The Blackhawks entered Monday’s contest still searching for their first victory of the season. Chicago looked poised to beat Winnipeg after taking a 2–0 lead early in Saturday’s game, but ultimately fell short of their first win. Instead, the Blackhawks looked to beat one of the two remaining unbeaten teams in the NHL.

The Blackhawks experienced a heavy line shakeup ahead of Saturday’s contest. The lines set for Monday were as follows:

DeBrincat – Toews – Caggiula

Shaw – Strome – Kane

Saad – Kampf – Kubalik

Smith – Carpenter – Nylander

Keith – Gustafsson

Maatta – Seabrook

de Haan – Murphy

Crawford

Despite a good game from Robin Lehner on Saturday, the Blackhawks opted to go with the veteran Corey Crawford against the league’s top team on Monday night.

First period

The first period started well for the Blackhawks. Not even 15 seconds into the period, Dominik Kubalik fired an absolute rocket at Mike Smith for the game’s first solid chance. 

Despite the fast start for the Blackhawks, not much happened in the period. The Blackhawks managed to fire 10 pucks at Mike Smith in the first compared to the Oilers’ 12. A notable stat from the first period was the Blackhawks’ penalty kill keeping the league’s second-best power play off the scoresheet early. 

The Oilers came up empty on their two power plays in the first period, but Edmonton almost took the lead on the power play after drawing iron on the man advantage. 

However, the post proved to be Crawford’s best friend and ultimately kept the game scoreless through the first period. The Blackhawks not only lost the shots on goal battle in the opening frame, but also were losing in the face off dot with Edmonton winning 56% of the draws. 

Second period

The Blackhawks came out of the first intermission with a sense of purpose, admittedly something they lacked in the last three games. After some pressure early from the Blackhawks, they were rewarded.

Just after the four-minute mark in the period, the Blackhawks and Oilers lined up to Smith’s right for a face off in the Edmonton zone. Dylan Strome won a critical faceoff after a bit of a scrum for the puck. After Strome gained possession, he found Patrick Kane, who had yet to move from his starting position, and Kane buried the puck past Smith after a little backhand-forehand motion.

Patrick Kane (@88PKane) isn't even a center and he owns the face-off dot. pic.twitter.com/DXSSUVsAA7

— NHL (@NHL) October 15, 2019

Not long after, Andrew Shaw set the tone for the period. After defenseman Joel Persson was mesmerized by Kane behind the net, he did not see Shaw coming from his weak side. Shaw delivered a clean, hard hit to Persson, knocking him straight to the ice. Persson’s teammates did not like the Shaw hit and took exception. Ultimately, Jujhar Khaira took a roughing penalty for going after Shaw.

BRUH pic.twitter.com/5ldfitthC4

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) October 15, 2019

Despite the power play opportunity, the Blackhawks could not capitalize, keeping the score dormant at 1–0. 

Both teams traded power plays for much of the remainder of the period. With about four minutes left in the period, Brandon Saad nearly had a beautiful goal after he danced around an Edmonton defender. Saad took the puck hard to the net after gaining the inside on an Oiler defender, but ultimately hit the post. The goal would have been highlight-reel material for the power forward.

With just under three minutes remaining, the Oilers looked like they tied the game. Despite the optimistic call, the goal was waived off for goaltender interference. Connor McDavid had speed around Connor Murphy and took the puck to the net. Crawford stopped the initial bid, but McDavid continued into Crawford, causing the puck to cross the line, therefore resulting in the no-goal call.

Chicago was able to take their lead into the second intermission. The Blackhawks looked much better in the second period for the first time in this young 2019–20 season. 

NBC Sports Chicago broadcaster Pat Boyle mentioned at the end of the period that Jeremy Colliton challenged his team to be better in the middle frame and it is safe to confidently say they did just that. A 17-shot period for the Blackhawks gave them the 27–18 shots on goal advantage.

Third period

The Blackhawks brought the same energy out in the third period as they did in the second. The Blackhawks’ defense was all over the Oilers early. 

Just under seven minutes into the period, the Blackhawks’ effort paid off. The fourth line was out on the ice against McDavid and young Alexander Nylander made an excellent play against the Edmonton superstar. 

