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CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks had their final home game before the Four Nations Faceoff on Friday night. They took on the Nashville Predators in what promised to be a great divisional matchup on a Friday night.
In this game, the Blackhawks looked like a well-oiled machine that was bound for the playoffs. They are far from that right now but this game went well.
The scoring started with a great play made by Alex Vlasic and Teuvo Teravainen that led to a Frank Nazar goal. In typical Nazar fashion, he celebrated it as if it was his first and last.
Before PA announcer Gene Honda could finish announcing the goal, however, the Predators tied it up at one. Colton Sissons put one past Petr Mrazek to even it up at 1.
The tie didn’t last very long though, as Pat Maroon found his third goal of the season in the latter stages of the first period. He was in the right place at the right time which allowed him to find twine once the puck bounced to him. The Blackhawks took that 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
In the second period, the Blackhawks let out some of their frustrations from this season. They had an offensive explosion that saw them score three more goals to make it 5-1. Connor Bedard, Ryan Donato, and Seth Jones all scored for Chicago.
This offensive explosion is not something that fans in Chicago are used to seeing this season but they were given a treat on Friday night.
In the third period, the Blackhawks weren’t done. After exchanging some chances with the Predators, Ryan Donato scored his second of the game.
With 1:03 remaining in regulation, Nashville cut into Chicago’s lead by scoring one final goal. The 6-2 score stood as the final. The Blackhawks earned this win in every way. They were the better team.
One nonscoring note is the play of Connor Bedard. He scored a goal and had an assist but he was tremendous skating against the best players on the Predators. One game after matching up against Connor McDavid’s line, he spent a lot of time against Fillip Forsberg’s Predators line.
Anders Sorensen is giving him more difficult assignments lately. There have been mistakes but he has done a good job overall. It is going to take time for him to be an ace defender but this new way of giving him difficult matchups will help him in his development.
Landon Slaggert made a non-scoring impact as well. In addition to being a great third man on the top line with Bedard and Donato, he brings a physical game that you can’t teach.
In the second period, Slaggert dropped the gloves with Luke Schenn who has been around the block when it comes to fighting in the NHL. Slaggert held his own against someone you wouldn’t expect to see him fight. It won’t be long before he is considered a fan favorite.
Next up for the Blackhawks is their final game before the aforementioned Four Nations Faceoff. They will hit the road for a Saturday night tilt against the St. Louis Blues in a Winter Classic rematch.
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