As much as anything else it was a case of which team made the biggest blunders. 

In Game 5 the Hawks proved they have regained their will to win as they conquered adversity. Joel Quenneville seems to consider his forwards as interchangeable parts but he should rethink that view. The defensive zone coverage by Hawk forwards wasn’t good. 

It was crazy to think going into the third period Nashville was in position to win the game. Even though the Preds recorded only eight shots on goal through forty minutes and didn’t score on the power play they trailed the Hawks by only a single goal. 

The Blackhawks made enough mistakes to bolster the Predator offense. Nashville seldom had the puck but it didn’t matter. When the Predators were able to score they were wide open. 

If the Hawks advance to play a team with a better offense, like the Canucks, their defensive zone miscues will have to stop. If not the Hawks will lose in quick fashion.    

Antti Niemi could only be faulted on Nashville’s fourth tally. But he relinquished four goals following a shutout for the fifth time this year. He did appear apprehensive in the third period but came back strong and confident for the overtime. 

The Predators were outplayed but made the most of their chances. 

Nashville proved they could win by just waiting for Chicago players to make critical mistakes. The Predators were opportunistic and almost were rewarded. But in the overtime their lack of playoff success as a franchise showed. 

On Saturday afternoon the same players flipped from hero to goat and back again. 

Martin Erat was a potential Nashville hero and ended up a goat.  

In the third frame the pesky Predator forward scored the game tying goal and the go ahead tally. Erat was all set for glory until he cost Nashville the game in the closing minute of the third period. 

At that point the Predators had a one goal lead and were on the power play. All they had to do was kill the clock and the Hawks would have suffered a terrible home ice loss. 

For some inexplicable reason Nashville attempted to end their playoff power play draught and looked to score when there was no need. 

Erat tried a no look pass from behind the Hawks cage to David Legwand who was wide open in the slot. Erat’s pass hit the side of the net and deflected to Jonathan Toews and led to Patrick Kane’s game tying score. 

Not only was the pass ill advised, Joel Ward was also caught behind the goal along with Erat.  Interestingly Ward was a Nashville hero until then, figuring prominently in the contest. Toews skated the turnover out of the zone and a few seconds later Kane amazingly scored a shorthanded goal and sent the game into overtime. 

Kane went from goat to hero.  

In the closing minutes of the second period Kane had the puck while the Hawks were on a power play. Chicago had a 3-1 lead and could have crushed the Predators comeback hopes with a goal. 

Instead Kane turned the puck over for no good reason which led to an odd man break out and goal by Ward. The Nashville tally was potted by the same Joel Ward who was caught out of position in overtime. He too could have been a Predator hero. 

Lastly, Marian Hossa went from goat (playoff jinx) to overtime hero.  

Imagine the headlines today if the Hawks tied the game only to lose in overtime because of Hossa’s five minute major penalty. 

With the Hawks trailing and little time left in the third frame, Hossa showed his frustration and pushed Dan Hamhuis into the end boards. It was similar to the play by Alex Ovechkin on Brian Campbell but not nearly as forceful or vicious. Reagrdless Hossa was guilty and Hamhuis could have been seriously injured on the play. 

By Hossa being whistled for a five minute major he all but ended any Blackhawk hope of a comeback. Thanks to Erat’s mistake, an impotent Nashville power play and their shoddy coverage in overtime Hossa wound up the hero instead of a goat. 

NHL officiating and the league’s sketchy rule book need to improve. 

Hossa was guilty of major infraction because his actions could have seriously injured Hamhuis. If he actually deserved a five minute major which would carry into overtime of a playoff game, he should have also received a game misconduct. In this case Hossa should have not have been on the ice to score the game winning goal. 

No doubt it was a thrilling comeback by the Hawks and the better club won. But don’t confuse exciting finishes with a classic game. 

In Game 5 it was a case of which team would make the last costly mistake. Also don’t forget the referees, they weren’t blame free either. 

Al’s Shot’s  

How ironic the oldest and slowest Blackhawks would carry the puck out of the zone and skate the length of the ice and help set up Hossa’s goal. 

Brent Sopel showed why there is no substitute for experience as he ragged the puck until the Hawks set up in the Nashville zone. 

Hossa could have eaten a soft pretzel with the amount of time he was left alone just to the right of Pekka Rinne. That is if the pretzels were ever actually soft. 

My guess is Hossa will get a one game suspension for his hit on Hamhuis.

