The Nashville Predators fell 6-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks Friday at United Center for their six straight loss.
The Blackhawks scored five goals in the first two periods led by two goals and two assists from Ryan Donato. Colton Sissons and Tommy Novak scored the only goals for Nashville.
Goaltender Petr Mrazek made 29 saves for the Blackhawks, while Juuse Saros made 24 saves for Nashville.
Forward Joakim Kemell, who was recalled Thursday from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, made his NHL debut with the Predators. He led all skaters with six shots on goal in 11:43 minutes of ice time.
How the Predators lined up vs. Chicago
Forsberg-Stamkos-Marchessault
Nyquist-O’Reilly-Kemell
Novak-Svechkov-L’Heureux
Smith-McCarron-Sissons
Josi-Schenn
Skjei-Blankenburg
Gravel-Barron
Saros
Annunen
Extra: Jankowski (week-to-week, upper-body), Evangelista (day-to-day, lower-body), Wilsby (day-to-day, upper-body)
IR: Lauzon
Game Summary
The Blackhawks opened the scoring at the 8:37 mark of the first period when Frank Nazar came over the boards just in time to receive a pass from Alex Vlasic and bury a shot from the right circle to make it 1-0.
Nashville had a quick response off the draw just 20 seconds later, when Cole Smith hustled through the neutral zone to chase down the puck and get it to Sissons in front of the net. Smith lifted the puck over a diving Mrazek to make it 1-1.
Chicago retook the one-goal lead at 14:54 thanks to a defensive gaffe by Nashville. Nick Blankenburg, trying to defend the net in front of Saros, got tangled up with his goaltender and accidentally prevented him from making the save on a shot from Pat Maroon.
A costly offensive zone penalty by Nashville led to a Chicago power-play goal at 5:47 of the second period. With Gustav Nyquist in the box for hooking, Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks’ 10th-ranked power play unit capitalized on the opportunity to extend their lead to 3-1.
Later in the period, Donato beat Brady Skjei to the puck and slid it past Saros to make it 4-1. Former Predators defenseman Seth Jones added a goal on the power play with nine seconds left in the second period to widen the lead to 5-1.
Late in the third period, the Predators wasted a brilliant defensive play by Roman Josi, who made a diving stop on a shot attempt from Donato – only for Donato to get the puck back and score on his second attempt for his second goal of the game.
Novak scored on the rebound of a Blankenburg shot at 18:57 of the third period for the 6-2 final.
Up Next
The Predators return home to take on the Buffalo Sabres Saturday at Bridgestone Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast regionally on FanDuel Sports Network South and on ESPN+ for out-of-market customers in the United States.
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