More people come to Nashville for the music than come for the hockey.
After Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Predators, it appears the Blackhawks are among them.
If they hope to hear a victory song at the end of round one, the Blackhawks, who trail the series 2-1, are going to need to tune up in a few areas.
Shoot more. The Blackhawks came out in the first period with enough energy to force three Predator penalties, but the 'Hawks were out shot in two of the three periods by the inferior shooting Preds. This has to change.
"We didn't get traffic, didn't have much battle in our game" Coach Joel Quenneville said after the loss.
Get more physical. The 'Hawks were outhit 30 to 16, and the Predators came out faster and worked harder than the them.
"We let them take control; we knew they'd have energy in this building," Captain Serious, Jonathan Toews added.
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Get Anetti Neimi some help. He can't be blamed for the poor defense in front of the net, but Chicago needs to stop the Predators from getting 2nd and 3rd shot attempts.
Marian Hossa said of Niemi before the series started: "he is so good on the penalty shot, he's basically impossible to score on."
Calling Brian Campbell and Adam Burish. The Blackhawks badly need some energy and a spark. Duncan Keith is tallying so many minutes his legs might fall off.
Play with a sense of urgency. "We've got to regroup ... there's a lot of series left" said John Madden.
Blame no one but themselves. "We put ourselves in the spot we are in" Joel Quenneville said. Now they've got to get themselves out of it.
