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CHICAGO -- Roman Josi and Nashvilles dangerous defencemen did it all against the Chicago Blackhawks. That is why Pekka Rinne believes the blue-liners are the biggest key for a strong finish to the Predators disappointing season. Josi had three assists, and Ryan Ellis scored in the third period to lead the Predators to a 3-2 victory over the Blackhawks on Friday night. "If we win or lose, usually its the D-men," said Rinne, who made with 31 saves. "The talent we have on the back end, were pretty fortunate to have that kind of depth in the defence." Shea Weber also had his team-best 27th assist as Nashvilles defencemen combined for five points in the Predators third consecutive win. Weber also leads the team with 43 points, and Josi jumped into a tie with Patric Hornqvist for second on the team with 21 assists. "Thats the strength really of our group, our D-men," coach Barry Trotz said. "Theyre all young and talented. Were the youngest team in the league by three years on the blue line. The future is really bright for us there. Now weve got to work on trying to get those elite forwards like the Blackhawks have." It was the second straight loss for Chicago, which is struggling to keep up with the top contenders in the rugged Western Conference. The reigning Stanley Cup champions dropped to 10-8-7 in 2014. Jonathan Toews and Peter Regin scored for the Blackhawks, and Corey Crawford made 26 saves in his 200th NHL game. "Were putting ourself in tough situations by not starting well and getting away from our team game," Toews said. "Not much of an explanation, but we know we need better right now. We need to get out of this trend were in right now." Mike Fisher and Hornqvist also scored for Nashville, which has won two of three against Chicago this season. Ellis fourth goal of the season came right after the Predators killed a holding penalty on the defenceman that carried over into the third. He jumped out of the box, got a long pass from Josi and beat Crawford on a breakaway to make it 3-1 just 45 seconds into the period. "I was just fortunate enough to time it right," Ellis said. "Josi made a great play with a blocked shot then a tape-to-tape pass through the zone." Regins tip-in got the Blackhawks within one again at 11:28, but they were unable to tie it. Regins second goal with Chicago came after Toews sent a wide-open opportunity off the left post 4:40 into the third. Toews also had an open tip go wide with 36 seconds left. "We knew they were going to make a push," Josi said. "With that team theyve got a lot of skill, but Peks was great again." Chicago controlled the action at the start, but Nashville began to pressure Crawford midway through the first. Nick Spaling shot wide right on a prime opportunity with about 7 1/2 minutes left. Fisher put the Predators in front when he pushed a rebound over Crawfords left leg for his 17th goal at 15:33. Nashville used a big slap shot by Weber to open a 2-0 lead with 69 seconds left in the first. Crawford stopped the drive by the big defenceman, but Hornqvist swept in the rebound for his 13th. Crawford hopped up and slammed his stick down as the Predators celebrated Hornqvists first goal since March 4. "Tough to watch the last part of the first period," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought that was as bad as weve probably played for any stretch all year." The two-goal deficit seemed to wake up the Blackhawks for a bit. Toews stole the puck from Josi and passed it to Kris Versteeg, who passed it back to the captain for his 26th goal with 14 seconds remaining. Chicago carried the momentum into the second, but Rinne was there each time. He used his left pad to deny Patrick Sharp on a 1-on-1 opportunity, and he got some help from teammates when the Blackhawks had the puck in front during a power play at the end of the period. Crawford also used his glove to grab Craig Smiths shot with 5:46 left in the second. NOTES: Blackhawks F Marian Hossa (upper body) participated in the morning skate and is hoping to return Sunday at home against Detroit or Tuesday at Philadelphia. He has missed five games. ... Predators F Viktor Stalberg received a warm ovation when he was shown on the video board in the first period for helping Chicago win the Stanley Cup last season. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . - Anthony Beauvillier had the winning goal in the third period as the Shawinigan Cataractes edged the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 2-1 on Wednesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Ricciardos exclusion from the results tarnished what had been a day of celebration for local fans, who were jubilant that the Red Bull driver had apparently become the first Australian to finish on the podium at his home race. However just before midnight, stewards ruled that Ricciardos car had "exceeded consistently the maximum allowed fuel flow" and that the team refused an instruction from the races technical delegate Charlie Whiting to change the fuel-flow sensor before the race and a further request during the race to reduce the fuel flow. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку!. Sections of the British media reported Friday that Brooklyn Beckham, the son of United great David, was invited to a training session at the club on Thursday. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Toronto dropped a 7-2 decision to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday afternoon, with only a pair of late runs preventing a second straight shutout loss. Josh Willingham belted a two-run homer in the first inning and Kendrys Morales hit a bases-clearing double in the seventh as the Twins took the rubber game of the three-game series. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Atletico Madrid made it three wins from three thanks to a double from in-form striker Diego Costa in a 3-0 victory at Austria Vienna, leaving the Spanish side on the brink of the last 16 already to continue its brilliant start to the season.Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - The Toronto Raptors are off to their best start in franchise history. Kyle Lowry had a triple-double and DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points as the Raptors crushed the Washington Wizards on Friday, 103-84, sending a message to the rest of the Eastern Conference in the process. Lowry went for 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, posting a triple-double for the sixth time in his career. DeRozan shot 7-of-13 from the floor and made all 11 of his free throws, and Terrence Ross dropped 18 points for the winners. We played well from start to finish, said Lowry. There were a lot more positives than negatives this game. We can finally say that. The Raptors are 5-1 for the first time in team history. Washingtons starters shot 11-for-48, with none of them cracking double digits in the scoring column in the humbling setback. Otto Porter led three reserves in double figures with 13 points. We didnt come out with playoff intensity and obviously they did, said Paul Pierce. Toronto landed the first blow, jumping out to a 14-2 lead five minutes in. The spread reached 14 after DeRozans three-point playy at 3:50, and it could have been worse had it not been for Washingtons bench.dddddddddddd. Porter and Drew Gooden made 5-of-6 shots combined off the bench, and it was 28-18 after one. Louis Williams helped Toronto rebuild a comfortable lead early in the second. Williams scored nine straight Raptors points during an 18-1 run that made it 48-25. DeRozan converted an alley-oop from Lowry at 5:37 to cap the flurry. Amir Johnsons hook shot just before halftime extended the lead to 59-35. Nene scored six points during Washingtons 10-0 run early in the third quarter. Marcin Gortats layup at the tail end of the surge had the Wizards within 18. John Wall cut it to 16 with a layup late in the third, but Washington never got over the hump. James Johnsons stepback 3-ball with seconds remaining made it 82-58 heading into the fourth. Game Notes Washingtons four-game winning streak was snapped ... Toronto welcomed back Johnson, who missed three games with an ankle injury, and Jonas Valanciunas, who missed a game with a hand injury ... Washington shot just 3-of-19 from behind the arc. ' ' '