Blackhawks fall to Predators in return from 13-day break

NASHVILLE -- The Chicago Blackhawks lost in their first game in 14 days, 6-1 to the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.

Tanner Jeannot scored two goals, and Mattias Ekholm had three assists for the Predators (20-11-2), who won for the eighth time in their past 10 games. Juuse Saros made 37 saves, Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen each had a goal and an assist, and Matt Duchene and Yakov Trenin each had two assists.
"I think we did have some opportunistic scoring," Nashville coach John Hynes said. "I personally thought Chicago played pretty well and pretty hard. Tonight we were fortunate where we didn't necessarily play the game we want to play to give ourselves a ton of success, but we were able to score at the right times, and sometimes that's how the game goes."

Philipp Kurashev scored for the Blackhawks (11-16-4), who had not played since Dec. 18, a 4-3 overtime loss at the Dallas Stars. They had four games postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. Collin Delia allowed three goals on seven shots in his season debut before being replaced to start the second period by Arvid Soderblom, who made 15 saves in his NHL debut.
"It was fun to play," Soderblom said. "I've dreamed about playing in the NHL [since] I was a kid. It was fun, but a tough game. I feel like I played pretty good, did a couple of good saves."
Chicago goalies Marc-Andre Fleury and Kevin Lankinen are in NHL COVID-19 protocol.
The Blackhawks trailed 3-0 after the first period despite outshooting the Predators 15-7.
"I was like, guys are ready to play," Blackhawks coach Derek King said. "They were buzzing around. We had puck possession.
"I didn't think we played a really bad game. I liked our start. We had opportunities. We just couldn't bury them. They had opportunities and they scored."
Chicago was 0-for-4 on the power play.
Forsberg gave Nashville a 1-0 lead at 1:02 of the first period, taking a pass from Duchene in the slot and scoring with a wrist shot.

Johansen extended the lead to 2-0 at 5:53. Forsberg collected a loose puck near the left boards and passed to a cutting Johansen, who slipped a backhand behind Delia.
Nick Cousins scored on the power play at 19:13 when he deflected Ekholm's shot to make it 3-0.
Jeannot increased the lead to 4-0 at 28 seconds of the second period. The Predators scored on their first shot on goal in each period.
"That's obviously the way you want to start the period," Jeannot said. "We had kind of a mindset to get on them quick and start setting the pace, setting the tone with our style of hockey."
Roman Josi made it 5-0 at 5:34 with a one-timer from the point for his Nashville-leading sixth power-play goal. He returned after missing two games in protocol.

Kurashev cut it to 5-1 at 17:25 with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle to the far side.
Jeannot scored at 53 seconds of the third period for the 6-1 final. It was Jeannot's 10th goal of the season, tying him with Lucas Raymond of the Detroit Red Wings for the most among NHL rookies.
"I think the thing that's really impressive is not so much the fact he has the 10 goals to this point, but just the consistency level he's playing with," Hynes said, "and him playing to his own personal identity as a real strong power forward that can score. As long as he continues to do that, I don't see why the success wouldn't continue to come."
NOTES: The Predators have a 13-game point streak against the Blackhawks (10-0-3 dating to Jan. 9, 2020), their longest active point streak against one opponent. … Nashville center Colton Sissons had an assist and played 15:30 after missing two games in protocol. Predators defenseman Dante Fabbro was placed in protocol. … Ekholm's three-point game was his first in the NHL. ... Chicago forward Jujhar Khaira had three shots on goal in 13:56 playing his first game since Dec. 7, when he was taken off the ice on a stretcher after sustaining an upper-body injury during a 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers. He missed five games.