* Announced late Sunday afternoon…. Hossa will not be suspended and will play in Game 6. That didn’t take the NHL very long….

How funny was it when the puck couldn’t be found in Niemi’s gear?

I thought he was going to leave the ice and have to undress. Then Toews comes out and finds the puck almost immediately. What a strange game.

Rinne had another very strong effort and was the reason the Preds were in the game.

It should be noted Nashville is playing this series without Patrick Hornqvist their leading scorer. 

Legwand is playing great and had an opportunity to be a hero too. He had a prime chance in OT to bury the game winner but Niemi was big in the net. 

I like the Dave Bolland, Andrew Ladd and Kris Versteeg line combo. But they have to improve in the defensive zone. 

Versteeg can be so good when he makes the simple play. His pass to Brent Seabrook on Ladd’s first Hawk goal was great. 

The best Blackhawk forward on Saturday only recorded one point, but Toews had a big game. 

The captain is getting punished as he is the only Hawk to effectively screen Rinne. 

Toews has to be nursing a few injuries and hopefully he can stay together. 

Niklas Hjalmarsson was the Hawks best defender. 

The Hawks have to lock this guy up to a long term contract. 

He was always on the ice in the most critical situations and was strong once again. 

Sopel and Hammer are a treat to watch on the penalty kill. 

The United Center ice is often bad at this time of the year especially after a Bulls game. 

Seemingly there is no fix and unfortunately it really hurts the Hawks. 

I thought Q. was wrong for letting Tomas Kopecky serve the too many men on the ice penalty. I figured Kane would be the better choice to score on a breakaway. 

Q. was correct but Rinne probably made his worse play of the game on the misguided poke check on Kopecky. 

One would normally figure the Predators would not be able to come back in Game 6 after such a crushing defeat. 

This series has been anything but normal and unless the Hawks defensive coverage improves there could be a Game 7. 

I have a feeling the Sedin’s are watching and licking their chops. 

But as we all know things can change quickly. 

blackhawkswin@comcast.net

NASHVILLE DEFEATS OTTAWA

This time, the headline is accurate.  No really.  The six game losing streak is really over.

What a Jekyll and Hyde game tonight- especially so for Shea Weber and Ryan Suter.

First two periods, Nashville plays aggressive forechecking, forcing turnovers and putting pucks on net.  Tonight they made their own luck early on.

Then there was this thing called the third period.  They fell back into a trapping system and Ottawa capitalized by entering the zone with speed and capitalizing on defensive miscues.

The young’uns played a good game tonight.  Cody Franson had one miscue that Rinne stopped, but otherwise, they had a good game.  Franson with 1G and was +2 on the night.  Colin Wilson had 1A and was E.  Patric Hornqvist was +1 on the night.  O’Reilly was +3, Sulzer had 1A and was +2.

J.P. Dumont had a goal and four assists (+3).  In general, he played a controlled game and found the open players all night.

Shea Weber and Ryan Suter found the offense in a big way tonight.

Special mention must be made to Colin Wilson, Patric Hornqvist and Dave Scatchard.  They were a terror every time they hit the ice.  They had 7 shots on goal and 2A among them.

Nice to see the power play show some signs of life.  Erat needs to be taken off that power play unit for a time.

Resiliency.  That used to be a common trait for this team.  Hopefully that’s a good sign.  The scheme change allowed Ottawa to get back into the game, but the rebounded by continuing their offensive efforts by putting the puck on net.

What I Didn’t Like

Martin Erat somehow was second on the team in ice time.  He was constantly turning the puck over.  He was -3 on the night.  Erat had one of the worst games I’ve ever seen him play.

Steve Sullivan and J.P. Dumont both passed up multiple clear shots to the net only to turn the puck over making the extra pass.

Rare night where Suter and Weber might have been the worst defensemen at times in their own zone.

I detested Nashville changing their defensive system for the third period.  By dropping back into their trap (effectively a “prevent” defense), they essentially allowed Ottawa to gain momentum and force our defensive errors.  The coaches may say that they just didn’t execute the trap well in the third- and they would be correct.  However, I believe it was a much more grievous error to change how they had been playing.

Pekka Rinne’s third period left something to be desired.  He had an excellent first two periods.  While he didn’t get a lot of help in the third, he needed to step up and make one or two stops.

I didn’t like the lack of discipline in the third period.  Fortunately, Ottawa was even worse.

