CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks might be the most unsatisfied 3-0-1 team out there.

The Blackhawks have gotten the final result they desired in three of their first four games and have picked up points in every contest, but the path to their unbeaten regulation record has included some Chicago-type potholes.

Aside from a definitive 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, the Blackhawks have had to battle to secure points in their other three games. They were outplayed by the Dallas Stars in the season opener but stole a 3-2 shootout victory. They dominated possession against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday but ended up on the losing side of a 2-1 overtime result.

Saturday brought more of the same. Chicago outshot the Nashville Predators 37-20 but couldn’t capitalize on its chances. The Blackhawks scored on their first shot of the game and on their final shot, which came when Jonathan Toews created a turnover and scored a breakaway, short-handed goal in overtime. In between, there was plenty of frustration.

Toews said he felt fortunate to pull out the win and admitted his team hasn’t exactly been clicking but added their schedule has likely factored into that. The Blackhawks have had just four games in a 10-day span to open the season.

“It was just another kind of frustrating game, where we have energy -- we just can’t seem to quite get that flow we’re looking for, where all four lines are feeding off each other, where we got one good shift and we follow it up with another one,” Toews said. “We’re obviously not going to make excuses, but I think when we start playing more games, we’ll definitely get the feel for what we need to do better. Like I said, it’s good to come out of this stretch of not having a whole lot of games, not having a whole lot going on, with a win tonight, even though it was an ugly one.”

A big reason for that ugly feeling was the power play, in which the Blackhawks struggled in all phases. Their entries were a disaster, whether they tried to carry, chip or pass the puck into the offensive zone. When they did get into the zone cleanly, they were seldom able to get set up and connect on passes. They had seven shots on goal on five power plays, and most of those came from clean entries by Brandon Saad and Marian Hossa.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville had hoped for a better power play Saturday after his squad went 1-for-7 against Calgary.

“Tough night there, power play,” Quenneville said. “We lost every faceoff, particularly our key faceoffs tonight. We were ineffective, and then we didn’t [get] them settled down.”

Goaltender Corey Crawford helped keep Nashville at bay with the Blackhawks out of sync -- particularly in the third period, when the Predators took 11 of their 20 shots on goal. He’s off to a strong start, with a 1.66 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage.

“I didn’t like our third,” Quenneville said. “Crow was excellent and kept us in it and preserved the point.”

At the end of the day, the points are what matter. The Blackhawks have accumulated seven in four games and found ways to take four points against division opponents with victories in overtime and a shootout.

“We know we’re not going to get an easy test, especially within our own division,” Toews said. “We have been to overtime a couple times already in four games. It’s nice for us to come out on top two out of the three. It is what it is.

"Sometimes when we’re locked in a tight game like that, and it’s sloppy and it’s ugly, we just got to find ways to win. It’s not always going to be perfect. It’s not always going to be exactly the way we want to play, but we just got to grind it out and stay positive through 60.”