Rinne, Predators, Take Down Blackhawks, 3-1

The Chicago Blackhawks were back on home ice tonight after having 3 days off, coming off a drubbing in the Stadium Series at the hands of the Minnesota Wild, 6-1.  The Nashville Predators swing into town, 7-0-2, in their last 9 road games.  Their last loss was here against the Blackhawks back in January.  Their road unbeaten streak would continue as they won a goalie battle, 3-1 tonight.

The first period saw a goalie clinic as Corey Crawford and Pekka Rinne traded scoring chance save, after scoring chance save.  Both teams had opportunities on the power play along with end to end, open-ice chances.  The period ended scoreless.

In the 2nd, Brent Seabrook continued his scoring touch when he pinched in and received a centering pass from Jiri Sekac and buried a one-timer past Rinne who had Andrew Shaw drawing traffic in front of the net, to give the Blackhawks a 1-0, lead.  It would take Nashville 3+ minutes to find the equalizer as Viktor Arvidsson found a rebound shot from Mike Fisher and smashed it into Crawford, which deflected up and just under the crossbar, to tie the game.  The Preds had another chance, but Crawford saved the shot with the knob of his stick, which then flew out of his hand.  At the end of the period, Shaw was in alone on a breakaway, but Rinne was there to stop it and end the period with the teams tied at 1.

The 3rd period was very similar to the 1st.  Both goalies played extremely well.  It was a late goal with 1:51 remaining from the stick of Calle Jarnkrok, that made its way past Crawford to give the Preds a 2-1 lead.  Miikka Salomaki would add an empty net goal to finish the scoring, 3-1.

Notable Mentions: Jiri Serkac's assist on Brent Seabrook's goal, was his first point as a Blackhawk in 6 games.  Brent Seabrook's 12th goal of the season continues his career high, which prior to this year was 9.

Three Stars Of The Game
1st - NSH - Pekka Rinne - 38 Saves, 0.974 SV%
2nd - NSH - Calle Janrkrok - 1G
3rd - CHI - Brent Seabrook - 1G

Next Game: Sunday, February, 28th, Home vs. Washington Captials

Previous meeting between the Caps and the Hawks:

October 15th, 2015: Chicago Blackhawks - 1 at Washington Capitals - 4

LET'S GO HAWKS!!!