ANALYSIS: Blackhawks Not Clean Enough Against Shutdown Predators

The Blackhawks put up a fight against the playoff-hopeful Predators -- quite literally at times of the game -- but couldn't solve a Nashville team that comes hard and clogs up the middle of the ice, falling 4-3 on the afternoon.
"I like what we were doing," interim head coach Derek King said after the loss. "We were just a little too sloppy against a team that plays that style of hockey. We've got to clean it up in some areas."

POSTGAME LINKS
GAMECENTER: CHI at NSH
RECAP: Blackhawks Comeback Bid Falls Short in Nashville, 4-3 
HIGHLIGHTS: Blackhawks at Predators
GALLERY: Blackhawks at Predators
INSIDER: Foley, Olczyk Ahead of Final Call
"We were just sloppy," Patrick Kane added. "Even when we got the puck back, we gave it away too easy. They're a hard-forechecking team. (Nashville head coach John) Hynes deserves a lot of credit for the way they play. You look at their roster and you think it's a beatable team, but they play so hard and he obviously forces that."

KANE DELIVERS

Kane tied a season high in ice time on Saturday in Nashville (25:30) and put forth his 313th career multi-point game with a goal and an assist, surpassing Bobby Hull for the third-most multi-point outings in franchise history behind only Stan Mikita (403) and Denis Savard (326).
The forward also skated in his 1,100th career game, becoming the fourth player to ever reach the mark in a Blackhawks sweater.
"I thought it wasn't the best game for our line, but we cashed in on a couple of our chances," Kane said after the game. "They play well defensively, they have some physical guys that don't really give you a lot of time and space. We didn't really generate much, but we made a couple nice plays."
One of those nice plays was on Kane's goal to tie things 1-1 in the first, taking a slick breakout feed from Alex DeBrincat and walking in on a 2-on-1 with Dylan Strome before keeping it himself for a no-look wrister past Juuse Saros.

After the goal, Kane stared down a Predators fan on the other side of the glass -- a moment that the internet ran with in the aftermath.
"I just saw it was a Nashville fan and was kind of caught in the moment. No real reason behind it," Kane said afterward with a smile.
"Yeah, we'll leave it at that."

KIDS STEPPING UP

The rookies in Chicago's lineup continue to show their growing comfort with the NHL game.
Lukas Reichel notched his first NHL point with a heads-up play and a secondary assist on Dominik Kubalik's second-period tally. Alex Vlasic skated his highest total of the season with 15:36 and two hits. And Alec Regula had a takeaway and two blocked shots in 16:06 of ice time.
"I'm sure it was a relief for him," King said of Reichel's first point. "Nice play, good heads up play and that's what we expect from him. Him getting that point is going to make him feel better, get a little confidence, not squeeze the stick as much thinking 'I've got to get points, I've got to get points.' "
"I think I've had some great chances the last couple games," Reichel said. "You feel better when you get your first point. The game, we battled until the end, but we lost. Just got to learn from it and keep going."