CHICAGO _ The Predators' Colton Sissons figured he could take a couple of extra whacks at the puck just as it settled into Blackhawks goalie Cam Ward's pads.
Patrick Kane wasn't having any of it, not today and definitely not against this team.
Kane quickly moved in and shoved Sissons far away from his goaltender, giving him a shot under the chin for good measure.
It was a minor moment in the Hawks' 2-1 win over the Predators on Tuesday night at the United Center, but it reflected how raw they still are from losing Corey Crawford to a concussion 48 hours earlier, and from a thumping they took in Nashville earlier this month.
The Hawks will be without Crawford for at least four games after he was involved in a collision on Sunday that resulted in the back of his head striking a goal post.
On Dec. 1, the Hawks fell behind the Predators 3-0 in the first 4 minutes, 11 seconds in just one of a long line of games this season where they trailed early and couldn't recover.
"That's a big part of our success, or lack thereof, as a team," Hawks coach Jeremy Colliton said before the game. "We've got to be on our toes, we've got to be aggressive, we've got to go after teams and have that high compete level.
"When we look at our last game against San Jose, that's what was missing in the second half of the game. We just weren't where we need to be to compete."
The compete was there from early on against the Predators, but the ability to finish wasn't. The Hawks had several missed opportunities in the first period, including 20 seconds into the game when Jonathan Toews sent a cross-ice pass to Dominik Kahun who just missed getting a stick on the puck with an open net in front of him.
Despite the Hawks playing a solid first, the Predators took a 1-0 lead on Kevin Fiala's sixth goal of the season with 33 seconds remaining.
If the second period wasn't the Hawks best of the season, it wasn't far off. They nearly tied it early when Kane and Dylan Strome worked a give-and-go that allowed Kane to get all alone just to the left of Predators goalie Pekka Rinne. Kane tried to go high but Rinne stacked his pads to deny the attempt.
They kept up the pressure on Rinne and finally made it 1-1 on Gustav Forsling's unassisted goal with 4:38 left. It was a fantastic effort that included sending a pass around a Predators defender to himself before caroming a shot off the left post to beat Rinne.
Less than two minutes later, the Hawks went up 2-1 on an Erik Gustafsson power-play goal that deflected off Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis. The Hawks outshot the Predators 16-7 in the second period, and finished the game with a 36-31 advantage.
Late in the second, Marcus Kruger went head first into Ryan Hartman's elbow and began bleeding profusely. He struggled to leave the ice on his own before leaving the game.
"If we can compete hard defensively, we're scoring enough goals," Colliton said. "We're scoring 3-4 goals a game, that should be enough to win."
The Predators pulled Rinne with 2:29 remaining and had several great looks to tie the game but they couldn't slip the equalizer past Ward.
