Kane extends streak but ‘Hawks lose to Preds

The Chicago Blackhawks haven’t exactly capitalized on Patrick Kane’s franchise-record point streak. The Predators didn’t think so, challenging the play for interference as the crowd at Bridgestone Arena loudly voiced their displeasure for the officiating and the lack of whistle after the initial shot on Rinne. Neal scored his second goal of the game after intercepting a Kane pass and beating Darling, and Eric Nystrom made a nifty play on a Blackhawks power play as he flipped a backhanded clearing attempt all the way down the ice and into the empty net to give the Predators a 5-1 victory. “He is playing great, like he always does”.

Darling (2-3-2) finished with 29 saves for the Blackhawks (15-10-4), which dumped Nashville 4-1 Tuesday night.

“It is a silver lining, and it is great for him”, Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling said of Kane’s streak. For Kane, it was his 24th consecutive game with a point.

Kane slammed the puck home for his 18th goal of the season, keeping his streak going for another night. “So it is good for him”.

So there you go: Wayne Gretzky is totally cool with Patrick Kane breaking one of his National Hockey League records, which is something you might expect to hear from someone that still owns 60 of them despite retiring 16 years ago.

The Blackhawks were unable to gain control of the game’s momentum after a Viktor Arvidsson penalty, and Nashville was able to extend their lead. Two nights later, it was an empty net goal in the final two minutes that helped to extend the streak another game. The Predators looked as if they had been stewing over that loss since leaving the United Center, and they opened with possibly their best period this season in grabbing a 3-0 lead. Neal scored on Nashville’s 11th shot with a snap shot past Darling after dodging Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson at 6:54 for his 11th this season.

“That was hard to watch, that first 20 minutes”, Quenneville said. Keith put a shot on net that Rinne gloved down, but the puck got out of his glove, and Marcus Kruger pried it free.

Rinne stopped three shots by Kane through the first 40 minutes. Blake Wheeler’s goal against the Blue Jackets gave him a team-high 28 points – and one in seven of his last eight games.ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (15-10-4): Artem Anisimov is second on the team with 11 goals but has scored only one in his last six contests. Neal has seven goals in his past five games against Chicago, and Mike Ribeiro has an assist in seven of his last nine against the Blackhawks.