"One lucky bounce and suddenly the Nashville Predators are little more than a hop, skip and a jump from the top of the National Hockey League standings.

Kevin Klein's seemingly harmless shot from the center ice red line bounced once and got past goalie Corey Crawford for one of the most unlikely goals of the season. Regardless, it was the first of three that Nashville scored in the second period as it pulled away for a 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday before a sellout crowd, which included a significant percentage of Blackhawks fans, at Bridgestone Arena.

With two games remaining before the All-Star break the Predators are five points behind Detroit, which has the league's best record.

"Obviously, Kleiner's bomb from the red line started a little bit of a change," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "Those are hard. … At that point, that really changed the momentum against a tired hockey team.

"… We really responded after that, really took the momentum and carried it right through."

Chicago was tired because it played a night earlier at home against Florida (a 3-1 victory). Its travel to Nashville was disrupted by snow in that area and the team did not arrive until the middle of the night."