Barrie scores 1st goal for Predators in win against Blackhawks

CHICAGO --Tyson Barrie scored for the Nashville Predators in a 3-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Saturday.

Barrie made it 2-1 at 12:08 of the second period when his one-timer from the blue line deflected off the stick of Philipp Kurashev and fluttered past the glove of Petr Mrazek.
It was Barrie's first goal with Nashville in two games since being acquired from the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 28
"It's always emotional switching teams and all that comes with it, but guys have been great in here and I'm having a lot of fun so far," Barrie said. "It's nice to get the first out of the way. You don't want to sit on a bagel with a new team for too long. I appreciate the good bounce there."

Philip Tomasino and Colton Sissons also scored, Yakov Trenin had two assists, and Juuse Saros made 27 saves for the Predators (31-23-6), who have won five of their past six, including the first two of a season-long six-game road trip.
Nashville is five points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"It's been a hectic week, obviously, with all the trades and guys in and out," Predators coach John Hynes said. "Now to be able to go on the road with a lot of new guys, and it's a nice road trip, too, where we have a lot of games, but there are some days off where guys can spend more time together, which I think can be good, and getting out of Nashville for a little bit and being together on the road and keep pushing forward."
Seth Jones scored, and Mrazek made 22 saves for the Blackhawks (21-36-5), who have been outscored 16-6 during a four-game losing streak.
"I thought the first part of the first two periods we played better, and then we kind of dropped off," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. "We were more physical, skating, had the puck, driving offensive plays more … and then we seemed to be a little bit too much in the [defensive] zone and not enough in the [offensive] zone.
"But our guys played and our guys played to the game plan well. It kind of fell off a little bit for pace for me, but I think we're still trying to find ourselves."
Jones gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead 37 seconds into the first period when he tipped in a pass by Andreas Athanasiou to finish a give-and-go.
"I think it's always nice to start great," Chicago forward MacKenzie Entwistle said. "First shift we get a goal, then I thought we battled pretty hard most of the game. We limited their chances, and Mrazek played great. Obviously, it's frustrating not being able to pull away with the win, but I thought we generated some offense. We had some chances, just maybe a little bit of puck luck and the game may be a little different."

Tomasino tied it 1-1 at 9:36 on a power play, scoring on the rebound of a shot by Trenin from the edge of the crease.
Sissons scored an empty-net goal at 19:30 of the third period for the 3-1 final.
"I didn't think we got off to a great start to the game, but I thought we got our competitive juices going and managed the puck better, I thought, in the second and third period," Hynes said. "We didn't have a ton of emotion to start the game. I thought we worked. We controlled what we could control and found a way to get the win."
NOTES:Tomasino left later in the first period with an undisclosed injury. … Entwistle had one shot, five hits and one block in 15:12 of ice time after missing nine games with a wrist injury. … Forward Anders Bjork and defenseman Nikita Zaitsev each made his Blackhawks debut. Bjork, who was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres on March 2, had one block in 16:05. Zaitsev, who was acquired from the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 22, had one hit and one block in 16:00. He missed four games because of visa issues. … Nashville forward Rasmus Asplund, who was acquired from the Sabres on March 3, had two shots and five hits in 10:54.