Three things that fueled Nashville Predators comeback over Blackhawks

With the Nashville Predators down two goals early on and well on their way to a 1-6-0 record, they dug deep to score three-straight goals to beat the Chicago Blackhawks.

This was a game of two halves. The opening was all about the Blackhawks. They were outskating the Predators with ease, looked much more cohesive in their zone exits, and quite frankly had Juuse Saros standing on his head to keep it from getting out of hand.

The Predators never wavered in their game. They took the early punches, but didn't fall to the canvas. That's the mark of a team that's improving and building a foundation that eventually be a team that can go deep in the playoffs. But before they get to that, they have to first dig themselves out of the 0-5-0 hole that put themselves in.

Here's three things that propelled the Predators to their second win of 2024-25, running their head-to-head record against the Blackhawks to 10-1-1 going back to the 2021-22 season.

Saros plays the role of hero for the second-straight game

Even in the five losses to open the season, Saros wasn't to blame in all five losses. He had a strong game against the Red Wings that saw the Predators get shut out, and Saros also put up a .914 save percentage in the loss to the Oilers while facing 35 shots.

However, in the last two wins Saros has simply been heroic. He's improved his numbers just over two games back to respectable territory with a .908 save percentage overall and a 2.74 GAA.

Particularly while the Predators have been on the penalty kill, Saros has came up clutch. I always say that your best penalty killer usually has to be your goalie, and that's certainly the case for Saros during this hot streak that the Predators penalty kill is seeing.

The Blackhawks power play went 0-for-5 against the Predators despite having plenty of juicy, pun absolutely intended, to beat Saros. Late in regulation when the Predators were clinging onto the 3-2 lead, the Blackhawks were connecting all of the dots with their passing to get a slam dunk goal on Saros.

Unfortunately for them, Saros was just locked into Vezina Trophy form.

While Saros will always be a streaky goaltender that has his ups and downs, we all know that when Saros gets on a hot streak the Predators are a very difficult team to beat. He had to be at the top of his game early and often to beat a Blackhawks team that looks much improved from last season.

Dominant in the faceoff circle, controlling the pace of play down the stretch

Th Predators really had to plug the holes in the ship early on in this one. The ship was taking on water and I must admit that I was dreading what was trending to happen. That the Blackhawks were about to run the Predators out of the building before even reaching the first intermission.

Contrary to my paranoia, the Predators settled into their game and one way they began to gradually seize back momentum was winning faceoffs. Nothing glamorous, just good ole fashioned battle of attrition. Winning zone time and holding possession.

Colton Sissons won 64.7 percent of his faceoffs, Mark Jankowski won 71.4 percent of his, and Steven Stamkos won 62.5 percent. Overall, the Predators only trail the Oilers for the best faceoff win percentage in the NHL at 56.2 percent.

The second period was the turning point that saw the momentum shift towards the Predators. They were beginning to control possession and dictate their style of play more. It was massive that Saros was able to keep the deficit to only two goals until his teammates in front of him could find their legs.

The Predators outshot the Blackhawks 14-8 in the second period while getting goals from Filip Forsberg and Gustav Nyquist. The Forsberg goal was vintage highlight reel stuff from him while splitting two defenders with just jaw-dropping stick handling.

Nyquist's goal was nifty and came shorthanded, again while even on the penalty kill the Predators were pushing the pace and controlling possession. It was Nyquist's ninth career shorthanded goal and second with the Predators.

Skjei is coming into his own as Preds d-core gets shuffled around

Brady Skjei didn't get as much publicity amidst the Predators free agency frenzy as Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault did, but he seems to be getting the most comfortable with his new team early on.

Head Coach Andrew Brunette has had to do a lot of shuffling with both his forwards and his defensemen while trying to find the right balance. Surprisingly, Brunette tested out Marc Del Gaizo on the top pairing with Roman Josi for this one against the Blackhawks, while Skjei moved around.

Skjei got the game-winner for the Predators on the power play over 13 minutes into the third period. Kind of a sneaky shot as he found some space to fire what was a very accurate shot that fooled Chicago goaltender Petr Mrazek.

I'll admit that while I like the player that Skjei is, I'm still not crazy about the seven years the Predators committed to him. With that said, it's hard not to like the offense that Skjei brings, and of course he has a wise two-way ability to his game.

It will be interesting to see how Brunette balances using Skjei and Josi. Two highly-skilled defensemen who play different styles, and it might be more beneficial to split them up.

Skjei has two goals and one assists in the early going of his Predators tenure. While Stamkos and Marchessault are still finding their way into the Predators system, Skjei is beginning to look right at home.

It's only a matter of time before Stamkos and Marchessault get on heaters of their own. Until then, the Predators are just trying to take it one game at a time and gradually improve. An 0-5-0 start is rough no matter how you slice it, but getting the kinks worked out now and not going through this say in March and April is more ideal.