three games for the Florida Panthers, who are also dealing with an outbreak. One of those games included Tuesday’s matchup at the United Center. The Hawks already had dealt with another postponement: Monday’s game against the Calgary Flames.
And the NHL brought back enhanced protocols Wednesday.
“Right now, we’re testing a little bit more,” Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones said after morning skate. “We’re just a little more cautious. Obviously, the rules on the road are different, of course. But everyone’s just got to be careful with what’s going on around the league right now.
“And Nashville’s got a few cases and hopefully that doesn’t spread through who they’re playing.”
“And the thing is,” Jones added, “it may not show up for three days after you play that team. So it’s hard to track, it’s hard to trace where you actually got it or who you got it from.
“It’s obviously an evolving matter.”
With outbreaks popping up around the NHL, King was — as a coach — what he saw as the biggest struggle with containment.
“We’re on them on just (about) the hygiene stuff and staying away from crowds as much as you can,” King said of the players. “I know it’s tough, especially at home and family and stuff like that. There are things going on.
“On the road, we have to be a little more cautious. Maybe we don’t go out for those extra dinners or whatever it is you’re doing. Kind of stay in almost our own little bubble. … Just hopefully luck is with us and we stay out of trouble.”
5. Just don’t order the shrimp at breakfast.
Jujhar Khaira is showing signs of progress after getting concussed by a big hit during a home game against the New York Rangers.
“He skated (Friday),” King said. “He was getting stretched out, he’s feeling a lot better. It’s just the protocol, we have to be very careful with him.
“… It’s just nice having him around the room and the guys are swarming to him and I think just seeing him on the ice, it was nice to see him getting back and running again.”
Meanwhile, King expects Reese Johnson (fractured right clavicle) to be out for a while.
“But he’s around, he’s getting his free breakfast every morning,” King said. “He’s another great personality guy, so it’s great having these guys around the room, and Tyler (Johnson).
“The guys with the bad shrimp stay away,” said King, the Hawks’ inside joke this season for anyone who comes down with an illness not related to COVID-19. “The guys who are getting some rehab and getting ready to get back, love having them around the locker room.”
Here is more game coverage.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators traded goals late in the third period, but the Predators prevailed 3-2 on Tanner Jeannot’s overtime winner Friday at the United Center.
Colton Sissons’ goal gave the Predators a 2-1 lead with 8 minutes, 27 seconds left in the third. Filip Forsberg found a seam to Sissons, who fired to Marc-André Fleury’s glove side. Fleury made a diving play on the puck, but it dribbled underneath his pad.
But Hawks center Jonathan Toews evened the score with 6:05 left. Riley Stillman dished across the crease — one of the few times the Predators didn’t clog the front — and Toews snapped it past Juuse Saros’ open side for his third goal of the season.
With about three minutes left in regulation, Jeannot tripped Dominik Kubalik, but the Hawks couldn’t capitalize. They went 0-for-5 on the power play Friday.
In overtime, the Predators mounted a rush. Roman Josi threaded Alex DeBrincat’s legs, and Jeannot tapped in the game-winner.
Fleury made 28 saves and Saros 17.
“We were just off,” Hawks coach Derek King said. “Passes weren’t flat, we were bobbling pucks. We turned a few pucks over.
“It was just one of those games where it just wasn’t clicking for us.”
It was a given that the Hawks would have wanted to avoid the Predator’s seventh-ranked power play that’s even better on the road (second) than at Bridgestone Arena.
But the first opportunity came midway through the first period, and Predators rookie Thomas Novak wristed his first NHL goal with Alexandre Carrier and Luke Kunin assisting.
Two minutes later, Kirby Dach put the Hawks on the board with his fifth goal of the season. Dominik Kubalik led a rush, and MacKenzie Entwistle dug the puck out from a scrum behind the net to set up Dach for a shot that ricocheted in off Saros’ right side.
Other than the early offense, the game was a slog. The Predators pressured the Hawks on both ends and seemed unafraid they would get burned.
“They play a hard game,” King said before the game. “They’re a big team, they play a physical game.
“They’re going to be around our net a lot, they always have two guys in front, they come hard on the forecheck. We have to have our heads up, have to move our feet.”
In the second period, the Predators’ 71% Corsi-for percentage showed how much they dominated the puck, and they outshot the Hawks 15-6.
The Predators committed a penalty in the first, three in the second and one more late in the third, yet the 24th-ranked penalty kill shut down all five Hawks power-play opportunities by aggressively challenging puck carriers.
Asked why the power play struggled, Dach said he wasn’t sure.
“That’s not my job,” he said. “But as players that are on it, we’ve got to take more pride in it and go out there with a 5-on-5 mentality and be ready to execute and put away games.”
Kurtis Gabriel made his Hawks debut and played right wing on the fourth line with Ryan Carpenter and Josiah Slavin.