With the last four games coming up for the Blackhawks, they played the first out of the final four on Friday, April 12th. They took a 5-1 loss against the Nashville Predators, who have two games remaining, in Ethan Del Mastro’s NHL debut. Filip Forsberg scored his 10th NHL career hat trick to help the Predators shut down the Blackhawks. Philipp Kurashev scored the lone goal for Chicago, who has 18 goals this season for the Hawks and scored in his second straight game. The Nashville Predators had clinched a playoff berth on Tuesday. Chicago will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, April 14th, to hopefully break their three-game losing streak after a huge 3-2 victory against the Dallas Stars on April 6th.
Predators lineup against the Blackhawks:
Forsberg – O’Reilly – Glass
Jankowski – Sissons – Zucker
Beauvillier – Novak – Evangelista
Smith – McCarron – Sherwood
Fabbri – Josi
Stastney – Schenn
Lauzon – Carrier
Lankinen
Grosenick
Blackhawks lineup against the Predators:
Foligno – Bedard – Kurashev
Reichel – Johnson – Athanasiou
Slaggert – Dickinson – Anderson
Blackwell – Entwistle – Donato
Vlasic – Jones
Korchinski – Megna
Del Mastro – Murphy
Soderblom
Mrazek
Filip Forsberg put Nashville ahead 1-0 at 14:07 of the opening period, breaking the franchise record for the most goals in a single season (44). He sent a high shot past Arvid Soderblom’s stick, Luke Evangelista providing a screen in front. Later into the first, Kiefer Sherwood made it 2-0 when he flicked in his own rebound following a shot from the right point by Luke Schenn. This had been Sherwood’s 10th goal of the season.
At 14:38 of the middle frame, Filip Forsberg struck his second of the game to give the Predators a 3-0 lead. Forsberg scored in front after both Kevin Korchinski and Philipp Kurashev couldn’t clear it after he had chipped the puck into the offensive zone, following it into the slot. Jason Zucker extended the lead to 4-0 on the power play when he lifted a backhand past Arvid Soderblom after skating past Connor Murphy, and then cutting to the net. Finally getting Chicago on the board, and avoiding a shutout – Philipp Kurashev recorded his 18th goal of the season to cut it to 4-1 during a 5-on-3 power play. Kurashev received a pass from Connor Bedard in the right face-off circle, going on to score a one-timer from the dot. This was not only Bedard’s 38th assist of the season, it had been his 60th NHL career point.
Early into the third at 18:23, Filip Forsberg finished off his 10th NHL career hat trick, wrapping it up early for the 5-1 final. He had been fed a pass through the crease from Ryan O’Reilly, and he struck from the left side of the net for his 46th goal of the season. The Blackhawks successfully kept the Predators from scoring anymore in the remainder of the final period.
Ethan Del Mastro on his NHL debut, nerves, and Connor Murphy: “Pretty surreal when you step on the ice for warm-ups, and then hearing the crowd for the start of the game is pretty special. Obviously, not the result we wanted, but pretty awesome playing your first game,” – “I think just after the first shift and you kind of make a couple of plays, bump someone – you’re into it. They’re pretty positive on the bench with you… ‘Murph’ was awesome. He talked to me and helped me out, out there. It made me feel a little more at ease.”
Connor Murphy on the loss, his return to the lineup, how he felt playing and being back with the team: “It was mistakes and we didn’t seem like we had much life, much legs. We just didn’t give much and it led into mistakes,” – “Okay, a little rusty. It’s been a while… The hip held up well, I was happy with that, and was able to kind of hold it together for the most part – It’s big. The guys have gone through a hard stretch for a while now, and just to be able to go through it with everyone is really important.”
Notes:
– Arvid Soderblom made a total of 35 saves for Chicago.
– After being recalled from Rockford on Thursday and making his NHL debut, Ethan Del Mastro played 18:35.
– Connor Murphy made his return to the lineup after missing 35 games due to a groin injury. In his first game back, he had one shot in 19:05 of ice time.
– With his assist on Philipp Kurashev’s goal – Connor Bedard has 60 NHL career points (22 goals, 38 assists)
– Luke Evangelista recorded two assists, and Kevin Lankinen made 25 saves for Nashville.
– The Nashville Predators played without Juuse Saros, Ryan McDonagh, and Gustav Nyquist – all had been scratched for roster-management reasons, according to Andrew Brunette.
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