CHICAGO IL - DECEMBER 22: (L-R) Ryan Bickell #29 Dave Bolland #36 Brent Seabrook #7 and Duncan Keith #2 of the Chicago Blackhawks celebrate Bollands' goal against Anders Lindback #39 of the Nashville Predators at the United Center on December 22 2010 in Chicago Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
The Nashville Predators dropped their 2nd straight lopsided game tonight in Chicago, a 4-1 affair that rarely seemed to be in doubt. Anders Lindback stopped 31 of 35 Blackhawks shots, while Sergei Kostitsyn scored the lone goal for the Preds, tipping home a Martin Erat shot on the power play.
Follow after the jump for all the gory details!
The good news is that the Ottawa Senators come into town tomorrow giving the Preds an immediate shot at redemption, so make sure to use our coupon code for discount Nashville Predators tickets. Remember, hockey tickets can make a great holiday gift, so you can also look through the schedule, and get seats for any other home game!
First, your video highlights (might have to wait a few minutes until they become available) and Predators vs Blackhawks boxscore:
- I'm as big a critic of Kevin Klein as you'll find, but I give the black mark on that 1st goal to Lindback. He could have frozen that puck or sent it into the corner, but instead he threw it up the boards where it got intercepted. Of course, it didn't help that KK had no help on the play.
- All too often, this looked like a replay of Saturday night's pasting by the Kings. The Preds couldn't control the play for any length of time, and had great difficulty creating decent scoring chances. The lack of offensive punch up the middle really stood out tonight.
- Wade Belak skated a season-high 8 shifts, as Jordin Tootoo was a health scratch. Presumably that's because Chicago's John Scott (6'8" 258 lbs) was dressed, but you have to think Tootoo would at least have added a little zip to the lineup.
- Typically, about 50% of the shots that a team attempts get through to the net (the other half miss or get blocked). Tonight that was true of the Preds, but the Blackhawks got 35 of 51 through, as the Preds only blocked 6 shots to Chicago's 19.
- Jerred Smithson did a fine job on the dot, winning 11 of 16 draws.
- Were there some bogus calls there in the 2nd period? Sure, but that wasn't the difference in this game.
And for your advanced even-strength stats...
| Even Strength | Individual Totals | Team Totals While Player Is On Ice | ||||||||||
| Player | Pos | EV TOI | Shots | Shts Blkd | Missed Shts | Blocks | SOG For | SOG Ag | SOG +/- | Tot SF | Tot SA | Corsi |
| Cal O`Reilly | C | 16:33 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 17 | 11 | +6 |
| Patric Hornqvist | R | 16:32 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 18 | 9 | +9 |
| Martin Erat | R | 16:17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 14 | -9 | 11 | 18 | -7 |
| Sergei Kostitsyn | L | 15:59 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 14 | -9 | 11 | 17 | -6 |
| Marcel Goc | C | 15:36 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 11 | -6 | 11 | 14 | -3 |
| Steve Sullivan | L | 15:03 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 15 | 10 | +5 |
| Joel Ward | R | 13:11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 11 | 7 | +4 |
| Colin Wilson | C | 13:11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 9 | +1 |
| Jerred Smithson | R | 12:24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Nick Spaling | C | 11:27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 7 | 8 | -1 |
| J.P. Dumont | R | 11:26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 8 | 6 | +2 |
| Wade Belak | R | 4:39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Ryan Suter | D | 22:58 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 17 | -13 | 12 | 21 | -9 |
| Shea Weber | D | 21:55 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 14 | -11 | 11 | 17 | -6 |
| Kevin Klein | D | 18:53 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 24 | 16 | +8 |
| Francis Bouillon | D | 17:58 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 24 | 12 | +12 |
| Shane O`Brien | D | 14:14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 9 | +1 |
| Cody Franson | D | 12:55 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 7 | 8 | -1 |
Poll
Who is your Predator of the Game?
Sergei Kostitsyn, goal (58 votes)
Patric Hornqvist, 6 shots (17 votes)
other (suggest in the comments) (3 votes)
78 total votes
There are 21 Comments. Load Now.
Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.
C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read
R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next
Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read
Comment Settings
Live comment alert: Hide it!
Comments for this post are closed.