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Hamilton leads Blackhawks to shootout victory

Apr 4, 2007 - 5:53 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Jeff Hamilton and the Chicago Blackhawks nearly have put an end to the Nashville Predators' Central Division title hopes.

Hamilton scored the decisive goal during a shootout as the Blackhawks posted a 3-2 victory over the Predators.

Hamilton forced Chris Mason to the ice on a deke and lifted the puck over the prone goaltender to seal the victory.

"It was a tough one," Mason said. "I don't think we had our best game. It's over now. As a team, I don't think we had the kind of game we wanted to have. We gotta do a gut-check and get our heads in it for the last two games. That's all we can do right now."

Chicago goaltender Patrick Lalime made a brilliant glove save on Alexander Radulov to stop the first Nashville attempt. Paul Kariya slid a wrister past Lalime's left shoulder which setup Hamilton's game-winner.

"We played a solid game," Lalime said. "Right from the get-go, we played really solid. We never let down. We got down 2-1 and we came back. It was a big character win."

The loss put the Predators four points behind the Central Division-leading Detroit Red Wings with two games remaining in the regular season.

Mikael Holmqvist and Dustin Byfuglien each had tallies for the Blackhawks, who were 0-for-3 on the power play.

"That was probably the gutsiest performance from our team all year," Chicago coach Denis Savard said. "It's good to see, and I am proud of them. Our guys never quit, they kept battling."

Kimmo Timonen and Dan Hamhuis had goals for the Predators, who were 0-for-4 with the extra skater.

"The last three or four games we have come out of the gate pretty slow," Timonen said. "That is the first thing that has to change. We have to come out of the gate hard. When we start like that it is usually 1-0 or 2-0 down. That's not the way it is supposed to be."