Forgive Nashville Predators fans if tonight brought back memories of the team’s run to the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Really, you could argue that the month of November has also drummed up that nostalgia.
Tuesday marked the Chicago Blackhawks’ first visit to Nashville since the Predators swept them in the first round, and the narrative ended up being familiar. Once again, Pekka Rinne generated strong work against the Blackhawks, this time guiding Nashville to a narrow 3-2 win.
Rinne stopped 37 of 39 shots, edging Anton Forsberg in the process:
P E K K A! pic.twitter.com/x4h5BAsIHm
— NBC Sports Bet (@NBCSportsBet) November 29, 2017
This moves the Predators to 10-2-1 in November; Nashville’s probably sad to see the month end with one last game against the Canucks on Thursday. While they’re behind the Blues and Jets at the moment, the Predators are very much in the thick of things in a tight battle for the Central Division crown.
Chicago, meanwhile, is quite a few strides behind, although the Blackhawks had been picking up steam in their own right this month. The top-heavy team has to be happy to see more strong work from Alex DeBrincat, who followed up his first career hat trick with this beautiful setup:
It must have been a frustrating night for Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, perhaps best illustrated by this amusing GIF of Joel Quenneville:
when you're waiting for the text back and the three dots disappear pic.twitter.com/0cdzXPh2xJ
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) November 29, 2017
/Files away for future use.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.