CHICAGO (AP) — Cam Ward gave the Chicago Blackhawks exactly what they needed in the wake of another concussion for Corey Crawford.He went back to work.Ward made 30 saves Tuesday night Tyler Johnson Jersey , leading the Blackhawks to a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators.“I thought our guys competed, worked hard all 60 minutes,” Ward said. “Defensively, we didn’t give them a whole lot. It’s a credit to the guys for the way that they played. We kept it much more simple and executed.”Defensemen Gustav Forsling and Erik Gustafsson scored for last-place Chicago, which had dropped 10 of 11. Patrick Kane picked up an assist on Gustafsson’s tiebreaking goal in the second period, giving him at least one point in seven of his last eight games.Ward was terrific in the Blackhawks’ first game since Crawford was placed on injured reserve after sustaining a concussion for the second straight season. The two-time All-Star got hurt in the first period of Sunday’s 7-3 loss to San Jose when the back of his head struck the right post during a scary goalmouth pileup.“We want to continue to grow as a team with him on our minds, play for one another,” Ward said. “He’s not going to be forgotten. And I’m not Crawford out there. I’m just going to try to give this team a chance to win every time I get the opportunity.”Kevin Fiala scored for the Predators, who dropped to 0-6-2 in their last eight road games. Pekka Rinne had 34 stops.“We came out in the third and tried to press and win it and get it done, but we’re in position right now on the road, I think you need to play a consistent 60 minutes,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “Some of it was OK tonight and some of it was not.”Coming off a 4-3 overtime loss at Ottawa on Monday night Victor Hedman Jersey , Nashville jumped in front late in the first period. Kane turned the puck over near the blue line and Fiala beat Ward with a well-placed wrist shot on the goaltender’s stick side.Chicago bounced back nicely in the second, outshooting Nashville 16-7 in one of its best periods in a while. Rinne made solid stops on Dominik Kahun, David Kampf and Kane before the Blackhawks went ahead to stay with a pair of goals 1:54 apart.“They had a ton of chances and Pekks stood on his head for a lot of that (second) period,” Predators defenseman Roman Josi said. “It seemed like we just couldn’t get anything going. It’s disappointing.”Forsling tied it at 1 with a shot off the left post at 15:22. It was the second goal of the season for Forsling, who returned to the lineup after missing six games with a shoulder injury.After Predators forward Rocco Grimaldi was sent off for tripping Brent Seabrook, Gustafsson beat Rinne with a long slap shot for his seventh goal at 17:16. It was just the 13th power-play goal for the league’s worst team with the man advantage.Gustafsson’s shot went off Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis.“I’m just trying to put the puck to the net,” Gustafsson said. “I don’t know if it went off their D or something like that. I’m just trying to shoot it. Nice to see it go in.”The Blackhawks lost forward Marcus Kruger with 3:29 left in the period when he got hit in the face by an inadvertent elbow from Nashville’s Ryan Hartman. Coach Jeremy Colliton said Kruger sustained a concussion and will not travel on the team’s upcoming road trip.NOTES: Nashville dropped to 17-2-0 this season when it scores the first goal. … Blackhawks C Artem Anisimov also returned to the lineup after being activated from IR. He had been sidelined by a concussion. … Rinne made his NHL debut and got his first career victory on Dec. 15, 2005, against Chicago. … Blackhawks D Henri Jokiharju will play for Finland in the upcoming world junior championship. The competition runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Vancouver, British Columbia. … Blackhawks F Alex DeBrincat celebrated his 21st birthday.UP NEXTPredators: Visit Philadelphia on Thursday night.Blackhawks: Visit Dallas on Thursday night. The New York Islanders have everything working right now as demonstrated by the 4-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night.The game never felt like it was ever in doubt, Islanders coach Barry Trotz said after Mathew Barzal scored three goals in the victory at Toronto.The Buffalo Sabres, on the other hand Yanni Gourde Jersey , cannot seem to get results even when they play well as they did Saturday in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins.Article continues below ...“I thought we played a very strong 60 minutes and overtime,” Sabres coach Phil Housley said after the Bruins tied the game at 17:31 of the third period on a power play and won in overtime.The Islanders, winners of three in a row and six of their past seven games, will try to keep it going Monday when they visit the Sabres, who have lost three of their past four.“I liked the fact that we stayed with the game plan for the full 60 minutes,” Trotz said after his team dominated Toronto and former Islanders captain John Tavares in his first game against his former team. “We didn’t really deviate and that to me was real good growth. We have to continue to do that. We knew we were up against a real good hockey team and we had to do things the right way and we did.”“I can’t fault our effort,” Housley said after Sean Kuraly’s overtime winner for Boston. “We attacked the game. It’s going to be like this throughout the rest of the season where it’s going to be tight. I thought we felt really comfortable in the situation.”This will be the first meeting between the teams this season.Barzal, who also scored two goals in a win over the Ottawa Senators Friday, scored a natural hat trick in a span of just fewer than eight minutes in the second period on Saturday. He has 10 goals on the season. Robin Lehner made 36 saves for his second shutout of the season and 10th of his career.“You could tell before the game that the guys were dialed in, Barzal said. “They were ready to go. We knew what was at stake against one of the top teams in the league. If we play like that, this team can be pretty special.”Barzal has six goals and two assists on his four-game point streak.“He’s shooting the puck,” Lehner said. “He’s one of the most skilled players in the league and one of the fastest. Just seeing him shooting more in practice Auston Matthews Jersey , he’s starting to trust his shot and have confidence in his shot. He has a good shot. He just has to keep shooting and he’ll score a lot of goals.”Buffalo is 4-6-4 since its 10-game winning streak Nov. 8-27.The Sabres are struggling to score goals.Jack Eichel has one goal in five games and Jeff Skinner has one in four and they are the team’s top two scorers. Jason Pominville has no points in 12 games and no goals in 14, Conor Sheary has one goal in 19 games, Casey Mittelstadt has one goal in 16 games and no points in seven and Tage Thompson has no goals and one point in 13 games.Eichel missed practice Sunday for what Housley termed as “maintenance” and is expected to play Monday. Goaltender Linus Ullmark returned to practice after being unavailable Saturday because of illness. Goaltender Scott Wedgewood was returned to Rochester of the American Hockey League.Right winger Kyle Okposo was used on the fourth line Sunday with Johan Larsson and Remi Elie. Okposo, a former Islander, has not scored a goal in 21 games.“Everybody knows the production, right,” Housley told reporters Sunday. “You look at the statistics, but I think (Okposo) just has to get back to work. I wouldn’t read too much into the lines. We’re just trying to create more balance, and I think (Larsson) has played terrific hockey.”