As McDavid went to bring the puck up the ice, Nylander was there to take away the puck from McDavid. Ryan Carpenter pushed the puck up the ice and Nylander was all over it. He gained possession just to the left of Smith and hesitated slightly to get Smith out of position. Nylander made Smith pay, and wired a beautiful shot past the goaltender to give the Blackhawks a 2–0 lead.

Five hole and goal! #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/i8BliaweuM

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 15, 2019

Quickly following the goal, the Blackhawks were sent to the power play after a poor offensive zone penalty by Khaira. However, the Blackhawks were unable to capitalize.

With 8:45 remaining in the period, Strome had an excellent opportunity in front of Edmonton’s crease. As the second line dominated possession in the Edmonton zone, Shaw was able to get the puck to Kane behind the net, as Kane slid the puck away from the scrum and finessed it out in front. Strome had an opportunity after a Kane pass, but Smith beat Strome with an excellent save to keep the deficit at two for the Oilers.

The period was a chippy one, as Calvin de Haan and McDavid exchanged pleasantries after a solid check by de Haan.

No love at all rn pic.twitter.com/XIDDQthFnK

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) October 15, 2019

With just over two minutes remaining, the Oilers were able to take advantage of a six-on-four power play. James Neal scored his eighth goal of the young season for the Oilers after a nice pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to find him back door. 

It's Real Deal James Neal (@jneal_18) with goal No. 8 on the season. pic.twitter.com/XjE9pHBp5l

— NHL (@NHL) October 15, 2019

With just over 30 seconds remaining, David Kampf made an excellent play on the wall in the Blackhawks zone to get the puck down the ice. With the goalie pulled, Saad gained possession deep in the Edmonton zone and dished the puck back to Jonathan Toews. Toews’ shot was blocked by Nugent-Hopkins and Kampf’s follow up shot was denied too. However, Saad found the puck laying in the blue paint and tapped it into the empty net to give the Blackhawks the 3–1 win.

Brandon Saad seals the deal for the #Blackhawks with a well-deserved empty-net goal. Chicago wins 3-1 pic.twitter.com/CHw3J4IOt2

— Juliana Nikac (@juliananikac) October 15, 2019

Quick hits:

• D-D-Defense! — The defense looked spectacular on Monday night. It finally felt like the pairings were the way they should be. Keith and Murphy played well together (more on that in a minute), Gustafsson found his ideal partner in de Haan and the Maatta-Seabrook pairing continued to play well. This feels like the first time in a while that the defense is actually…good?
• An “A” for effort! — The team’s effort was outstanding against Edmonton. The Blackhawks’ forecheck was constantly in the face of Oilers defenders and made it difficult to play against. That high level of energy is what it is going to take for this team to win games. Now that there are more “grit” and “energy” players in the lineup, this could be an identity the Blackhawks adopt: be aggressive, be energetic and be a pain to play against.
• Oh my Nylander! — Despite looking lost in the first period and barely seeing the ice in the second, Nylander scored the game-winning goal on Monday night. Nylander seemed to find his step on the fourth line in the third period, playing with a lot of energy and being rewarded with a goal on a hustle play that saw him strip McDavid and outhustle defenders to get to the puck. If Nylander can contribute in a limited role, he could prove very valuable to the team’s depth.
• Where’s McDavid? — Fans did not hear McDavid’s name called all that much on the broadcast Monday night. He was almost non-existent. Specifically, the Keith-Murphy pairing did an excellent job against McDavid’s line and played excellent during the 23-plus minutes that both players played. The recipe for success against the Oilers is to shut down their stars and the Blackhawks did exactly that on Monday.
• I love Calvin de Haan — De Haan has brought a lot of assets to the Blackhawks that they have lacked since Niklas Hjalmarsson was traded a few years ago. He plays strong defense, is not afraid of contact, has a great stick in his own zone and can avoid taking big hits that result in players falling out of position. Plainly said, as the author of this piece, I love Calvin de Haan. 

The Blackhawks will be off until Friday when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at the United Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CDT.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks win first game, deliver Oilers first loss appeared first on The Rink.

