Feb. 26--Amid all the excitement of the Hawks acquiring Andrew Ladd from the Jets, there was a hockey game at the United Center on Thursday, a game the Hawks lost 3-1 to the Predators. But if the Hawks were feeling down about the game, the news of the Ladd trade certainly bolstered their spirits. Here are a few notes from a busy night at the United Center.
Hawks excited to welcome Ladd back
Ladd's name is one that carries a lot of cache in the Hawks room considering he helped the team win a Stanley Cup in 2010, and that previous experience is what the Hawks are hoping helps Ladd make a seamless transition back into a Hawks sweater.
"Everyone knows why he's a captain and what he does well and we he's done for his team in Winnipeg," captain Jonathan Toews said. "There's no doubt he's going to bring that leadership and that experience in this room. He'll fit right in with guys that know him from years back."
Defenseman Duncan Keith has a stoic expression when he speaks with the media, and that did not change Thursday after the Hawks loss, but Keith could not stop saying how excited he was to have Ladd back.
"He's a smart player and can make quick plays in tight and whoever he's playing with, he's going to make them better," defenseman Duncan Keith said. "He's good on the forecheck, getting pucks back, protecting the puck in tight and he's a huge addition for us."
Toews and Keith also had high praise for general manager Stan Bowman for making the deal happen.
"It's amazing what our management has been able to do especially in spite of what happened last summer," Toews said. "And here we are picking up what looks like a key piece to our team. It's not an easy thing to do."
Hawks play better, but still lose
The Hawks played better than the drubbing they suffered at the hands of the Wild Sunday in a 6-1 loss. But almost anything would have been better than that. Still, the Hawks had trouble solving Pekka Rinne, who looked on the top of his game in stopping 38 shots.
The Predators have now won five of their last seven while the Hawks have lost five of their last seven. The good news for the Hawks was that both the Stars and Blues lost in regulation so they remain one point behind the Stars and two points ahead of the Blues in the Central Division standings.
"Well we didn't give up (many chances) until they scored in the third but we didn't generate a whole lot," coach Joel Quenneville said. "There were some opportunities that looked dangerous, like something was coming. But we didn't have the finish today. Their goalie played good. Certainly disappointed we didn't get anything with the scores going on in our division tonight."
Quenneville had winger Jiri Sekac replace Richard Panik on the top-line right wing in the second period. That helped lead to the Hawks' lone goal of the night from Brent Seabrook, a goal on which Sekac had the primary assist.
Corsi look
The Hawks won the overall shot battle 67-51 and 59-47 during 5-on-5 play. The second line of Artemi Panarin (plus-16 during 5-on-5), Patrick Kane (plus-16) and Artem Anisimov (plus-15) generated a significant chunk of shot opportunities during even strength play. In a positive sign for the Hawks, the defensive pairing of Brent Seabrook (plus-13) and Erik Gustafsson (plus-12) were their best performing pairing of the night from a possession standpoint. That comes after Seabrook has taken some heat this season for his possession numbers being down. His percentage of 69.7 even strength was his third-best performance of the season.
