Connor Bedard ended his brief goal drought, but the Chicago Blackhawks let a two-goal lead slip away during a 3-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Friday night at the United Center.
The Hawks looked to bounce back from a 6-3 thrashing by the Vancouver Canucks three nights earlier and looked well on their way. But they fell out of rhythm during a penalty-filled battle (five apiece), with the Predators capitalizing with the game’s lone power-play goal.
The Predators were a desperate team, entering the game 1-5-0 coming off their lone win against the Boston Bruins.
“You can’t really sleep on a team like that,” Alex Vlasic said. “They’ve obviously been struggling, but they’re deep, they’ve got a lot of offense and ability.
“It’s a 60-minute game. I feel like we slept for 5-10 minutes of that game and they took it away from us.”
It had started so well, with goals by Craig Smith and Bedard in the first and second periods, respectively.
Teams had held Bedard out of the net for four straight games before he banked his second goal of the season in the second period. Vlasic made a heady centering pass from the half wall to Bedard, who scored on a one-time snapper.
“Kind of turned my head to the middle and saw Bedsy standing wide open, so I just kind of threw it to him and he made a nice little one-timer,” Vlasic said.
“Beautiful pass,” Connor Murphy said.
Added coach Luke Richardson said: “That was a heck of an offensive play, and he continues to kind of do that. I think he’s elusive. … He got to that puck pretty quick down the wall and made a really nice play. So it was great for him to make that play and Connor to finish it.”
For a minute, the Hawks (2-5-1) looked as if they might’ve been on their way to a rout when Teuvo Teräväinen scored a power-play goal off a funky bounce to make it 3-0 — momentarily.
But fortunes can turn on a dime.
The Predators challenged for offside, and the goal was overturned after video review determined Teräväinen and Bedard preceded the puck into the offensive zone.
Shortly after the Predators killed the penalty, Filip Forsberg wristed a shot to put Nashville on the board.
“Yeah, it shifted,” Murphy said, “But I don’t know if that was the reason. There were just lapses. We lost our momentum and our jump. That’s lulls in the games that’ll happen, and unfortunately we let it slip too far away.”
The Hawks looked to be in the pole position again after the Predators committed back-to-back penalties late in the second, but they gave up a short-handed goal to Gustav Nyquist.
The final domino fell when Brady Skjei scored a power-play goal in the third.
“I think we just took too many penalties.”
—Luke Richardson on one of the reasons for the Blackhawks’ 3-2 loss to the Predators pic.twitter.com/WsqrDa16qc
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) October 26, 2024
“We just took too many penalties,” Richardson said, “and that’s the one thing that (was in the game plan) to not to do it against this team. I know they got the one (goal) at the end of the game on the last penalty, but it’s just too many opportunities. It wears guys out, it takes other guys out of the rhythm.
“And I know they had five penalties as well, but we weren’t as sharp as they were.”
Even in five-on-five, the Hawks were hemmed in their zone for most of the third period, and Richardson said fatigue probably caught up to them.
It reminded him of another loss that sprung from a win the Hawks had within their grasp
“I think we have to have the determination like we did, let’s say, after the Winnipeg game,” he said of the 2-1 road loss on Oct. 11. “That was a little deflating. We played so well all game, and they scored at the end to tie, and obviously we know what happened in overtime.
“Similar kind of feeling tonight, and we might not have been even as good as the Winnipeg game, but we played the next night, and I think that’s probably a really good thing.”
It was an important game for a couple of players who had been healthy scratches recently.
Philipp Kurashev returned after a one-game scratch and centered the second line.
“It’s (his) first game back, I think kind of feeling himself out a little bit, but he was really good on the penalty kill,” Richardson said. “And he gives us another option at center, which we need right now.”
In the first period, Lukas Reichel made one of his strongest plays this season, splitting defenders in the neutral zone and hesitating on a defender’s slide technique before slipping the puck to Craig Smith for a tip-in goal and a 1-0 lead.
Reichel also got about 2 minutes on the power play.
“I thought he gave us the speed that we wanted early in the game,” Richardson said. “And tried to get him on the power play, a real nice shot off the side, and he made some good plays today. And he tracked hard defensively.
“So definitely another step forward for him.”
Nolan Allan also assisted on Smith’s goal and earned his first NHL point.
Goalie prospect Drew Commesso notched a first too: The last-minute Rockford call-up dressed for his first NHL game after backup goalie Arvid Söderblom fell sick.
The Hawks traveled to Dallas after the game to play the second leg of a back-to-back Saturday to kick off a five-game trip.
“We have to travel, and we did that last time (after Winnipeg) and played one of our better games all year (in Edmonton) — complete 60 minutes,” Richardson said. “So that’s what we have to look for tomorrow and have that desire that you’re not going to take no for an answer tomorrow (kind of) attitude.”