The Capitals have scored 26 goals in 7 games while the Nashville Predators have failed to hit the 10 goal mark through 6 games, with only 8. 

Considering that the Predators are barely averaging over 1 goal per game thus far, it’s safe to say that Nashville has some serious offensive issues to solve.

The worst part for Nashville is that they won’t be getting reinforcements tonight. J.P. Dumont has been skating, but is still suffering from post-concussion symptoms and is doubtful for tonight. Dan Hamhuis will also be absent from action tonight at the Verizon Center as he is listed as ‘day to day’ with an ‘upper body’ injury. Cody Franson will replace Hamhuis on the Preds blue line.

The Capitals, on the other hand, are relatively healthy. Washington has some minor injuries to players like Boyd Gordon and John Erskine, both of whom will not be playing tonight but should be ready for Thursday.

Jose Theodore, as most know by now, is ‘day to day’ with back spasms, but according to the coach, is healing nicely and should be good to go by mid-week. Of course back spasms are not the sort of injury that you want to force to heal, so the team will be allowing Jose all the time he needs to get back to 100%. In the meantime, the Caps have called up Braden Holtby from their ECHL affiliate to backup Semyon Varlamov. Varly is going to get whatever starts Jose will miss, likely not giving much ice-time to the Holtby, but I must say that I admire Washington’s plan of bringing up the Caps most recently drafted goaltender to get him more comfortable with the team’s system as well as to give him a taste of how things operate at the NHL level.

Washington, fresh off of laying a 4-1 beating on the reigning President’s Cup winners on Thursday, should have an interesting time with the Predators tonight. Nashville is not a team of big names and headliners, but rather a group of hard-working quality hockey players. They do not have the same flash and dash as the Sharks or the Blackhawks, but are successful due to their work ethic. It would be easy for the Caps to take their foot of the gas pedal tonight against a less intimidating opponent like the Preds, but if they do not follow the same game-plan which saw them handle the Sharks, Nashville could seriously surprise this high-flying Washington squad.

The major factor that will be holding the Preds back tonight has been their lack of offense. Missing Arnott and Dumont will seriously downgrade Nashville’s offense, but don’t expect that to make them any less of a trying opponent tonight.

Although I am unsure as to whether the Caps will be facing Dan Ellis or Pekka Rinne(check out Brandon Felder or Paul McCann’s blogs for updates to Nashville’s lineup), it should pose no problem to the Caps top 6, 3 of which are currently in the top 5 scorers in the league.

One thing to watch out for is Nashville’s stingy defense. Led by Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, the Capitals top line will be facing two of the very best young defenders in the game. Nashville’s saving grace against the Caps tonight may very well be that top pairing as both Weber and Suter will be extremely excited to shutdown Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin.

Despite having scored 26 goals through 7 games, the Capitals have also allowed 22 goals against. This has been Washington’s main issue as they have had trouble shutting down other teams once they gain the lead. With two rookies between the pipes(Varly starting, Holtby backing him up), the Caps should be more enthused to keep the Preds scorers to the outside and will likely play a stronger defensive game.

It is imperative for the Caps to start playing smarter with the lead so expect Boudreau to switch his game-plan up once the team has the lead. Considering offense isn’t something the Capitals worry about, expect the entire team to focus on their defensive systems tonight.

Lineups

Washington Capitals

 Ovechkin-Morrison-Knuble

Laich-Backstrom-Semin

Fehr-Steckel-Clark

Laing-Aucoin-Bradley

*Boyd Gordon did not skate at practice and should not be considered ready to play tonight.

Green-Morrisonn

Poti-Jurcina

Pothier-Sloan

*Erskine participated in practice and may be ready, but will likely sit one more game, just in case.

*Varlamov

Holtby

*Starter

*Holtby won’t see much ice-time as Theo is healing nicely and should be back by mid-week, but I really like how the Caps have handled this situation in bringing up the rookie to give him some exposure at the NHL level. Holtby has a lot going for him and could likely end up as the Caps backup in a season or two as it’s likely that Washington will one day have to make a decision between Varly and Neuvo.

Nashville Predators

Sullivan-Arnott-Hornqvist

Jones-Legwand-Santorelli/Dumont(?)

Erat-Wilson-Ward

Smithson-Goc-Belak

*Dumont remains sidelined with headaches and Jordin Tootoo is out with a Hip Flexor.