Chicago Blackhawks shutouts Nashville Predators 3-0 as its coach Joel Quenneville returns
Chicago Blackhawks’ coach, Joel Quenneville, returned to guide his team after missing four games due to a bleeding ulcer. He witnessed the shutout of Nashville Predators by Chicago Blackhawks by 3-0. It was hard for the 17,000 plus Predator fans to see their
team being locked down at the sold-out Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, losing for the 3rd time straight at the worst time possible when teams in the Western Conference are continuously battling for a playoff spot.
It wasn’t literally that Chicago was blinded without its coach but it came into the game with a 2 in a row winning streak. Stanley Cup defending champions are a little slow this season, but have won four of their past five games.
Quenneville expressed his excitement before the match, saying that he missed his team and was sorry for being out at such an important time.
Teams from Calgary to Minnesota, including Chicago and Nashville, are all tied up at 70 points, making the upcoming few games of immense importance.
"I don't think we're ever in a place where we should feel comfortable", a recovered Quenneville said. "You look at the standings, and the next opponent is right in that wheelhouse. Six teams at 70 points is pretty amazing".
Chicago Blackhawks’ Canadian goalie, Corey Crawford, who made this his 3rd shutout of the season, captured the puck a perfect 31 times, disappointing Nashville Predators on every attempt while Pekka Rinne was unable to stop 2 of the 24 total attempts.
"We had some chances, but we couldn't find them", Predators’ coach, Barry Trotz, said. "There were some loose pucks every period that we couldn't get a handle on".
Tomas Kopecky was the only one to score in two harsh periods of game-play after snap shooting it from a pass by Patrick Sharp who got an empty netter later on.
Chicago had it easy during the final 20 minutes, as Marian Hossa embarrassed Nashville with an easy break away, followed by a goal by Patrick Sharp. Both scored at the starting and closing of the period, respectively, unassisted.
Nashville wasn’t happy losing to Blackhawks since it was its third and final time losing to them in a row during a span of four total confrontations.
Predators’ captain, Shea Weber, termed the loss as lack of commitment and coordination between players, and that there is no excuse for such playing, adding that the team still has time to make things better if it focuses.
Chicago will play host to a fiery Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday. This could be a match if won, would raise them above the rest, as they might have to play without defenseman, Niklas Hjalmarsson, who left early on in the third period with an undisclosed upper-body
injury.
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