Denis Savard’s decision to give the Blackhawks two days off before Wednesday night’s game against the Nashville Predators would have to be considered unconventional in an era in which coaches like to have as much control over their players as possible.
Having an extra day off three months into the season–especially after the Hawks played every other day for two straight weeks–likely wouldn’t have much of an impact on a player’s performance, but coaches still seldom give a team a day off before a game.
“I think it’s a mental thing,” Savard said Wednesday morning, before the Hawks’ 2-1 loss against the Predators. “At some point, rest is important.”
Paul Kariya’s second goal of the night, on the power play 12 minutes 58 seconds into the third period, was the difference. After the Hawks failed twice to clear their zone, Kariya picked a spot above Nikolai Khabibulin’s right shoulder from the top of the right faceoff dot.
The Hawks failed on seven power plays Wednesday night, including a two-man advantage that lasted for 44 seconds and one in the final 2:30 of the game.
Martin Havlat had the lone Hawks goal and continued to feast on Nashville. Havlat scored his 12th goal of the season at 14:24 of the first period, picking off a clearing attempt in the neutral zone and bursting straight down the slot before ripping a wrist shot past Nashville goaltender Chris Mason.
The goal was the fourth this season for Havlat in three games against Nashville and his seventh point.
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HAWKS HITS
– The Hawks are 2 of 18 on the power play in the first four games of their season series against Nashville, which is twice as many power-play goals as they had all last season against the Predators. The Hawks were 1 of 51 on the power play last season against Nashville.
– Tony Salmelainen may be wishing Trent Yawney was still the head coach. Salmelainen, whom General Manager Dale Tallon has said was the second-best player in Europe last season behind super rookie Evgeni Malkin, was scratched Wednesday for the third time in the last four games.
