Follow JJ on Twitter @jaeckel!
I'll go with the theory that this was one of those 1-2 games a year when the Blackhawks throw their sticks out on the ice and expect to win. And don't. And get their clocks cleaned by a lesser opponent.
Compounding that, however, is the fact that they also threw out a 40 year old goalie who might have been injured from the get-go and certainly was by the time he crawled off the ice in the second period.
It went from bad, when Marian Hossa was scratched before the game due to a "lower body injury" to worse, by the time the Predators had racked up 7 goals.
Hossa's injury forced Sheldon Brookbank to play wing (not good) and Michal Rozsival to play defense (which was apparently really not good).
Now, full marks to the Preds for playing an up-tempo, opportunistic game and getting to the front of the net. The problem is, there were no Blackhawks there to meet them. The Preds pushed the pace and forced the hawks onto their heels and into bad coverage decisions—boom—7 goals. Nikolai Khabibulin was bad—and to my eye, he looked like he got hurt or already was hurt on the Preds' first goal. Corey Crawford was not really much better.
While Hossa's injury is unknown beyond its general location, Khabibulin's (looked like hip or groin) only adds to the notion that he's finished as an NHL goalie.
Antti Raanta, who has good numbers at Rockford thus far, will likely be recalled and the Hawks will get a chance to evaluate if he can be counted on to ultimately backstop Crawford.
Excuses aside, is this a wake up call of sorts? Considering it comes right before the long Circus Road Trip, absolutely. And the Hawks need to take this call.
All for now,
JJ