7:30 p.m. CDT

United Center

TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN

Projected starters

Chicago — Corey Crawford (0–2–1, .875 save percentage, 4.63 goals against average)

Edmonton — Mike Smith (3–0–0, .907 save percentage, 2.67 goals against average)

Team statistics

Power play
Chicago (33.3%, Fourth)
Edmonton (41.2%, Second)

Penalty kill
Chicago (60.0%, 30th)
Edmonton (94.1%, Second)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (30.0, 21st; 35.0, Fourth)
Edmonton (25.8, 31st; 28.8, 27th)

Shooting percentage
Chicago (10.0%)
Edmonton (16.3%)

Face off percentage
Chicago (46.6%, 31st)
Edmonton  (47.4%, 28th)

Average height and weight
Chicago — 6-foot-1, 198 pounds
Winnipeg — 6-foot-2, 199 pounds

Projected lines and pairings

Chicago Blackhawks

Alex DeBrincat — Jonathan Toews — Drake Caggiula

Andrew Shaw — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane

Brandon Saad — David Kampf — Dominik Kubalik

Zack Smith — Ryan Carpenter — Alexander Nylander

Duncan Keith — Connor Murphy

Olli Maatta — Brent Seabrook

Calvin de Haan — Erik Gustafsson

Edmonton Oilers

Leon Draisaitl — Connor McDavid — Zack Kassian

Tomas Jurco — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — James Neal

Jujhar Khaira — Riley Sheahan — Alex Chiasson

Joakim Nygard — Markus Granlund — Josh Archibald

Darnell Nurse — Ethan Bear

Oscar Klefbom — Joel Persson

Kris Russell — Matt Benning

Analysis

The Blackhawks fell to 0–2–1 on the season with another crushing loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. Despite the strong first period, the Blackhawks fell this time in overtime. Chicago was once again were let down by poor defensive positioning late in the game, which has been the theme of all three games thus far.

Despite another loss, the Blackhawks had some positives. Recently acquired Calvin de Haan made his season debut. De Haan had been out with shoulder surgery to start the season as well as a groin problem. The other bright spot for the Blackhawks was the play of Robin Lehner. Lehner kept the Blackhawks in the game with his stellar play. Despite Lehner’s stellar effort in net on Saturday, it will Corey Crawford’s turn in net. Crawford will get another chance to deliver the first win of the season against a very tough offensive-minded opponent.

The Edmonton Oilers pose an explosive offensive threat and have been on a tear early in the season. They boast Connor McDavid and James Neal leading their offensive charge, who have helped Edmonton to an undefeated start to the season. McDavid is the current points leader with 12 and reigning NHL MVP. Neal, who was acquired in a much-maligned trade from the Calgary Flames for Milan Lucic this offseason, is the current NHL goals leader with six. The challenge for the Oilers is can they continue to win on the road? This will be their third consecutive road game.

This game figures to be another wild one for the both teams. Can the Blackhawks muster up enough defense to hold off McDavid and the Oilers? Will the Blackhawks finally get their first win?

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And, be sure to look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game on The-Rink.com.

The post Preview/Game thread: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Edmonton Oilers appeared first on The Rink.

The Blackhawks starting lines were as follows:
Drake Caggiula – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Strome – Dominik Kahun
Brandon Saad – David Kampf – Marcus Kruger
Chris Kunitz – Artem Anisimov – John Hayden

Duncan Keith– Brent Seabrook
Slater Koekkoek – Erik Gustafsson
Carl Dahlstrom– Connor Murphy

First Period

Shortly after the opening faceoff, a great shift from the Blackhawks center Dylan Strome line lead to Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins taking a slashing penalty against Alex Debrincat less than two minutes into the game. Only a few seconds later, after an offensive zone face-off win by Toews, Erik Gustafsson, fired a wrist shot from the point to beat Talbot through traffic.  Gustafsson now has three goals in his last two games.

The first five minutes saw the Hawks hustling to loose pucks, winning board battles, and exiting their zone cleanly. They generated five shots on goal in the first six minutes of the game and were dictating most of the pace early. At 9:30 Kyle Brodziak took a holding penalty on John Hayden, sending the red-hot dangerous Blackhawks power play out for the second time in the opening frame. Though the power play looked good again, an extra and errant pass from Debrincat below the hash marks squandered the Hawks second man advantage, Oilers with their first successful penalty kill of the game.

