Blackhawks Get a Scare From Predators on Halloween Night

The Blackhawks faced division rival Nashville for the first time this season on Halloween night. 

The team put quite a scare into the United Center faithful as the Blackhawks fell behind on three separate occasions. Not even 30 seconds into the game, the Predators found the back of the net after Corey Crawford misplayed a puck behind the net. 

After failing to stop the puck, he couldn't get back in the net quickly enough to stop the Preds' Patric Hornqvist from giving Nashville the 1-0 lead. 

The score stayed that way until late in the first, when Patrick Kane beat Pekka Rinne with under a minute left in the period. It was the first point in what turned in to a big night for the line of Kane, Patrick Sharp, and Marian Hossa.

The Blackhawks had plenty of chances to score prior to the Kane tally. Just 40 seconds after Nashville started the scoring, they took a penalty. Then took another one during the penalty kill to give the Blackhawks a 5-on-3 advantage. 

While they created some chances, they kept missing the target on their shots or trying to be too perfect with their passing. It was the start of a long night for the power play units, but a night that would end up with a lot of questions about that area of the Blackhawks' attack.

The Blackhawks fell behind for the second time six minutes into the second as Nashville capitalized on a bad bounce off defensemen Sami Lepisto's skate. Not much Crawford could do on that one.

Nick Leddy evened the score after a nice pass from behind the net from Kane.  Leddy snuck in from the point and fired a shot far side, top shelf beating Rinne.  Kane and Hossa got the assists, the second point of the night for each.

Later in the period, the Blackhawks found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-on-3, as Sharp was in the box for goalie interference and then 25 seconds later Dave Bolland took a delay of game penalty when trying to clear the puck. Unlike the Blackhawks, the Predators converted on their two man advantage and made the score 3-2 heading into the third.

The Blackhawks looked like a team on a mission in the third. They came out flying and dominated the play, out shooting the Predators 18-8 in the period.  Kane evened the score at 3-3 on his second goal of the night and third point about five minutes into the third.  Hossa and Sharp got the assists. 

Just a minute later, the Blackhawks found themselves on the power play, and then thirty seconds later found themselves on their second 5-on-3 of the night. Again, they were unable to score on the two man advantage. But this time it was because of some spectacular saves from Rinne.  He robbed the Blackhawks at least twice, once with a remarkable glove save and the other on a great kick save going post to post.

A little more than five minutes after failing to convert on the power play, Bryan Bickell gave the Blackhawks their first lead of the night at 4-3 as he beat Rinne.  Michael Frolik and Brent Seabrook got the helpers.

But as we've seen with this team early this season, the Blackhawks gave up another late lead as a little more than a minute after taking the 4-3 lead, David Legwand beat Crawford to even the score at 4-4. The Blackhawks looked completely lost on the play, as they were scrambling the entire time Nashville was in the zone.

Headed for overtime, the Blackhawks had one more chance to end the game in regulation, as they got a late power play opportunity with just over three minutes left.  But again they failed to convert.

Fortunately, the Blackhawks continued to dominate play into the extra session as well.  Jonathan Toews and Kane had a great rush early in overtime that almost resulted in the game winner. 

That set the tone for the overtime and just over two minutes in, Viktor Stalberg got his third goal in two games and second straight game winner.  His speed is a weapon, especially in the four-on-four overtime session. With that extra space, he raced down the right boards, made a quick cut towards the middle, hit the brakes, and as the defensemen went past him, he fired a low, quick wrister that beat Rinne, giving the Blackhawks a 5-4 overtime win.

The Blackhawks continue to play from behind early in games. Fortunately, they've been able dig themselves out of that hole.  But the bigger concern is the power play. Yes, they had chances in the game, but chances aren't enough. 

They have to convert.  If they can actually get some scoring with the man advantage, there's no telling how dominant this team could be.  They are now 4-for-45 this season after going 0-for-7 against Nashville.  And this is from a power play that was a top 5 unit most of last season, with all the same players in place.

The other negative note on the game was Duncan Keith leaving with an upper body injury and now being listed day to day.  It looked like he took a shot off the wrist on the replays, but no official word is being given on what the UBI is.

The Blackhawks have taken points in every home game this season, which is something they needed to improve on from last season. 

Next up, though, is a quick Florida swing, with games against the Panthers and the Lightning.