INSTANT ANALYSIS: 'Playing Free' Sparks Victory in King's Debut

A long day, a long weekend for the Blackhawks ended in celebration on Sunday night as the Blackhawks took a 2-1 overtime win over the Nashville Predators at the United Center.
After Alex DeBrincat netted the game-winner off a 2-on-1 rush with Patrick Kane, the winger made a point to pick the winning puck out of the net and deliver it to interim head coach Derek King, who netted his first win just 30 hours into his new role.
"It was a nice gesture," King said. "But I made it clear that this wasn't about me. I love the fact that -- it's your first game, you get a win, obviously you're pumped about it, but this is not about me. This is about those guys and I told them that: 'You guys should be proud of each other because you stuck together and you fought through it and you got a win.'"

POSTGAME LINKS
GAMECENTER: CHI vs. NSH
RECAP: Blackhawks Top Predators in OT
BLOG: King Getting Up to Speed as Interim Coach
HIGHLIGHTS: Blackhawks vs. Predators
GALLERY: Blackhawks vs. Predators
"It's fun to win games. It's been tough this first month of the season, but the guys battled hard today and got the win," DeBrincat said. "That's what matters right now is getting wins and having fun. Good for Kinger to get his first win and wanted to make sure he got the puck."
Brandon Hagel, who broke into the NHL after a season under King's guidance in Rockford, scored Chiacgo's goal in regulation and Kevin Lankinen, another product of King's IceHog tenure, stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced in his first win of the year.

PLAYING FREE

With a single morning skate between being named the interim coach and the game against the Predators, there wasn't much time to tweak or adjust for King on day one. The team's overall system remained mostly in tact on Sunday night, but the message from King was clear: go out, play free and use instincts without hesitation.
"They're tight," King said before the game. "My personality is going to come in and just let them just take a deep breath and get your shoulders dropped and go have some fun and get back to the game we love to play. We've played it since we were 5-6 years old, and it hasn't changed. You might be making a little more money now, but it's just time to go back to playing some good, solid, hard hockey and have some fun with it."
The results showed on both sides of the puck as the Blackhawks not only pulled out the win, but allowed their fewest shots on goal of the season at 21.
"As frustrating as it's been in that locker room, I think we're feeling that we can go out there and play hockey," Toews said. "We know what the system is, just simplify (it). Just got to go out there and work for each other and not overthink things and not cheat... Tonight was a huge confidence builder for us that we can just relax a little bit... Derek brought that calm in today and reminded us to simplify and have fun. If you're not doing that, it's hard to play in this league right now."
"It all comes down to the mental side of the struggle we've been going through. When things are going tough, you're overthinking usually and the first thing that they told us is just to ease off our mind, not think so much and play more free," Murphy said. "It's why we didn't change anything and that's the most important for us is to get back to having fun and playing our way. If guys can feel free on the ice, they're going to play to their strengths and you can see that tonight."

BUILDING FORWARD

While the freedom is key, as the practices and games go by in the days to come, King said he will make the necessary adjustments he sees to the game plan overall.
"As the games go, we have a couple games here, we get through, and I'll sit down with the staff and just say, 'OK, I think we should maybe tweak this or tweak that' and we'll go from there," he said.
His approach will be in collaboration as well, dictating the overall blueprint, while welcoming feedback and insight from the players on what they're seeing on the ice.
"This is an open-door policy here," King said. "If they have concerns or they want to sit and chat and have a cup of coffee that my door is open. I'll just build a relationship like that, talking to them a lot. Always communicating.
"Letting them have a voice, I think, is key. And to go over situations, whether it's stuff on the ice or stuff as an entire team, we'll make sure we're always communicating. And that goes for all the players."
Regardless of the system, though, there's one thing that King was clear he will expect from his players going forward.
"The biggest thing for me is the accountability," he said. "Go out there, work hard, play the game right, don't cheat it, and we'll be fine. If you don't do that, then the accountability is going to kick in -- you're going to hear from me."