Blackhawks at Predators
The Chicago Blackhawks own a championship pedigree in recent years that is unrivaled in the NHL, but they will need more than a storied history to climb back into their Western Conference first-round series. The top-seeded Blackhawks are in must-win territory when they visit the upstart Nashville Predators in Game 3 on Monday night.
Chicago, which won three Stanley Cups from 2010-15, has not lost the first two playoff games of a series at home since 1995 and had not been blanked in each of first two since 1935. "You can compare other situations to it, but at the end of the day it’s a new year, it’s a new team and this is a new situation," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "We’re not gonna get frustrated. We’ll stay with it. We’ve been in some tough spots before." No. 8 seed Nashville stole home-ice advantage by squeezing out a 1-0 victory in the series opener and followed it by steamrolling Chicago 5-0 on Saturday, a drubbing that left the fans at United Center booing the home team. "The last two games have gone our way, but it’s far from over,” Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “We need to continue to keep doing the same things."
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, CNBC, Sportsnet1, TVAS, CSN Chicago, FSN Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS: Chicago has dropped six in a row dating to the regular season but a more concerning stat is that Toews is mired in an 11-game postseason goal drought while leading scorer Patrick Kane has one tally in his last nine playoff contests. “We’ve got to make some adjustments, down 2-0,” Kane said. “I haven’t scored a goal in two games -- not acceptable. As an offensive guy, you pride yourself on that. I’ve got to be better.” The Blackhawks posted a Western Conference-best 24 road wins but Toews, asked if that was reason for optimism, responded: "Not really."
ABOUT THE PREDATORS: Pekka Rinne posted the second-lowest shutout total (3) of his career this season, but he became the first netminder to open the postseason with back-to-back blankings since Michael Leighton with Philadelphia in 2010. “They box out, let me see the puck,” Rinne said in crediting his teammates. "Like (Saturday), there wasn’t probably one shot where I didn’t see it. Guys (have) been doing a really good job in front of me.” Not content to stymie Chicago's offense, Rinne also became the first goalie with a shutout and two assists in the same game since Tom Barrasso (1993).
OVERTIME
1. Predators C Ryan Johansen set up two goals Saturday and has 10 assists in seven meetings versus Chicago this season.
2. The Blackhawks eliminated the Predators in the opening round two years ago, but dropped two of three in Nashville.
3. Nashville opened the playoffs last year with two road wins in Anaheim but lost the next two at home and needed seven games to advance.