RECAP: Chicago Drops Fifth Straight as Nashville Overpowers Middle Period

CHICAGO -- The Nashville Predators scored three times in the second period and held on for a 4-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Friday.

Steven Stamkos, Luke Evangelista and Ryan O'Reilly each had a goal and an assist for the Predators (8-12-4), who won their second straight on the road following a 6-3 victory at the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. Juuse Saros made 24 saves.

“We’ve been looking for something to build off of all year,” Evangelista said. “Two big road wins like that, it’s a good chance to grab some momentum. Just try and build off of that.

“We’ve been fighting for that good feeling, that chance to grab momentum. Two consecutive wins like that, we’re kind of playing our style, and we’re playing desperate. We’re in competitive games right to the very end. Those are fun games to play in. We’ve got to build off this feeling.”

Ryan Donato, Ryan Greene and Teuvo Teravainen scored goals for the Blackhawks (10-9-5), who have lost five in a row. Arvid Soderblom made 25 saves.

"I didn’t think we were very good, honestly,” said Chicago coach Jeff Blashill. “I would say it was a game where I didn’t think -- you know we talked last game (4-3 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday) about -- OK, we played probably two pretty good games in a row and didn’t win, but you just keep repeating that and you’ll get results.

“I just thought maybe the first few minutes of the game were all right and then I didn’t think we were good enough the rest of the way.”

Donato gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 19:10 of the first period. Defenseman Sam Rinzel fed the puck ahead to Donato from the neutral zone. Donato moved in and scored on a wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle.

Matthew Wood tied the game at 1:46 of the second period. He took a stretch pass from Nicolas Hague, moved into the offensive zone and scored on a wrist shot from the right circle.

The Predators went ahead 2-1 at 7:18 when Stamkos finished a give-and-go by tipping in a backhand pass by Nick Blankenburg from the right circle.

Greene tied the game for Chicago with a power-play goal at 15:14, taking a pass from Oliver Moore from behind the net and scoring from in front.

"Yeah, it felt good,” Greene said. “There are still some [chances] that I feel like I need to score on. That's something I'm trying to work on. But yeah, it felt pretty good to see one go in."

Evangelista put Nashville back on top at 16:27. He picked up the puck from Stamkos, backed up and scored from the right circle.

“[Stamkos] walked up the wall and kind of had that spin slinger that he threw towards the net, just looking for a stick, maybe a tip of something, a rebound,” Evangelista said. “I felt like I had enough time to catch it, spin and fire it, and fortunately, it went in.”

It was Evangelista's 100th NHL point.

“He’s got a little mojo,” said Predators coach Andrew Brunette. “He’s feeling it right now. It’s good to see. It seems like he’s getting better every game, more confident. It was nice to see him get a goal like that. Could have had a couple more, but his game has really grown.”

O'Reilly gave the Predators a two-goal lead at 7:15 of the third period. Evangelista passed to O'Reilly from the right-wing board, and O'Reilly scored from the slot on the forehand.

Teravainen brought the Blackhawks to within 4-3 at 10:28. He picked up the puck in front and shot into an open net after Wyatt Kaiser put the puck off the end boards.

Brunette said he hopes the Predators can gain momentum from the two road victories; they play the Winnipeg Jets in Nashville on Saturday.

“Obviously, we’re not where we want to be right now,” Brunette said. “We’re looking for something to grab onto and build off of. Two hard places to play. Two fast teams. I thought we managed the game pretty well tonight.

“They’ve been hard to come by. We’ve been in so many of these games kind of like tonight where it’s a one-goal game going into the third period and we’ve ended up on the wrong end. It’s nice to end up on the right one here a couple nights in a row.”

NOTES: Forward Reid Schaefer made his NHL debut for the Predators following his call-up from Milwaukee of the American Hockey League. He had 10:22 of ice time and was a minus-1 … Forward Andre Burakovsky returned to the Blackhawks lineup after missing three games with an undisclosed injury. He played 18:51, had an assist, two shots on goal and was minus-1.