The Nashville Predators fell behind early, but they rallied to erase a two-goal deficit and defeat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2, Friday at United Center.
Special teams were the name of the game for Nashville, who, despite getting into some penalty trouble, scored the tying goal shorthanded and the eventual game winner on the power play. Juuse Saros stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced.
It took fewer than three minutes for Chicago to open the scoring in the first period, as former Predators forward Craig Smith converted on a 2-on-1 and deflected the puck up and over Juuse Saros to make it 1-0 early in the first frame.
Just over five minutes into the second period, Connor Bedard – who had scored just one goal through his first six games of the season entering Friday’s contest – launched a one-timer from the slot to give Chicago a 2-0 lead after a long shift in the Nashville zone at 5:14 of the second period.
Once Chicago’s third goal was called back after a successful offside challenge, Nashville began to mount a comeback late in the second period. Filip Forsberg split two Blackhawks defensemen, deked backhand-to-forehand and beat Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek for his third goal of the season.
In the minutes after Forsberg’s goal, the Predators were called for two penalties: Cole Smith for high-sticking and Michael McCarron for hooking. Just after Smith’s penalty expired, Gustav Nyquist broke through on an odd man rush and scored a shorthanded goal to tie the game at 2-2. The shorthanded tally was the 200th goal of Nyquist’s career and his second in as many games.
Brady Skjei broke the tie for Nashville at 13:07 of the third period. With Wyatt Kaiser in the box for tripping, Skjei fired a shot from the wall around a screen in front by Mark Jankowski to give Nashville the 3-2 lead.
Chicago applied pressure during the final seven minutes, including pulling Mrazek for the extra attacker with two minutes remaining, but the Predators held on for the 3-2 final.
Winners of two straight after dropping their first five games, the Predators will return home to host the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
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