Byfuglien, Bolland help Hawks beat Predators, snap skid
By Tom Musick - editorial@nwherald
CHICAGO – The Blackhawks turned to a simple remedy to treat their slump Sunday.
They put some home ice on it.
The Hawks relied on their grinders and netminder in a 3-1 win against Nashville in front of 21,666 fans at the United Center. The win provided a much-needed lift for the Hawks (23-10-7), who lost the first game of a home-and-home series at Nashville (19-20-3) Saturday and had lost four of their past six games entering Sunday’s contest.
“It was a better all-around effort,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said after his team improved to 13-2-4 at home. “It was nice winning a tight game and being on the line from start to finish. It was one of those where you had to keep doing the little things right and you got rewarded at the end of it.”
Hawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 26 of 27 shots to improve his season record to 13-3-4. Khabibulin stuffed a 3-on-1 opportunity by the Predators’ Jordin Tootoo in the second period, which prompted a quick 2-on-1 break for the Hawks.
Andrew Ladd carried the puck across the blue line and crossed in front of the net, firing a shot that Nashville goalie Dan Ellis stopped.
But Dave Bolland sneaked behind the defense and punched in the rebound for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
“It went off his pad, and it was sitting right there,” Bolland said. “It was an easy pick up.”
Quenneville said that play changed the dynamic of the game.
“That was the turning point in the game,” Quenneville said. “Tootoo had a great chance, and we go down and score on the same play. [Otherwise] it’s 2-1 for them and we’re playing like we did against them last night, trying to chase the game a little bit.”
Dustin Byfuglien scored the game’s first goal with a slap shot that rose over Ellis’ left shoulder. Nashville tied the game two minutes later when Tootoo found Martin Erat in front of the net before Khabibulin could recover.
The Hawks clung to their lead after Bolland’s goal in the second period. Martin Havlat added an empty-net goal with 9.2 seconds left in the game to put the crowd on its feet.
“We were not going to lose three in a row,” Byfuglien said. “We were in a little slump, and we got down on ourselves and we got away from our game plan. We just got back into it tonight, and we got on the puck and we did our job.”
Byfuglien flashed a small smile when asked about his booming slap shot that beat Ellis.
“It felt good to finally let one go,” Byfuglien said.
