Joakim Kemell debuted tonight for Nashville because the Preds took on the Blackhawks in Chicago, nevertheless it wasn’t the sort of expertise a rookie goals of.
The Hawks drew first blood, because the Preds misplaced Frank Nazar as he got here onto the ice for a shift and he completed off a neat play to attain the primary aim at 8:37 of the primary. Earlier than the announcer had even completed reporting the aim, Colton Sissons acquired it again to tie the sport 1-1. Sissons nearly scored once more a couple of minutes later, however this time Petr Mrázek had the save.
As a substitute, the Hawks restored their lead when Nick Blankenburg acquired snarled with Juuse Saros and Patrick Maroon acquired the puck previous the impeded goalie. The Preds pushed again to finish the interval, and drew a penalty simply earlier than the buzzer sounded, sending Connor Bedard to the field for the primary two minutes of the second interval.
Sadly, the Preds weren’t capable of rating — then or for the subsequent two and a half minutes, as they camped out within the Hawks’ finish and put strain on Mrázek. A penalty by Gus Nyquist minimize that flurry quick, and Bedard made it 3-1 Chicago.
The Preds tried to rally, however ran out of vitality, and the Hawks took over the interval. One other unfortunate Preds turnover, an issue that’s plagued them for some time now, let Ryan Donato make it 4-1 at 15:24 of the second.
Throughout the last minute of the interval, Chicago rookie Landon Slaggert had scoring likelihood, then instantly acquired goaded into to a combat by Luke Schenn and gleefully accepted. The 2 of them headed off for intermission early, after which Cole Smith took a penalty as play resumed, placing the Preds shorthanded once more. With 9 seconds left within the interval and a few egregious blown protection from the Preds, Seth Jones scored towards his former crew to offer Chicago a 5-1 lead.
Nashville acquired an influence play early within the third, however Saros did extra work than Mrázek on it because the Hawks managed some good shorthanded possibilities. The Preds acquired one other energy play midway by the interval and acquired some appears, however the Hawks surged again because it expired. Saros made some saves, and Roman Josi stopped a aim from Donato, however seconds later Donato got here again to make it 6-1.
Michael McCarron then took a penalty.
Whereas the Preds killed that penalty off and Tommy Novak scored a late aim, the sport thankfully ended earlier than for much longer. The Preds play once more tomorrow evening, and hopefully will flip in a greater efficiency.
