Nashville, TN – The Chicago Blackhawks broke things open in the 2nd period when Marcus Kruger and Jonathan Toews scored back to back goals within 66 seconds of each other. The Blackhawks go on to defeat the Nashville Predators ^[1] Sunday night 3-0 in front of a sold out crowd at Bridgestone Arena.

The shutout was the third this season for the Predators. All Nashville loses in regulation have been shutouts.Tonight marked only the third time this season that the Predators have failed to earn at least one point in the standings (5‐3‐4, 14 pts). Nashville had earned points in its last five games (4‐0‐1).

The Blackhawks came out with a high energy level and played a very efficient and patient game.

The Nashville Predators came out and got some good chances at goals in the first period but the puck never finds home. As the period goes on, slowly, the Blackhawks became more and more aggressive battling the Predators hard for the rest of the period. The game was scoreless after one.

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Nashville Predators Mike Fisher

Marcus Kriug puts Chicago on the board when a puck bounces off Predators’ Roman Josi in front of Kriug who hits a snap shot to get his 2nd goal of the year at 6:14 in the 2nd period.

Later in the second, Blackhawks’ Duncan Keith takes a shot on goal that is tipped in by Jonathan Toews to make it 2-0 at 7:20 in the 2nd. It was Toews sixth goal of the season. The goal came just 1:06 later from Chicago’s first goal of the night.

The Blackhawks get their third goal when Patrik Kang gets the puck deep in the corner to Pekka Rinne’s left, wheels the puck at the net to get it in for the goal at 4:27 in the third period to make it 3-0.

The scoring woes for Nashville continues as they had only 7 shots on goal through two periods of play (3 in the first / 4 in the second). The Predators had 17 total shots on goal compared to 27 by the Blackhawks.

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Nashville Predators Paul Gaustad

Predators’ Mike Fisher has recorded three blocked shots through 40 minutes of play. He entered the game leading all forwards in the statistic (16). Paul Gaustad continues to excel in the face‐off circle. He has won 8 of 13 draws tonight (62 percent).

Nashville’s goaltender Pekka Rinne made 24 saves for the Predators in a losing effort.

Blackhawks’ Corey Crawford stopped 17 shots. It was Crawford’s sixth shutout of his career.

The Predators fell to 1‐1‐2 at Bridgestone Arena for the 2012‐13 season. Only Los Angeles and Chicago have played fewer games on home ice.

This was the 17th consecutive sale out crowd for the Nashville Predators.

Next Game

The Nashville Predators play their second game of a four game homestand Tuesday, February 12th at Bridgestone Area against the San Jose Sharks. The game starts at 7:00pm.

It is reported that Tuesday nights game is almost sold out and that tickets for Thursday’s game against the Phoenix Coyotes are going fast. So you need to hurry up and get your tickets if you plan to go to either of these games.

Box Score