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Run Right Back: Predators 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT)

At least the Blackhawks have Frondell to look forward to, right?

Posted on by Steve Kwiatkowski
Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Chicago Blackhawks lost to the Nashville Predators 3-2 in overtime on Sunday afternoon, a game that helped Nashville solidify its hold on the second wildcard spot.

Nick Lardis opened the scoring 4:34 into the second period following a 2-on-1 rush with Frank Nazar. The play was initiated by a pass from Tyler Bertuzzi in the defensive zone, and Lardis’s pass to Nazar went off Nicolas Hague’s stick and into the net.

Just a few minutes later, at the 13:30 mark, Filip Forsberg answered back after stripping the puck from Wyatt Kaiser, passing the puck to Jonathan Marchessault, and getting the puck back for a shot from the slot.

Connor Bedard gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead at the 6:04 mark with this beautiful breakaway goal.

Steven Stamkos tied the game at 2-2 at the 10:17 mark in the third period. With Louis Crevier leaving to pressure the puck carrier (as is the Hawks’ man-on-man defensive zone coverage), Nashville had two in the slot with Alex Vlasic as the lone defender.

At the 3:55 mark in overtime, Forsberg undressed Andre Burakovsky and finished the game with a top-shelf shot.

Notes

The Blackhawks put forth a solid enough effort to own the puck possession metrics at 5-on-5 with a 57.83 percent shot attempt share. The Hawks were solid in transition, and the Predators were clearly feeling the tail end of a back-to-back. Chicago was able to establish some decent stretches of offense with pressure and catch Nashville off guard with numerous breakaways and odd-man rushes. Unfortunately, the Predators were better at creating turnovers in the Hawks’ end and creating meaningful offense. At 5-on-5, Nashville owned a 57.24 percent expected goals share and led in high danger chances with 12-7.

Part of that is the Blackhawks still struggling with sloppy passes on the breakout. This was most noticeable in the first period, where, despite some good offense from Chicago, the Blackhawks were stuck in their zone due to turnovers. One player who made a few dangerous turnovers was Kaiser. Arguably the best defenseman of the season for Chicago, Sunday afternoon wasn’t Kaiser’s day — he had two giveaways (although I counted four) and a 34.75 percent expected goals share. Bad games happen. Other than Kaiser, the blueline looked fine, mostly in the offensive zone. Artyom Levshunov looked much improved running the top power play unit. Oh, and Louis Crevier had four shots on goal and seven shot attempts. Speaking of defensemen, Matt Grzelcyk went down early in the first during a scrum. He did not play the remainder of the game.

Two players on the Blackhawks roster had a couple of looks that could have gone in. Nazar had a couple of chances that didn’t go in on the Hawks’ final power play. Nazar only finished with two scoring chances, three shot attempts, and two shots on goal. He continues to drive his line with Bertuzzi and now Lardis. The trio had a 72.73 percent shot attempt share, outshot Nashville 6-2, and had a 53.43 percent expected goals share. While not the sexiest goal that was credited to Lardis, he made smart passes on Sunday and finished with two each in shots on goal, shot attempts, and scoring chances. I’d like to see him shoot more. A Blackhawk who shot a lot, had numerous chances, and didn’t finish is waiting for us in the next paragraph.

Burakovsky had four shots on goal, four shot attempts, and four scoring chances in all situations. Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen set Burakovsky up for breakaway chances that didn’t find their way onto the scoreboard. At 5-on-5, Burakovsky rocked a 47.22 percent shot attempt share and a 36.24 percent expected goals share. There was the Forsberg goal in overtime, and I observed a handful of giveaways in the Hawks’ end — Burakovsky was credited with two. Anton Frondell is going to replace Burakovsky… right?

And Frondell better, because Bedard’s line was below 50 percent in both shot attempt share and expected goals share. Bedard was fantastic on Sunday — five scoring chances, six shot attempts, and three shots on goal. His speed was noticeable on power play entries, and his passing was once again — chef’s kiss — impressive. It would just be nice to have someone who could finish some of those passes and plays that Bedard creates. Here’s some highlights that speak for themselves:

And we’ll close the recap with a couple of quotes from Jeff Blashill:

Burakovsky’s staying up there, isn’t he?

Game Charts

#NHL Game Score Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2026-03-22: #Blackhawks

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— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards.com) March 22, 2026 at 2:46 PM

Three Stars

  1. Filip Forsberg (NSH) — 2 goals, 1 assist
  2. Connor Bedard (CHI) — 1 goal
  3. Steven Stamkos (NSH) — 1 goal

What’s Next

The Blackhawks start a four-game road trip on Tuesday against the New York Islanders at 6 p.m.

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