The ice started tilting towards the Oilers side as the momentum shift led to Leon Draisaitl taking advantage of a Blackhawks defensive breakdown. Luckily for the visiting team, Ward was in position to make the save in close. The situation did not improve for the Hawks who were sent to the penalty kill at 3:58 after Connor Murphy gets called for a questionable boarding penalty. Much like the first Chicago power play the Oilers scored only moments after Murphy’s infraction.  At 18:45 Darnell Nurse sent a one-timer on Ward, who could not control the rebound. Connor McDavid found the puck and got it to Draisaitl who buried it in the open net to tie the game at one.

Shortly after, and potentially on their way to letting the game get out of hand, the Blackhawks took yet another penalty late in the period. Carl Dahlstrom tripped Ty Rattie sending the Oilers back to the power play less than a minute after the Hawks failed to kill the previous one. A minute into the penalty kill, Marcus Kruger took what could be argued as a good hooking penalty on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who was in close and alone on Ward. Two minutes after allowing the Oilers to tie the game the Hawks face a five on three penalty kill situation.

Jonathan Toews won the crucial face-off in the defensive zone but the Hawks could not control the puck. Connor McDavid fed Draisaitl with an absolutely beautiful no look pass for Draisaitl’s second of the game. In two minutes the Hawks went from up one to down one.

Still on the penalty kill, the Blackhawks committed yet another penalty when McDavid entered the zone with speed on Dahlstrom and Seabrook. Beaten by the best player in the league, Dahlstrom hooked McDavid, giving the Oilers another five on three advantage that would eventually carry over into the second period.

Shots were 16-9 in favor of the Oilers in the first period, and the Oilers led 2-1.

Second Period

The Blackhawks opened the second period killing the final 30 seconds of a five on three penalty kill.  After stifling Draisaitl and McDavid, the Hawks resume five on five play, and started to pressure the Oilers in their zone. Former coach Joel Quenneville, always said something to the effect of ‘whoever wins the 5 on 3 situation usually wins the game’ the Blackhawks would heed those old words in the second period.

Forward Patrick Kane, under the threat of ending his point streak, started to wake up as the top line was an offensive threat almost every shift.

At 13:11 Drake Caggiula had a three-on-one odd-man rush with Patrick Kane but fired a shot that Talbot gloved. Caggiula has been effective on that top line and it was good to see him take the shot when that’s the best choice instead of defaulting to passing it to Kane and squandering a good scoring chance.

The Hawks dictate most of the play in the remaining half of the second period but Talbot kept the Oilers in front. The second period concluded with an incredible save from Cam Ward on Ty Rattie. McDavid drove up the wall and fed Rattie directly in front of the net but Cam Ward went post-to-post and made the pad save, his best of the night.

Shots were 12-7 in favor of the Blackhawks in the second period. Oilers still led 2-1, though.

See what we mean?!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/1l9dmjLv2a

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 6, 2019

Third Period

Carrying the momentum from the second period, the Blackhawks looked to even the score in the final frame. At 16:10 Chris Kunitz knocked the puck off the wall, Marcus Kruger picked it up and fed John Hayden in front of the net with a slick backhand. Hayden buried the puck and the Hawks, after controlling most of the play for the last 20 minutes, tied the game early in the third period.

The Blackhawks continued to press the gas pedal as, a minute and a half later, center Dylan Strome scored using Darnell Nurse as a screen and sniped the puck short side over the glove of Cam Talbot, set up by Alex Debrincat and Dominik Kahun. 3-2 Blackhawks.

We anticipate a tweetStrome after this wrister#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/O3BUue1VEh

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 6, 2019

On the very next shift, Artem Anisimov gained the zone and fired a wrist shot on the Oiler goaltender.  Ward fumbled the rebound, and defenseman Oscar Klefbom got his stick lifted by Patrick Kane.  Kane stole the puck in close and fired it into the open net with Talbot down and out.

Oiler Head Coach Ken Hitchcock challenged the goal claiming goalie interference, as Brandon Saad made a great drive to the net and his foot was in between Talbots legs.  Saad’s leg was out of the blue paint and not interfering with Talbot’s ability to make the save, so the goal stood.

