Are the Nashville Predators starting to get to Scott Darling? Could it be that James Neal has the young Chicago Blackhawks netminder’s number?
It might be a little early to ask such a question, but the bottom line is that the power forward has given the Predators a nice lead so far in Game 6.
The prettiest tally was his first, as he beat Darling with a simple (but nice) move just 1:10 into the contest:
Not long after, Neal deflected a shot in for a power-play goal to make it 2-0 quite early in the game.
.@jneal_18's goal at 1:10 of 1st period was 2nd-fastest to begin playoff game in NSH history after A. Hall in 0:16 on 04/07/04 at DET. (ESB)
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 26, 2015
Getting a 2-0 lead is very nice for Nashville, but a litany of opponents would tell the Predators not to get too comfortable against the dangerous Blackhawks attack.
Still, it’s certainly a positive development for the Preds, and one can only wonder how long the leash is for Darling.
Update: It turns out that the leash is fairly short for Darling. Patrick Sharp made it 2-1, but moments later, Matt Cullen scored a 3-1 goal. Corey Crawford was summed back into the Chicago net less than 12 minutes into the first period ... and that’s that.
For now?