In a series pitting two regular-season juggernauts against each other, the year of the backup goaltender wrote another chapter. The semi-dynasty Blackhawks from Chicago, winner of two Stanley Cups in the past five years and featuring some of the most well-known talent in the NHL , defeated the “Smashville” Predators by playing musical goaltenders in two crazy comeback victories to steal the series.
The Predators defence this year was an amazing construction featuring well known names Shea Weber and Roman Josi on the top pair, supported by a ridiculously deep unit sporting Seth Jones, Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm and Cody Franson in the bottom four. All six would legitimately play in the top four on virtually any other team, and, if anything, the Predators would have benefited by balancing their defensive-unit ice time more than they did.
The reliance on Weber and Josi in a sense came back to bite them when Weber went down with a lower body injury midway through the series, forcing the Predators to insert Victor Bartley who played alongside Cody Franson in a limited role. As a result, the top four saw them all played over 40 minutes in Game 4 as it went to OT, while the bottom pair played under 15 minutes. The usage was much more balanced in Game 5. Franson’s TOI was much more significant and all of the top five D played between 17 and 27 minutes in a 5-2 victory.
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When Chicago took its turn to push the pace in this series it was largely thanks to the return of Patrick Kane to the lineup and the continuing excellence of the ageless Marian Hossa. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Markus Kruger, Kris Versteeg, Brad Richards and the rest of the Hawks forwards did their jobs effectively for much of the series. That being said, Nashville definitely had their own flashes of brilliance and it would be difficult to argue that Chicago’s forward group were significantly superior to James Neal, Colin Wilson, Craig Smith and Filip Forsberg.
Pekka Rinne was steady if unspectacular—he didn’t really steal any games in net for the Preds. After an excellent regular season it was assumed that Corey Crawford would carry the load effectively for Chicago, but he proved unreliable early in the series and surrendered the net to backup Scott Darling. The rookie made an eye-popping debut, holding the fort in a crazy comeback win for the Hawks in the first game of the series.
He also turned away 35 shots in his first start in Game 3, helping Chicago to a 4-2 win and 2-1 series lead. The craziest twist came in the final game, with a goaltender change keying a comeback for the Hawks as Darling was supplanted by Crawford.
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Looking forward to next year, the Predators definitely made strides, joining the upper echelons of the Western Conference pretty convincingly. They will need to figure out how long they want to keep Shea Weber as top dog on the blueline as he does seem to be aging and his defensive game is showing some holes. With Jones, Ellis and Ekholm ready for more minutes, Weber may benefit most from just seeing his ice time reduced.
As for the Blackhawks—now in the second round for the third consecutive year—they get the pleasure of facing down the winner of the Blues-Wild series. The Western Conference playoffs have been a ridiculous gauntlet for a number of years now and this season is shaping up no differently
The Hawks will need to find a way to generate offence against the superior defence of their next opponent. It would also help if they could find a way to consistently limit their opponent’s offence—their defensive issues still aren’t really solved, as 11 goals in two losses to Nashville show well.
A third Stanley Cup in six years would put the Hawks ahead of L.A. in the battle of recent dynasties, and this year may be the best chance they get in a while given the salary-cap problems they have brewing in the future.