As a result, the Blackhawks had now scored three goals in the last two minutes of play, and Cam Talbot’s night was over. Hitchcock sent in Mikko Koskinen, who on November 1st stopped 40 Hawks shots in a shutout win.

At the 13:22 mark of the final frame, Jonathan Toews entered the Oilers zone off of a Pat Kane feed and drifted between the circles.  He continued below the goal line, maintaining possession from the outstretched stick of defender Kris Russell.  Toews then found Caggiula all alone between the hash marks and Caggiula buried the shot, his second goal in the last week.

Caggiulove to see that!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/gOjAIgEGb7

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 6, 2019

With 9:34 left in the game, Jonathan Toews drew a high sticking infraction from Leon Draisaitl which led to another Blackhawks power play. Toews and Debrincat had a couple of opportunities on the resulting man advantage but they could not solve Koskinen initially. After an Oilers clear, Duncan Keith moved the puck to Brandon Saad, who sent the puck to Brent Seabrook along the wall.  Seabrook threw a saucer pass in front of Dominik Kahun, who redirected the puck out of the air and roofed it for his ninth goal of the season. The Hawks now led 6-2 with 7:48 left in the game, and the locals decide to call it a night. The Oilers had decent pressure but the score stayed the same for the remainder of the game, which gave the Blackhawks a convincing 6-2 win

Final Thoughts

The Hawks have now won five in a row.  They have 21 power play goals in the last 16 games and now sit three points out of the final wildcard spot with five teams to jump. They play the team that currently occupies the final wild card spot in the Western Conference, the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, an important two points for the Blackhawks.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks Win Fifth Straight in Edmonton 6-2 appeared first on The Rink.

8:00pm CST
Rogers Place
TV/Radio: WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Collin Delia (5–2–3, SV%: .922, GAA: 2.99)
Edmonton – Mikko Koskinen (14–11–2, SV%: .908, GAA: 2.84)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (20.5%, 16th)
Edmonton (21.4%, T10th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (74.0%, 31st)
Edmonton (75.5%, 29th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.3, 17th; 35.1, 30th)
Edmonton (29.0, 27th; 31.2, 17th)

Shooting %
Chicago (10.0%, 12th)
Edmonton (9.8%, 14th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.8%, 17th)
Edmonton (47.9%, 27th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
Edmonton 6’2” 204lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun

Brandon Saad–David Kampf–Marcus Kruger

Brendan Perlini–Artem Anisimov–John Hayden

Duncan Keith–Brent Seabrook

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Gustav Forsling–Erik Gustafsson

Edmonton Oilers

Milan Lucic–Connor McDavid–Ty Rattie

Tobias Rieder–Leon Draisaitl–Alex Chiasson

Jujhar Khaira–Ryan Nugent-Hopkins–Zack Kassian

Colby Cave–Kyle Brodziak–Jesse Puljujarvi

Darnell Nurse–Adam Larsson

Kris Russell–Matt Benning

Brandon Manning–Kevin Gravel

Analysis

The red-hot Blackhawks are riding a four-game winning streak heading into the freezing-cold city of Edmonton on Tuesday night. Temperatures will rival what we saw in  Chicago just less than a week ago. The Blackhawks will look to make it five straight against Connor McDavid and the Oilers.

Although Patrick Kane is having an MVP season, talk of the town of late has been Erik Gustafsson’s offensive play. On Saturday night, “Gus” registered two goals, with the second being the power play overtime game-winner against the Minnesota Wild. Despite his struggles in the defensive zone this season, the limited minutes of the third-pairing and power play time have suited well for the Swedish defenseman of late. Another notable point-getter on Saturday night was Dylan Strome. Strome now has 29 total points this season in 49 games. However, 23 of those points have come in 29 games with the Blackhawks and it seems that Strome’s change of scenery has played out well for the young center.

The Edmonton Oilers are a franchise looking for an identity. After numerous questionable moves (to say the least) over the last few years, Peter Chiarelli was finally relieved of his duties at the end of January. One such move will play his first game against the club who gave him a two-year contract his offseason, as Brandon Manning will suit up against the Blackhawks for the first time in the 2018-19 campaign.

