(Saturday, December 26th)

Final Score: Chicago 4, Nashville 1

Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - Cristobal Huet stopped 25 shots to help the Chicago Blackhawks down the Nashville Predators, 4-1, in the opener of a home- and-home set at Sommet Center.

Patrick Sharp, Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien and Patrick Kane each had a goal for the Blackhawks, who have won six of their last seven.

"We played well defensively, got good goaltending and didn't really give up much," said Kane of the overall effort.

Martin Erat scored the lone for the Predators, who have dropped their past two on the heels of a four-game winning streak. Pekka Rinne made 36 saves in the loss.

These two teams will meet in Chicago on Sunday to cap the two-game set.

Chicago got on the board midway through the first period with a power-play marker off the stick of Byfuglien, his 11th goal of the season.

Nashville tied the game 7:38 into the second as Erat skated in on a clean breakaway and slid a backhand along the ice that trickled past Huet.

However, the Blackhawks tallied the next three goals to take a 4-1 lead into the third.

Skating on a 2-on-1 break, Kane snapped a wrister from the right circle over the glove of Rinne with 7:34 to play in the frame.

Just 70 seconds later, Ladd knocked the puck in from the right side for his sixth goal of the season.

The final goal came with 1:13 to play in the second as Duncan Keith blasted a shot on net from the right point that was knocked down in front with Sharp roofing the rebound from the left side.

"We played really bad in the second period. We can't let it be a snowball now, we need to compete hard and play hockey," said Erat.

Huet stopped all eight shots he faced in the third period to preserve the victory for Chicago.

Game Notes

Chicago has taken three of the five games against Nashville this season...Chicago went 1-for-3 on the power play while Nashville failed to score on any of its three chances...Tomas Kopecky and Jonathan Toews each had two assists for Chicago.

12/27 01:26:29 ET