NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With just three goals in the Chicago Blackhawks' first 26 games, Marian Hossa was off to the slowest start of his long and highly productive NHL career. Hossa’s two-goal performance in a 3-1 victory against the Nashville Predators on Saturday suggests he could be showing up on the score sheet more often going forward.

With the win, the Blackhawks took over sole possession of first place in the Central Division, thanks in large part to the effort of Hossa, who was noticeable each time he stepped onto the Bridgestone Arena ice.

Known as one of the best two-way forwards in the league, Hossa’s first major contribution came on a defensive play late in the first period. Nashville forward Eric Nystrom was skating the puck out of the Predators’ zone. Trailing the play, Hossa was able to chase Nystrom down and poke the puck free to defenseman Duncan Keith, who passed to Brandon Saad before Saad beat Pekka Rinne with a laser of a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot.

Hossa wasn’t credited with an assist on the play, but it all started with his effort.

“That’s someone, even if he’s not scoring every night, whether it’s takeaways or playing well defensively, he creates offense every night,” Saad said of Hossa.

Early in the second, it was Hossa who was on the receiving end of an impressive individual effort from Saad.

Driving down the right side, Saad had the entire building thinking he was going to either shoot or pass the puck to center Jonathan Toews, who was charging hard through the slot just to Saad’s left. Saad danced around Nashville defenseman Roman Josi, and Josi’s partner, Shea Weber, picked up Toews in the slot, so Saad slid a smooth backhand pass just above Rinne’s crease to Hossa, who had come down from the left point.

All Hossa had to do was put stick on puck to get it into the open net, and he did just that in scoring for the first time in seven games.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t think about it anymore, and I just try to play the game,” Hossa said. “Saader made an unbelievable play, and Johnny drove the net -- and basically the defender didn’t see me behind his back, and I had a wide-open net. Definitely, I felt great relief, and that kind of gives you a little jump and energy.”

With the Blackhawks holding a one-goal lead late in the third and Rinne on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, Hossa once again turned a solid defensive effort into offense to get the clincher.

At the red line on the right boards, Hossa forced a turnover by Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm. Hossa pounced on the loose puck and skated to the blue line, where he sent a wrist shot into the far corner of the empty net for his second of the game.

“That line had a great game,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Saader was special tonight. Hoss scored some goals as well. That line was a force tonight. It seems like every night somebody might jump forward offensively, but that line consistently plays the right way -- but tonight, they had a little bit more.”

His goal totals might not be where Hossa would expect them to be, but with the Blackhawks winning six in a row and nine of 10, team results are more important to Hossa than individual statistics.

“We’re winning important games, which is huge,” he said.