The Oilers have struggled of late, losing their last five games dating back to January 19th. The Oilers currently sit only two points ahead of the Blackhawks in the Western Conference standings and would surely love to climb back into the playoff picture. However, it remains to be seen if Connor McDavid can carry this club on his back all the way to the promised land. Many will say that is improbable.

One fun matchup to watch will be Patrick Kane and Connor McDavid. Although not necessarily going head-to-head on each shift, both players currently have 31 goals (tied for second in the league) and 76 points (also tied for second in the league). It will be fun to see who can edge out the other in the goal and point standings en route to a possible Richard/Art Ross trophy.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com.

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks at Oilers appeared first on The Rink.

Nick Schmaltz took a seat as a healthy scratch, which was arguably the game’s biggest story line for the Blackhawks. After a bad turnover the night before, and being invisible most of the game, Schmaltz was the recipient of a message from head coach Joel Quenneville. Patrick Kane also returned after missing the previous game with an illness. The line combinations were as follows:

DeBrincat – Toews – Kahun

Saad – Anisimov – Kane

Fortin – Johnson – Hayden

Kunitz – Kruger – Martinsen

Keith – Jokiharju

Gustafsson – Seabrook

Manning – Davidson

Ward

First Period:

The first period began quite slowly for the Blackhawks. There wasn’t much action that was worth noting early on.

One thing the Blackhawks were able to successfully do is put shots on net. Chicago outshot Edmonton 15-8 in the opening frame. Oilers goaltender Mikko Koskinen was spectacular in the first period, showing why Edmonton spent $2.5 million for him to come over from the KHL and be their backup to Cam Talbot.

Chicago found some life late in the period as Alexandre Fortin drew a holding penalty on Adam Larsson. In typical fashion for this 2018-19 Blackhawks team, they were unable to do much on the power play. The power play units were shaken up a bit due to the Schmaltz scratch. The top unit consisted of DeBrincat, Toews, Johnson, Saad and Gustafsson while the second unit consisted of Anisimov, Kunitz, Kane, Keith and Seabrook. Neither unit was able to generate any solid chances.

Cam Ward was excellent early on, keeping the Oilers off the score-sheet after they generated 4 high danger scoring chances with only 8 shots on net.

Second Period:

The second period did not open well for the visitors. Eighteen seconds into the period, Oilers’ captain Connor McDavid passed a puck from the half wall to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at the right wing dot. Nugent-Hopkins quickly dished the puck down low to Drake Caggiula who was on the doorstep of the blue paint. After making a half spin to the net, Caggiula slipped the puck through Ward’s five-hole and gave the Oilers the 1-0 lead.

The Blackhawks were able to generate a few quality shots in the second period, one such shot was a chance from Brandon Saad, who followed up a Brandon Davidson shot. Saad’s quality chance was turned aside by Koskinen once again, after making numerous quality saves through the first two periods.

After a Nugent-Hopkins near miss with 6:47 remaining, the Oilers went to the power play due to slashing penalty on Henri Jokiharju. However, Chicago went on offense while killing the penalty, creating numerous quality chances on Koskinen. Jonathan Toews had a breakaway which was stopped by Koskinen, and Saad narrowly missed on the follow up attempt. Artem Anisimov, Brandon Manning and Alex DeBrincat also had shorthanded chances, but could not bury any of them to tie the game.

Chicago forward Andreas Martinsen drew a silly penalty with just under two minutes remaining after catching an edge and falling into Koskinen. The goaltender interference penalty gave the Oilers a late power play chance.

On the same man advantage, Jonathan Toews made the smart clearing play by trying to put the puck up off the glass and out of the zone. However, as the puck was leaving the zone, it was knocked down and the Oilers regained possession. Tobias Rieder took a pass from Jason Garrison at the left faceoff circle and dropped it back to Garrison. Garrison fired a hard one-timer and beat Ward clean, giving Edmonton a 2-0 lead heading into the second intermission.

Chicago maintained the shot advantage, 31-17, despite the Oilers commanding the scoresheet.

