The Blackhawks again made it a quick night of work for a Nashville Predators starting goaltender.
A week after knocking out Nashville’s goalie with two goals on two shots, the Hawks weren’t quite as economical, but they dispatched Predators starter Dan Ellis with goals on two of their first three shots. Then they were off to a 5-2 victory Wednesday night before a crowd of 20,511 — the first sellout of the season — at the United Center. The victory was the Hawks’ fourth in a row and improved their December record to 5-6 after they had dropped six of their first seven this month.
After the Hawks knocked out starter Chris Mason in favor of Ellis during their 5-2 victory over the Predators on Dec. 19 — the victory that began the Hawks’ current streak — they forced Ellis out and Mason in Wednesday night.
“It feels great [to force a change] just because we didn’t have that many shots on net (22),” said Robert Lang, who scored two goals. “We had good quality chances and guys put them in.”
Patrick Sharp worked his short-handed magic again when he scored his league-leading seventh with the Hawks down a man at the 8 minute, 33 second mark of the first period. With teammate Martin Lapointe in the penalty box for high-sticking, Jonathan Toews carried the puck into the Predators zone and passed to Sharp in front and he beat Ellis for his 19th goal of the season. The Hawks lead the NHL with 12 short-handed goals this season and Sharp is approaching Dirk Graham’s club single-season record of 10 in 1988-89.
Toews made it 2-0 with his 14th goal at 15:38. The rookie took a pass from Sharp and sent a wrist shot past Ellis on his stick side. Sharp recorded his 13th assist and rookie Patrick Kane notched his 26th. That was enough — again — for Nashville coach Barry Trotz as he replaced Ellis with Mason.
“[Wednesday night] was a tough game,” Sharp said. “The day after Christmas, both teams had a couple of days off [but] we had a big advantage playing at home so we wanted to come out and get off to a good start. We got to them early and we were able to carry it through.”
After a scoreless second period, Nashville made it 2-1 at 2:05 of the third as Alexander Radulov knocked in a rebound of a Radek Bonk wrap-around attempt for his eighth goal.
Lang’s 12th goal — and fourth this season against the Predators — at 8:55 gave the Hawks a 3-1 lead.
Lang skated between the circles, drew the puck to his forehand and sent a shot into the upper right corner of the net.
After Nashville again cut it to a one-goal lead on Marek Zidlicky’s second of the season at 13:10 of the third, Lang made it 4-2 with his second. Tuomo Ruutu skated behind the Nashville net and fed Lang who shot it past Mason.
Nikolai Khabibulin collected his fourth straight victory as he made 30 saves.
Khabibulin hasn’t allowed more than three goals in seven straight starts.
“When you’re winning everything seems easier,” Khabibulin said. “In a game like [Wednesday night] we didn’t play our best game but we made the big plays when we really needed it. As soon as they scored a goal we got one right back, they scored another one, we got it right back. The guys are playing with a lot of confidence.”
“We had a decent start but got ourselves in trouble with turnovers,” Hawks coach Denis Savard said. “We capitalized on our chances [as] we scored two goals on our first three shots.
“Give Nashville credit, they put a lot of pressure on us.”
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ckuc@tribune.com
