What The Hell Were They Thinking?

Watching the end of the Blackhawks/Predators game this afternoon, I was shocked to see Nashville self-destruct in the final seconds of the third period. I'm not just referring to the tying goal they gave up with less than 15 seconds to go but more importantly to the play that led to it. (They'd eventually lose the game in overtime, giving the Hawks a 3-2 lead in the series.)

With about a minute to go in the 3rd period, trailing 4-3 and with their goalie pulled for an extra skater, Chicago took a 5-minute penalty for a crushing shove of a Pred player into the end boards. Just like that the Hawks were short-handed and had to face-off in their own end, meaning that the goalie had to go back into the net. Nashville controlled the play and started passing the puck around in the offensive zone as the seconds ticked off the clock. I thought to myself, "That's really clever... they don't need to score on this power play, they just need to keep the puck out of any Blackhawk's hands and they'll win without ever giving Chicago the chance to get their goalie out again!" And then the Predator with the puck decided to take a shot on net!

I was absolutely stunned. In addition to the sheer stupidity of that choice under the circumstances already mentioned, there's also the fact that the Preds were 0-for-21 on the power play in the series so what was the likelihood of scoring, anyway? Of course the shot was blocked and Chicago now had possession of the puck, allowing them to race down the ice (6th skater coming on to replace the departing netminder) and score the tying goal with 13.6 to go. To add insult to injury, the Hawk who took the 5-minute major was the one who scored the winner in overtime.

So why exactly did Nashville ever give up the pick? Normally, when you're on the power play, you're obviously trying to score. But in this case, they didn't need another goal; they just needed to not give one up! If they had simply continued to toss the puck back and forth (effectively playing "keep away"), taking advantage of, y'know, outnumbering the opposition on the ice, they'd be flying home tonight, up 3-2 in the series with a chance to advance with a home victory in Game 6. Instead, they're on the verge of being forced to start their golf season. Stupid, stupid, stupid.