Third Period:

Chicago opened the third period with a bit of energy. Down 2-0, the team needed to desperately score to get back into the game. Joel Quenneville started tinkering with the lines at the end of the second and to begin the third. Dominik Kahun was playing down on the third line and, at times, loaded up with Kane, Saad and Toews.

At the 6:49 mark, while Chicago was on the power play, Edmonton started up ice after a turnover by the visitors. The home team would capitalize on the shorthanded 2-on-1 and they would take a 3-0 lead. Caggiula registered his second goal of the contest. Blackhawks defenseman Erik Gustafsson was back on the play and did not do much to negate the chance.

After some back and forth, Chicago made a huge mistake that would remind fans of the Vancouver game the previous night. At the 10:38 mark, a Brandon Davidson pass was picked off at the Chicago blueline and the Oilers had a clean 2-on-0 chance in on Cam Ward. Alex Chiasson tapped in the pass from Rieder and made the game 4-0. Oilers’ center Leon Draisaitl also picked up an assist on the play.

Edmonton continued to dominate the pace. Late in the period, around the 3:00 mark, tempers boiled over after a high hit from former Oiler Brandon Davidson on defenseman Darnell Nurse. Nurse got up and dropped his gloves and ran after Davidson, who also dropped his. Referees and teammates stepped in before a fight ensued, but Davidson received a game misconduct and a major penalty for the hit and Nurse received a two-minute minor and a ten-minute misconduct penalty. Both were sent to the locker room as Chicago went to the penalty kill for the remainder of the period.

The ensuing Oilers power play would not result in a goal and the Blackhawks lost to the Oilers 4-0, despite Chicago owning the shot advantage 40-29.

The Good:

Brandon Saad/Alexandre Fortin: The two forwards were the most noticeable players in the game. Saad was all over the ice generating chances again after a big game in Vancouver. Fortin drew multiple penalties because of his speed and effort. These two need to continue to play this way and hope the rest of the roster plays up to their pace.

Cam Ward: Cam Ward was spectacular despite what the score-sheet showed. He made 7 saves on 9 high danger shots for the Oilers and kept the game from being a complete circus blowout. He deserves some credit because the team in front of him did not play well enough to keep those four pucks out of the net. 

The Not So Good:

Power play: Once again, the power play continues to struggle. Chris Kunitz on the power play is interesting. Kahun is a much better player for that situation and would likely help Kane create more offense. Instead, the entire second power play unit went through Kane and it became very predictable.

Sense of Urgency: The Blackhawks did not have enough energy to even try and squeak a win out in Edmonton. After going down 2-0, the team seemed to lose a bit of their step. Early in the third, they found some, but it wore off as the period progressed. They were visibly tired and started to give up on some plays that may have helped change the momentum of the game.

Turnovers: Another very bad turnover at Chicago’s blue line resulted in a 2-on-0 and a goal for Edmonton in the third period. It’s not exactly easy to give up a 2-on-0 when the puck hasn’t even left your own zone, but somehow it happened. The careless turnovers have kept Chicago from gaining at least 2 of a possible 4 points in the last two games.

Fun Fact: Edmonton, although being outshot by the Blackhawks 40-29, was outpacing Chicago 13-8 in high danger chances, ultimately showing which team had more quality chances on net.

The Blackhawks return to action on Saturday night, November 3rd, in Calgary to take on the Flames. Puck drop is at 9:00pm CST on NBC Sports Chicago.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks shutout by Edmonton Oilers 4-0 appeared first on The Rink.

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago – Cam Ward (3-1-3 W-L, 3.91 GAA, .889 SV%)
Edmonton – Mikko Koskinen (1-0-0 W-L, 3.05 GAA, .889 SV%)

Team statistics:

Power Play

Chicago (26th – 13.95%)
Edmonton (15th – 21.95%)

Penalty Kill

Chicago (18th – 77.5%)
Edmonton (28th – 69.44%)

Shots for/against per game

Chicago (7th, 33.6% – 23rd, 33.2%)
Edmonton (22nd, 30.5% – 8th, 29.4%)

Shooting%

Chicago (T-14th – 9.8%)
Edmonton (T-17th, 9.5%)

