NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson warned his team not to follow up their stunning victory Tuesday against the Bruins with a flat performance Thursday against the Predators.
They heeded his advice, yet again punching above their weight to earn a 2-1 road victory and deal the Predators’ playoff hopes a significant blow.
Goalie Alex Stalock was the Hawks’ most valuable player as usual, making 35 saves on 36 shots.
Predators captain Roman Josi gave his team a flicker of life and spoiled Stalock’s shutout bid with 25 seconds left, but Stalock mentally flushed the disappointment, stopped a sharp-angle shot by Matt Duchene with 10 seconds left and carried the Hawks to the horn.
“I saw the puck [well],” Stalock said. “Our ‘D’ did a great job boxing out. Our forwards eliminated some dangerous shooters. That might’ve been Josi’s only threat all night. To eliminate a guy like that from the game, it’s a good job by our forwards, staying on him and chasing him around the zone and staying between him and the net.
“[We] played a simple game, scored timely goals and that has been the recipe lately.”
The timely goals came from Lukas Reichel — who benefited from a lucky bounce to score his third career goal in the same arena where he recorded his first career point last spring — and Joey Anderson, who earned a tap-in by forcing a turnover with a tenacious third-period forecheck.
Stalock also became the first known goalie in NHL history to save a penalty shot in three consecutive games when Duchene flubbed his chance in the second period. The veteran goalie is now 9-8-1 with a .922 save percentage this season.
Kaiser settling in
Just-signed rookie defenseman Wyatt Kaiser didn’t make his debut Thursday, having just joined the team in Nashville after a whirlwind week.
“[Minnesota-Duluth’s season] ended Sunday, and Monday was just hanging out with the guys at the end of the season,” Kaiser said. “Then Tuesday morning, I signed and drove down to the [Twin] Cities, and left Wednesday.”
During his first day, the 20-year-old defenseman was “talking to the coaches, watching some film, trying to understand how [the Hawks] play and what their identity is.”
His elite puck-moving ability should fit right in at the NHL level, but other areas will require some adjustment once his debut day arrives.
This and that
- Reese Johnson has recovered from his concussion but is now sick with a stomach bug that Richardson thought he picked up from Stalock last week. He’ll fly commercial to join the Hawks mid-trip once he recovers.
- Cole Guttman’s right shoulder stabilization surgery was successful, the Hawks announced, and he’s expected to return to hockey activities in July — well before training camp.
- Anton Khudobin was called back up from Rockford to replace Petr Mrazek — while Mrazek recovers from his latest groin injury — and backed up Stalock on Thursday. But Khudobin still only has his neon-green Stars mask and stick with him, meaning the color contrast will be jarring if he does end up needing to play.
- Speaking of the Stars, ex-Hawk Max Domi is off to a solid start there. He has recorded three points in his first seven games, four of which the Stars have won.
- Sam Lafferty, meanwhile, has struggled in his first few weeks with the Maple Leafs, failing to maintain the career-redefining momentum he had built up over the past few months in Chicago. He sports just one point and a team-worst 34.9% scoring-chance ratio in seven games.
- Lafferty’s fellow Hawks-turned-Leafs teammate Jake McCabe has been characteristically steady. McCabe touts zero points but a 51.6% scoring-chance ratio that ranks fifth among all Leafs during this span.