Duncan Keith daggers Predators to clinch first round series

The story of Chicago’s series win over Nashville was simple. The Blackhawks had Duncan Keith and the Predators didn't. In the series, Keith, a former Norris Trophy winner, put on a virtuoso performance.

He notched two game-winners – one in overtime in Game 1, and the eventual series winner at the 16:12 mark of the third period of Saturday’s Game 6, a 4-3 Chicago win. He had a goal and two assists in the clincher.

Via NHL.com

"If you want to get anywhere at this level, I think your best players have to be your best players," said Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, who had a goal and two assists. "Those are the guys you need to be your best players, and I think they want that more than anything. That's a huge reason why this team's had success in the last number of years."

Here is Keith’s score:

Said Keith

"It was the end of their shift and we'd had some chances before, so they were kind of reeling a little bit," Keith said. "I just wanted to make it count."

Overall the series saw lack of consistency in Chicago’s goaltending between starter Corey Crawford and backup Scott Darling. Crawford was yanked the first game, and allowed six goals in Game 2 while Darling won three of the contests, before he was pulled in the first period Game 6. Crawford closed out Nashville with 13 saves on 13 Predators shots on goal.

Nashville withstood the Blackhawks the best they could without captain Shea Weber who was sidelined in Game 2 with a lower body injury. The Predators were up 2-0 and 3-1 in this game, but could not close out the Hawks and send the series back to Nashville for Game 7.

As for the Hawks, they look good as ever. And with Keith (seven points in six games and an average of 32:03 of ice-time) playing this well and Patrick Kane having a few days to rest his healing broken clavicle (though he was solid with two goals and five assists) Chicago looks like a legit Stanley Cup contender. But Crawford is going to have to play more consistently to not be Chicago’s version of Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury circa 2013.

And the Predators? They were in this series the whole way, lost two overtime games, and had leads in Game 6. Rookie Filip Forsberg notched a hat trick in Game 5. Sophomore Seth Jones averaged 28:02 of ice-time in his first playoffs after he was thrust onto the top pairing following Weber’s injury.

Again, per NHL.com ...

"I think everyone left it out there," Jones said. "Every game this season, regular season and playoffs, we played as hard as we could. We're not out of the playoffs right now because of lack of effort, and that's all that we can ask of each other."

The future is becoming now … but it’ll take all summer to see it realized next season.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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