Faceoff%

Chicago (18th, 49.6%)
Edmonton (T-23rd, 48.4%)

Avg. height/weight

Chicago
6’0” 195lbs
Edmonton
6’1” 196lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago Blackhawks

Alex DeBrincat – Jonathan Toews – Dominik Kahun
Brandon Saad – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane
Alexandre Fortin – Luke Johnson – Nick Schmaltz
Chris Kunitz – David Kampf – John Hayden

Duncan Keith – Henri Jokiharju
Erik Gustafsson – Brent Seabrook
Brandon Manning – Brandon Davidson

Edmonton Oilers

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Connor McDavid – Kailer Yamamoto
Tobias Rieder – Leon Draisaitl – Alex Chiasson
Milan Lucic – Ryan Strome – Drake Caggiula
Jujhar Khaira – Kyle Brodziak – Zack Kassian

Oscar Klefbom – Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse – Kris Russell
Jason Garrison – Matt Benning

Analysis:

The Blackhawks waste no time, after the previous night’s loss in Vancouver, heading to Edmonton to face the young high flying Oilers.

They come into Edmonton riding a three game losing streak, and are facing the Oilers for the second time in four days. Sunday night the two teams fought to a 2-1 overtime finish, with the Oilers eventually prevailing.

Patrick Kane should make his return to the lineup after sitting out Wednesday night with an illness, and Marcus Kruger should also be returning after his night off spent in Coach Joel Quenneville‘s revolving door at Chateau de Bow Wow.

Forward Brandon Saad is coming off one of his best games of the season.  He could have easily had a hat trick last night against the Canucks.  A solid rocket off the goal post and a negated goal (kicking violation) are the only things that kept him from totaling three by the end of the night.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game later tonight or early tomorrow on the-rink.com.

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks vs. Oilers appeared first on The Rink.

Edmonton  (5-3-1) at Chicago Blackhawks (6-3-2)

5:00pm Central/4:00pm Mountain

United Center

TV/Radio: NHL Network,NBCSCH/WGN

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:

Cam Ward (.885 SV%, 4.23 GAA)

Edmonton:

Cam Talbot (.901 SV%, 2.88 GAA)

Team statistics:

Power Play

Chicago (11.1%, 28th)

Edmonton (26.4%, 8th)

Penalty Kill

Chicago (74.3%, 24th)

Edmonton (75.0%, T-21st)

Shots for/against per game

Chicago (34.5, 4th – 34.4, T-25th)

Edmonton (30.3, T-23rd – 29.2, T-9th)

Shooting%

Chicago (10.6%, T-10th)

Edmonton (9.9%, 16th)

Faceoff%

Chicago (48.6%, T-20th)

Edmonton (48.4%, 22nd)

Avg. height/weight

Chicago

6’1” 195lbs

Edmonton 6’2” 202lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago

DeBrincat-Toews-Kahun

Saad-Anisimov-Kane

Fortin-Johnson-Schmaltz

Kunitz-Kruger-Hayden

Keith-Jokiharju

Gustafsson-Seabrook

Manning-Rutta

Edmonton

Nugent-Hopkons-McDavid-Yamamoto

Rieder-Draisaitl-Chiasson

Lucic-Strome-Caggula

Khaira-Brodziak-Kassian

Klefbom-Larsson

Nurse-Russell

Garrison-Benning

Analysis:

Looking to avoid being swept on the weekend, the Chicago Blackhawks host the Edmonton Oilers in their first matchup of the season. Chicago lost last night in St. Louis 7-3, while the Oilers topped the Predators 5-3 in Nashville.

Patrick Kane notched two more goals in St. Louis, pushing his season total to 11 goals in 11 games. Kane also leads the Hawks with 17 points.

Edmonton center Connor McDavid can turn any possession into a scoring chance with his skill and speed. The former 1^st overall pick tops the Oilers in goals (7) and assists (9) in only nine games.

Cam Ward, expected in net tonight, will face off against goaltender Cam Talbot for Edmonton. Ward surrendered five goals last Sunday against Tampa Bay. However, he played about as well as a goaltender can when facing 54 shots against.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game later tonight or early tomorrow on the-rink.com. 

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks vs Oilers appeared first on The Rink.