Copy & Paste (chicago)

Different year and different head coach but same bad start and same sloppy game fraught with poor execution up and down the ice. Not only did the 1st period start off with a goal allowed in the first minute but each period began the same way giving the game a Groundhog Day-esque feeling.

While the team in from of them didn't provide much defensive support, starting goalie Collin Delia gave up 2 goals on his first 2 shots faced and 3 on 7 total and backup Arvid Soderblom gave up a goal on his 1st shot in relief and 3 on 18 total. It wasn't just defense that was shoddy.

Even though advanced metrics were favorable in many categories at both ends, a slew of unforced errors killed any momentum on a fair amount of offensive drives as the Predators outhustled and outworked the Blackhawks all afternoon as they contested every puck and won nearly every time.

The Hawks tried to play a puck control game in a match where it was tough to even just gain possession. Even though the Hawks did have some extended O zone time and generated chances, most were not high danger attempts and oftentimes there was endless passing resulting in nothing.

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Blackhawks Game Summary

Starting Lineup

DeBrincat - Borgstrom - Kane Hagel - Toews - Strome Kubalik - Dach - Kurashev Khaira - Carpenter - Entwistle

de Haan - S Jones Stillman - Murphy McCabe - Gustafsson

Delia Soderblom

Scratches: Gabriel, C Jones

Scoring Recap

1st Goal (0-1): Forsberg (Duchene, Ekholm) 2nd Goal (0-2): Johansen (Forsberg, Ekholm) 3rd Goal (0-3): Cousins (Ekholm, Tomasino) PP 4th Goal (0-4): Jeannot (Sissons, Trenin) 5th Goal (0-5): Josi (Johansen, Duchene) PP 6th Goal (1-5): Kurashev (de Haan, Borgstrom) 7th Goal (1-6): Jeannot (Benning, Trenin)

SOG For/Against: 38/25 PP: 0-for-4 PK: 1-for-3 Faceoffs Won: 51%

Game Notes

* On the 1st goal allowed, it was difficult to tell by the replay angles if Seth Jones screened Delia.

* On the 2nd goal allowed, Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat were mesmerized by the puck ignoring Ryan Johansen who snuck in alone to receive a feed then deke the puck around Delia.

* On the 3rd goal allowed, Nick Cousins took away Delia's eyes while Jujhar Khaira may have also blocked his vision from further out.

* On the 4th goal allowed, Riley Stillman didn't pick up the trailer Tanner Jeannot to apply pressure and prevent a backdoor scoring attempt as Soderblom was busy with tracking the puck in the left corner.

* On the 5th goal allowed, that was just a good shot by Roman Josi with traffic in front of Soderblom.

* On the 6th goal allowed, there was a double screen by Jake McCabe and Jeannot who made a textbook redirect to fool Soderblom.

* The Hawks peppered 38 shots on goal on Nashville netminder Juuse Saros but a vast majority of them were easy to save as they were either into his crest or right into his glove as it was like playing catch with a baseball or fielding soft groundballs.

* The Hawks have been practicing on moving the puck low to high in their offensive zone but they need to work on moving the puck low to crease by taking the puck hard to the net including wraparound chances.

* On the topic of puck movement, it was slow and predictable on the power play which led to the Hawks not isolating the Preds defense to one side quick enough and getting Saros to expose openings.

* Always active around the puck in all zones, Henrik Borgstrom used his long reach well in scrums and in breaking up plays.

* Connor Murphy had 7 blocked shots.

Highlights

Goal by Philipp Kurashev

Next Game vs Flames

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Prospect Updates

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Rest in Peace, Sage

Long-time contributor on the message boards who went by the screen name STLBravesFan -- known as Sage by many -- passed away on December 19. He often used the phrase "Alef ha-shalom" -- which translates to "may peace be upon him" -- when bidding an eternal farewell to others.

It's sadly our turn to say the same to him.

Alef ha-shalom.

May you rest in peace, Sage.

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See you on the boards.

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