Cristobal Huet made 25 saves, and Dustin Byfuglien, Patrick Kane, Andrew Ladd and Patrick Sharp scored in the Chicago Blackhawks' 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.
Jonathan Towes and Tomas Kopecky each had two assists for Western Conference-leading Chicago. Martin Erat scored for Nashville.
The Predators were hit with back-to-back minor penalties in the first period. After killing off the first penalty, the Predators were unable to stop the Blackhawks on the second. Byfuglien scored with a wrist shot through traffic from just inside the blue line at the 9:44 mark against Pekka Rinne.
Erat tied it at 7:38 of the second, beating Huet on a breakaway.
The Blackhawks scored two goals in a 1:10 span of the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Kane scored first, beating Rinne to his right side with a wrister from the left point. Ladd scored on a backhander at 13:36.
With 1:13 left in the second, Sharp gave the Blackhawks a 4-1 edge off a rebound.
NOTES: Byfuglien has three goals in five games against Nashville. ... Huet has started all five games against Nashville this season, going 3-2.
