On this date in Blackhawks history: Chicago fends off Predators, advances to 2nd round
In 2010, the Blackhawks killed three penalties in the third period and Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews each had three points.
With the NHL on pause and the World Championship tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Second City Hockey will look back at Blackhawks playoff games since 2010 with an “On this date in Blackhawks history” series.
The Blackhawks advanced to the second round for a second straight year thanks to a couple bounces and strong penalty killing.
Jonathan Toews scored a power-play goal on a rebound to cap a seven-goal first period that had a goal go off Patrick Kane’s right skate in the neutral zone, and the Blackhawks killed three penalties in the final 8:05 to hold for a 5-3 win against the Predators in Game 6.
The Predators held a 2-1 series lead before the Blackhawks won three straight to clinch the series, setting up a second-round matchup against the Canucks for the second straight postseason.
Patrick Sharp and Toews each had a goal and two assists, and Marian Hossa had three assists. Antti Niemi made 25 saves.
Duncan Keith’s blast from the left point gave Chicago a 1-0 lead at 6:38 of the first period.
Shea Weber tied it 1-1 at 8:50 with a wrister from the high slot through traffic, but Chicago regained the lead 64 seconds later when Brent Seabrook’s dump-in attempt off a faceoff in front of the benches bounced off Kane’s right skate.
Hossa chipped and chased the puck into the offensive zone past Dan Hamhuis then sent a backhand pass to the slot where Sharp batted it in at 12:03 for a 3-1 lead.
Jason Arnott scored two goals in a 3:21 span to tie it 3-3. Arnott’s first goal came on the power play at 15:44 when he was left open to the right of the net and tapped in a rebound off a Weber shot, then Arnott redirected Hamhuis’ shot from the left point with 55 seconds remaining in the first.
Only 17 seconds later, Jerred Smithson took a hooking penalty and Toews scored on the ensuing power play to put Chicago back up 4-3 with 31 seconds left in the first. He lost an offensive zone faceoff to David Legwand, but Keith intercepted Hamhuis’ clearing attempt and fired a shot on net which bounced off Rinne’s toward Toews for a tap-in goal.
The Blackhawks outshot the Predators 15-4 in the second period, but didn’t score even though they spent half the period on the power play.
The Predators pulled Rinne with 1:15 left in the third, but John Madden scored into an empty net with 7.8 seconds remaining to seal the win.
The other one
The Blackhawks went 1-1 in playoff games on April 26 this past decade with the elimination games occurring in back-to-back years. Chicago found itself on the other side of the result in 2011 when Alex Burrows scored two goals, including the game-winner 5:22 into overtime off a Chris Campoli turnover, for a 2-1 win against the Blackhawks in Game 7 of their first-round series. The Blackhawks won the previous second-round playoff series against the Canucks in six games in 2009 and 2010.
