Preds Fall 2-1 to Blackhawks in Central Division Showdown

The Nashville Predators saw their three-game win streak come to an end with a 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
Despite owning the 36-21 shot advantage, the Preds did not find the scoresheet until Roman Josi scored with less than a minute remaining in the game.
Juuse Saros made 19 saves in goal for the Predators, who moved to 34-25-7 on the season.

THE STORY

Lukas Reichel put the Blackhawks on the board with less than a minute remaining in the first period when he received a pass from Andreas Athanasiou and pushed it toward the net. Dante Fabbro, attempting to break up the 2-0 rush, deflected the puck into the net as he crashed into Saros to give Chicago the 1-0 lead at 19:13.
The Preds were awarded a penalty shot at 13:40 of the second period, when Chicago goaltender Alex Stalock was called for throwing his stick at Rasmus Asplund. Matt Duchene took the shot and attempted to deke it past Stalock but was denied. The Preds continued to trail 1-0 at the end of the middle frame.
A turnover on the forecheck behind the net led to Chicago's second goal of the night at 8:01 of the third period. Boris Katchouk collected the puck and sent a pass across the top of the crease to Joey Anderson, who scored to extend the lead to 2-0.
The Predators avoided the shutout with just 25 seconds remaining in the game, when Josi fired a slapshot into the net from inside the blue line for the 2-1 final.

QUICK HITS

• Captain Keeps Climbing:Josi's goal was his 18th of the season, tying him with New Jersey's Dougie Hamilton for the second-most among all NHL blueliners.
• Chief Kief: Kiefer Sherwood led all skaters in the game with seven hits.
• On a Roll:With an assist on Josi's goal, Matt Duchene now has 31 points (13g-18a) in his last 38 games.

THEY SAID IT

Tyson Barrie on the loss:
"I think we got some looks there in the third, but I think overall we probably weren't inside as much as we would like to give ourselves a chance to get some rebounds and get sticks on pucks. So it was a bit of a letdown there in the second period and we're just disappointed to let that one go. But you've got to move on this time of year and we've got a lot of big games left."

Josi on looking ahead to Saturday's game:
"Definitely a disappointing loss. It wasn't our best game. We didn't generate enough… But we've got a massive game coming up Saturday. So it's a quick turn around. We're going to look at this tonight. But then after that, we've got to forget about it and look forward to Saturday."
Josi on his message to the younger players:
"Especially this time of year, win or lose, you can't get too high or too low. We've been playing some really good hockey. We've won a lot of games recently, and obviously we all know tonight wasn't our best… So we've obviously got to be honest with each other. We've got to play better than what we did tonight. We've got to turn the page pretty quick and focus on Saturday.

Head Coach John Hynes on where Nashville fell short:
"I thought in the second period we were really perimeter offensively. We didn't win a lot of puck battles. We were light on the puck. There was a lot of one and done. We played on the perimeter. We didn't win battles on the perimeter to get to the inside."

Hynes on his message to the team following the loss:
"I don't usually go in [the locker room] all the time after losses, but I thought tonight was an important time. I think you can get too high on some wins and too low on some losses. And we got a really young group you know, and I think that it seems tonight like we didn't have we didn't have the energy, the normal energy and competitiveness that we've we've been playing with, and execution… It's the first time with a really heavy schedule for a lot of these guys going through it. I thought that was a little bit of the issue tonight. I think when you have watched the team play as of late, we've had much more energy and spark to our game. And tonight, guys were working but we just didn't have it, and some of that comes down to the execution on the chances. They've got to understand that in this league you can't get too low because there's another one coming at one o'clock on Saturday. So let's not be frustrated with it. Let's take some lessons out of it tomorrow as a group, get some rest and make sure our minds are right and we're getting ready to go again."

Video: NSH Recap: Josi nets lone goal in a 2-1 loss

UP NEXT

The Preds will wrap up their three-game homestand on Saturday with a Central Division matchup against the Winnipeg Jets. The puck drops at 1 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.