NASHVILLE - The Chicago Blackhawks are in the playoffs for a fourth straight season, and they didnt have to wait around to the final minute of the regular season this time around. Cowboys Emmitt Smith Youth Jersey . They might want to work on their defence just a bit in the three remaining games. Brent Seabrook scored at 8:19 of the third period, and the Blackhawks clinched a playoff spot Saturday night, beating the Nashville Predators 5-4 after blowing a 4-0 lead. "Its a great game," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "Very entertaining. Im sure the fans enjoyed the game and nerve-racking for coaches." Nashville won the season series 4-1-1, but Chicago pulled within a point of the fourth-place Predators in the Western Conference and tied idle Detroit with 97 points. The Blackhawks have three games left to see if they pass Detroit or Nashville for home-ice advantage to start the post-season, and only Sundays game against Minnesota will be in Chicago. "Well see how it works out," Quenneville said. "Where were at, weve got to catch two pretty good teams right in front of us, and so well see how that plays itself out." Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland each scored power-play goals, and Viktor Stalberg had a goal. The Blackhawks had to work for their first win over Nashville this season, and Seabrook put a snap shot past goalie Pekka Rinne off a cross-ice pass from Andrew Shaw for the winning goal. "Its one of those things," Seabrook said. "A 4-4 tie, and we just wanted to continue to work hard and continue the little things and try to get one and get the win tonight." Shea Weber scored twice, and Alexander Radulov and Martin Erat had a goal apiece. Ryan Suter had three assists as Nashville lost for just the third time in regulation since Jan. 5. Nashville coach Barry Trotz said he thought they had a chance of at least grabbing a point after tying the game in the third. "If you win tonight, you have a little bit of breathing room," Trotz said. "They forced us to win all three of our games now ... So its still in our control in terms of the 4 or 5 seed. Whats not in our control now is home-ice advantage." The Blackhawks were well rested after beating St. Louis in a shootout Thursday night and had plenty of fans eager to see them clinch on the road. Nashville beat the Red Wings 4-1 on Friday night in Detroit before flying back home, and it showed in the opening minutes as the Blackhawks took the first six shots. But Matt Halischuk went to the box for high-sticking at 1:38, and the Blackhawks converted on Sharps 32nd goal this season as he beat Rinnes outstretched left leg at 2:25 of the first. Nashville had given up two power-play goals in the past 14 games, and the Predators gave up their second in this game when Bolland scored off a pass from Marian Hossa 1:05 into the second period. The Blackhawks appeared ready to avenge a 6-1 loss to Nashville on March 25 in Chicago as Kane scored on a breakaway under Rinnes right leg at 6:50 of the second, and Stalberg scored at 8:35 on a shot that spun Rinne around after the goalie had stopped the first shot. Nashville finally got going after Bolland went to the box for interference. Erat scored from the right circle off an assist from Ryan Suter at 9:29, and Weber made it 4-2 when he scored off a snap shot 49 seconds later. Radulov pulled the Predators to 4-3 by splitting Chicago defencemen Sean ODonnell and Seabrook skating up the slot, and beating goalie Corey Crawford with a backhander to his glove side at 4:38 of the third. Then Weber tied it with a power-play goal off a slap shot at 7:10. "I thought we showed great character coming back," Trotz said. Chicago took back the lead on Seabrooks goal at 8:19. He got his ninth on a snap shot off a cross-ice pass from Andrew Shaw. Nashville had plenty of chances, but Crawford didnt let another puck past. "He was big and solid for us," Quenneville said about his goalie. Notes: Chicago improved to 25-7-2 when scoring first. ... The Blackhawks now have picked up at least a point in 13 of their past 15 games. ... Nashville centre David Legwand had two assists, making him the first player in Nashville history with 500 career points. ... Erat has a career-high 58 points. With his assists, Suter has a career-high 46 points. ... Nashville added to its franchise record with its 22nd sellout this season. Cowboys Jay Novacek Authentic Jersey . Ryder suffered a lower-body injury in Wednesdays 4-3 shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators. He missed part of the second period and played sparingly in the third. Cowboys DeMarco Murray Black Jersey . Geren replaces Chip Hale, who became Oaklands bench coach last week. In four-plus seasons with the As, Geren was 334-376, including 27-36 this year before he was fired on June 9. Scott Cullen looks at Saturdays playoff action, including tough times for the undisciplined Chicago Blackhawks, Matt Calvert lifting the Blue Jackets to their first playoff win, and Nathan MacKinnon putting on a show as Colorado takes a 2-0 series lead over Minnesota. HEAVY HOCKEY The Chicago Blackhawks are within two minutes of having a 2-0 series lead, surrendering tying goals late in the third period (1:45 remaining in Game One, six seconds left in Game Two) of the first two games in St. Louis, leading to 4-3 overtime defeats in both games. Being that close doesnt amount to much now, though, as Chicago is facing a 2-0 series deficit along with the possibility that a top pair