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Friday, Dec. 1 8:00pm ET
Chicago finally scores on special teams | |||||
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BOX SCORE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Eric Daze hopes to be traded by the Chicago Blackhawks. In the meantime, he is starting to help them win. Daze, who requested a trade Oct. 29, had a goal and an assist to spoil Chris Mason's first NHL start in goal and the Blackhawks defeated the Nashville Predators 2-1 Friday night. "When he's on his game, there's probably no better goal-scorer around," linemate Tony Amonte said of Daze. "He can control the game. He can get in front of the net. No one can move him. He's got great hands, great speed, he's a great asset for our club." Robbie Tallas made 26 saves for Chicago, which has won two of three. The loss ended Nashville's three-game winning streak. "It's going really well the last month," Daze said. "I've been playing on the first line, and things seem to click right now between Tony and Alex (Zhamnov) and myself." Daze snapped a 1-1 tie at 7:30 of the second period with a power-play goal near the left post. Zhamnov drew the attention of the Predators defense at the right of the goal before feeding a wide-open Daze for a one-timer on the weak side. "Great pass," Amonte said. "Wish it was my stick." It was just the second power-play goal for the Blackhawks in their last 11 games. Daze scored his third goal in the last three games and eighth of the season. "It's tough to start the season like we did," Daze said. "There's no secret. Our big problem has been at home. We've got to focus and play well at home right now." After a scoreless first period, Patric Kjellberg gave the Predators a 1-0 lead 44 seconds into the middle period on the power play. He fired a wrist shot past Tallas' stick from the left circle. Chicago's Alexander Karpovtsev tied it with a fluke goal. His slap shot from the right point bounced high off the stick of Nashville's Greg Johnson in the slot. The puck sailed over the shoulder of Mason and into the net at 5:17 of the second. "I can really sympathize with him, I've had a million of those go in," Tallas said. "He played good enough to win." At first Mason went down to stop Karpovtsev's shot. When he looked up, it was too late. "I heard someone say, 'It's up, it's up,' and I waited for it to come down so I could move over and I never saw it," Mason said. Tallas made a shoulder save on Ville Peltonen in the third, and two stick saves on Randy Robitaille. Mason was Tomas Vokoun's backup for the last month while No. 1 goalie Mike Dunham was sidelined with a sprained left knee. Vokoun is day to day with a mild groin strain. Dunham, who was in uniform for the first time since Oct. 27, served as Mason's backup. "(Mason's) a good prospect, he's a good goaltender," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "For not playing in a long time, I give him a lot of credit. A tremendous amount of dedication and focus goes into every day knowing that he's not going to play for awhile." Game notesChicago D Boris Mironov was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. ... The Blackhawks were on the road for the ninth time in their last 10 games. They have another eight-game road trip from Jan. 26-Feb. 11. ... The Predators went 6-6-2-0 in November, just the third month in team history they were .500 or better. The second was October, when Nashville went 4-3-3-1. ... Chicago RW Tony Amonte played in his 272nd straight game, the longest current streak in the NHL. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Chicago Clubhouse Nashville Clubhouse RECAPS Pittsburgh 6 Buffalo 4
Chicago 2 AUDIO/VIDEO   Nashville goalie Chris Mason falls victim to a fluke goal.avi: 1190 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||