defenceman, Brent Seabrook, could be suspended for a crushing hit on Blues C David Backes, whose status has to be questionable in the immediate aftermath. Seabrook had a goal and an assist in Game Two, before taking a major penalty for his hit on Backes wit 4:51 remaining in the third period. If Seabrook is suspended, Sheldon Brookbank could move into the Chicago lineup, but Backes potential absence also causes issues for the Blues. Even though the St. Louis lineup was bolstered by the return of RW T.J. Oshie, their top three healthy centres after Backes in Game Two were Vladimir Sobotka, Maxim Lapierre and Derek Roy. If Backes is out (and Patrik Berglund is already out), then St. Louis may have to shuffle Steve Ott to the middle and add a winger, Dimitrij Jaskin or Brenden Morrow, to the lineup. Leading the way for St. Louis in Game Two was D Kevin Shattenkirk, who had a goal and two assists, and also happened to be break-even in Corsi%, which was rare on a Blues team that was easily handled by Chicago at even strength. The problem for the Blackhawks, however, was an appalling lack of discipline, as Chicago was shorthanded nine times, including 11 minutes of shorthanded time in the final 15 minutes of the game. A positive for the Blackhawks was the performance of RW Marian Hossa, who matched his season high with eight shots on goal in Game Two. Blackhawks C Jonathan Toews, who was on the ice for both the tying and game-winning goals against, had a dominant possession game (85% Corsi%), getting the better of a strength-on-strength matchup against the Blues top line of Backes, Alexander Steen and T.J. Oshie. Returning to the lineup for the first time since a late-season concussion, Oshies Corsi% for the game was 13.0%. The results through the first two games could have gone either way, so its not as if Chicago is out of the running as they head home for Game Three. However, their margin for error is gone. They need to get on the board with a win if they are going to make a series out of this. JACKETS EVEN UP Matt Calverts second goal of the game, 1:10 into double overtime, earned the Columbus Blue Jackets the first playoff win in the franchises history. Calvert, who was favourably included in my piece on which fighters can handle more playing time, played a career-high 22:26 in the double-overtime affair, having possession success with linemates Cam Atkinson and Brandon Dubinsky. Blue Jackets D Jack Johhnson led all skaters with 38:21 of ice time and scored the game-tying goal with 6:01 remaining in the third period. Cowboys Emmitt Smith Black Jersey. Johnson now has 15 points in 14 career playoff games. Among defencemen with at least a dozen career playoff games, Johnsons 1.07 points per game in the postseason ranks second, behind only Bobby Orr. Blue Jackets C Ryan Johansen added a goal and an assist, while D David Savard contributed two assists to the winning effort. On the Penguins side, RW Brian Gibbons scored a pair of goals, and Sidney Crosby had a couple of assists, but no other Penguins forwards got on the scoresheet. D Paul Martin had two assists while Matt Niskanen added a goal and an assist. Perhaps the most troubling issue for Pittsburgh in Game Two was the play of D Kris Letang, who was stomped (32.5% Corsi%) in possession terms. His minus-14 Corsi was his lowest of the season. Even so, his 27:40 of ice time was behind only Paul Martin (34:07) and Brooks Orpik (28:02) on the Penguins blueline. Columbus D Fedor Tyutin left the game with a presumed upper-body injury after taking a couple of hard hits and playing just 6:55. If Tyutin is out, Dalton Prout or Nick Schultz are available to join the Columbus lineup, but Savard is the one who moves up the depth chart. He played 33:46 in Game Two. Earning the Game Two win ought to give the Blue Jackets some feeling of belonging in the postseason. They can compete with the Penguins, play them close enough that G Sergei Bobrovsky (who stopped 39 of 42 shots in Game Two) has a chance to make a difference. MACKINNONS COMING OUT PARTY 18-year-old Avalanche rookie RW Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and three assists in Colorados 4-2 Game Two win over the Minnesota Wild, giving the Avs a 2-0 lead in the series, and MacKinnon seven points through two games. There is a good chance that MacKinnon is on his way to the best playoff scoring for an 18-year-old in league history, as Jaromir Jagr holds the current mark with 13 playoff points in 1991. The line of MacKinnon, LW Gabriel Landeskog (two goals) and C Paul Stastny (one goal, three assists) carried the day for the Avalanche, with MacKinnons speed and playmaking ability creating huge difficulty for the Wild, even though Minnesota frequently had their top defence pairing of Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin matched up against them. Though he wasnt particularly to blame for Colorados first three goals, Wild G Ilya Bryzgalov was pulled with 8:01 remaining in the second period, replaced by Darcy Kuemper, the rookie who last played March 27. Kuemper stopped all 14 shots he faced. That Colorado has high-end skill up front comes as no surprise, nor is it shocking that G Semyon Varlamov has been the better of the goaltenders in the series but, coming home for Game Three, the Wild need their own top forwards to answer the bell and hope that whomever they go with in net, Kuemper or Bryzgalov, will give them a chance to get back in the series. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '
