First period

There was not a whole lot of action in the first period of this game, as the Oilers outshot the Blackhawks 12-5, but neither team solved the goaltenders, keeping it tied at 0-0 through one.

Second period

Five and a half minutes into the second, the Blackhawks got caught flat-footed. Adam Henrique found a seam and exploited it, getting behind the defense for a breakaway. His first shot was stopped by Arvid Soderblom, but he put the rebound home, 1-0 Edmonton. Just under seven minutes later, the Oilers would have another chance on the power play. Louis Crevier got called for a hold and put Edmonton on the man advantage. They capitalized on that opportunity, with Matthew Savoie putting the puck off Alex Vlasic and in, 2-0 Oilers.

With just a couple of minutes left, it looked like Savoie got his second of the game, but it was called back for an offside, as Connor McDavid went into the zone before the puck did. That kept things at 2-0 going into the intermission.

Third period

Five minutes into the third, the Blackhawks snuck their first goal past Tristan Jarry. Nick Lardis got the puck in front after some passing down low. He put the puck just past the reach of Jarry, putting the Blackhawks on the board 2-1.

we Nick Lardis goals! pic.twitter.com/apQdTWuGRJ

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 3, 2026

The visitors could not manage to get another to get back in it, however, with Vasily Podkolzin potting an empty-netter to put the game out of reach and give the Oilers a 3-1 victory.

Analysis

The Blackhawks did not have much to give in this game. They looked like a team that accepted defeat from the opening puck drop. They could not keep up with Edmonton’s firepower, and could not come back from a second period with two power plays that they had to kill off back to back. Overall, this simply looked like a team that is ready for their season to end without anything left to play for.

The Blackhawks’ next game is on Saturday night at the Seattle Kraken. That game will be on CHSN at 9 p.m. CDT.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks drop another, lose to Oilers 3-1 appeared first on The Rink.

Davidson acquired 29-year-old forward Andrew Mangiapane and a conditional 2027 first-round pick from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for forwards Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach. Chicago will retain 50% of Dickinson’s salary cap hit as part of the trade. As part of the conditions of the trade, the Oilers’ first-round pick is top-12 protected. The trade gives Chicago nine picks in the first two rounds of the next two drafts to go along with their plentiful prospect pipeline.

Mangiapane has had a notoriously contentious stay in Edmonton since signing a two-year, $7.2 million contract with a cap hit of $3.6 million per season on July 1, 2025. He was expected to provide some secondary scoring support, but has only put up 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 52 games. Edmonton put him on waivers and sent him to their AHL affiliate, Bakersfield, on Sunday. Mangiapane is under contract through 2026-27.

Chicago will definitely miss Dickinson’s defensive prowess and leadership, as he was one of their alternate captains, and Dach’s youthful physical exuberance, but this is the cost of doing business in the NHL.

Acquiring assets that can be used to either move up in the draft in June or acquire players to help improve their scoring for next season is a necessary evil. Players like AJ Spellacy can step in soon to replace Dach’s physical energy and younger long-term options to replace Dickinson will be available. If Mangiapane can rediscover his scoring touch with a change of scenery, he could be a decent secondary contributor.

Chicago receives Andrew Mangiapane and a conditional 2027 first-round draft pick in exchange for forwards Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach

for every memory these last 4 years pic.twitter.com/E6N7FIfeVL

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 5, 2026

from draft night to his first career goal as a Hawk and every moment in between, thank you for everything pic.twitter.com/vWSlfpaI4K

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 5, 2026

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks acquire first-round pick and Mangiapane from Edmonton for Dickinson and Dach appeared first on The Rink.

Murphy, who turns 33 years old on March 26, carries a $4.4 million AAV. Chicago is retaining half of Murphy’s contract, which expires after this season.

Analysis

(Photo courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks)

One of the rare good trades of the Stan Bowman era with Chicago, there is a bit of irony being traded to the Oilers. Murphy is once again traded to a Bowman team.

In his time with Chicago, Murphy provided a strong defensive game. In nine seasons with the Blackhawks, Murphy skated in 547 games, recording 34 goals and 90 assists.

With Edmonton, Murphy should provide a physical game with an ability to kill penalties.

For Chicago, getting value for a skater on the wrong side of 30 years old is wise, especially with his contract expiring this offseason. A second-round pick is more than sufficient.

Final thoughts

Though many will not associate Murphy with a great era in Blackhawks hockey, he provided stability. A leader on and off the ice, the “A” on his jersey was proof of his value to this organization.

Murphy now has a chance to make the playoffs for the first time in his NHL career.

The post ANALYSIS: Connor Murphy traded to Edmonton appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago entered the game winning five out of its last six. Edmonton entered the game losing three out of its last five.

Connor Bedard would miss the contest with the flu.

First period

The first period was defined by high-danger chances by Edmonton. With multiple second chance opportunities and Connor McDavid hitting the crossbar, the Oilers scoring first felt inevitable.

The inevitable first goal came with just over five minutes left in the period. With open space, Evan Bouchard skated toward the net. Instead of shooting, Bouchard made a daring pass to Zach Hyman, who was battling by the net with Alex Vlasic. The puck bounced off Hyman’s stick and into the net, giving the Oilers a 1-0 lead.

That was the only goal of the period, as the Oilers outshot the Blackhawks 10-5.

Second period

It did not take long for Edmonton to extend its lead. Just 16 seconds into the second frame, Bouchard shot the puck fro seemingly an impossible angle, deflecting off Spencer Knight, giving the Oilers a 2-0 lead.

The rest of the period continued with Oiler dominance, only curtailed by Knight standing on his head. Outshot 16-12 in the period, the Blackhawks were seemingly being run out of the United Center.

Third period

It took a few periods, but some pushback finally took place. Whether it was the Blackhawks finding their groove or the Oilers taking their foot off the gas, most of the third period was controlled by Chicago.

That control finally translated to a goal when Tyler Bertuzzi shot a rebound off Connor Ingram into the net with just over five minutes to go.

big fans of this pic.twitter.com/KEiY67x1Et

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 13, 2026

As the game reached its end, Chicago pulled Knight for the extra attacker. After a faceoff win in the defensive zone, Bouchard fired the puck all the way down the ice to take a 3-1 lead.

A defeated Blackhawks squad gave up an ugly goal with less than a minute left to Leon Draisaitl, ending the game with a final score of 4-1.

Final thoughts

An example of too little, too late for Chicago. Although they outshot the Oilers 13-11 in the third period, it was clear Edmonton played a conservative game in the finals frame. Without Bedard, Chicago lacked an offensive threat that Edmonton needed to account for.

The Blackhawks continue their season on Thursday at home against the Calgary Flames at 7:30 p.m. CST.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks dismissed by Oilers, lose 4-1 appeared first on The Rink.

First period

There was not much action beside Bedard taking a hooking penalty while forward Vasily Podkolzin was on a breakaway. The ensuing penalty stop was stopped by Blackhawks’ goaltender Spencer Knight.

Second period

Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring at the 0:54 mark of the period with snapshot past Knight to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead on the power play. Draisaitl’s ninth goal of the season was assisted by forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid.

Chicago forward Tyler Bertuzzi beat Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner to tie the game at 1-1 at the 8:32 mark with a tip-in goal. The goal, Bertuzzi’s third on the season, was assisted by Bedard and Andre Burakovsky.

Tyler Bertuzzi – Chicago Blackhawks (3) pic.twitter.com/JhVoKirtN2

— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) November 2, 2025

At the 17:17 mark of the middle frame, Jack Roslovic tipped one behind Knight to give the Oilers the lead back at 2-1. Roslovic’s goal, on the power play, gave the forward his second of the season.

Jack Roslovic – Edmonton Oilers (2)
Power Play Goal pic.twitter.com/te9cVMOzD3

— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) November 2, 2025

Third period

Burakovsky tied the score at the 3:19 mark with his fourth goal of the season with a nice snapshot that found the net behind Skinner. The goal was assisted by Artyom Levshunov and Ryan Greene and the score would remain tied through regulation at 2-2.

Andre Burakovsky – Chicago Blackhawks (4) pic.twitter.com/t2nlDxGokv

— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) November 2, 2025

Overtime

Evan Bouchard finished off the Blackhawks at the 2:43 mark in ovetime to give the home team a 3-2 victory. Bouchard’s second goal of the season was assisted by Draisaitl and McDavid.

Evan Bouchard – Edmonton Oilers (2)
OT Winner pic.twitter.com/7MptD30WAQ

— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) November 2, 2025

Chicago continues their road trip with a Monday night affair with the Seattle Kraken for a 9 p.m. CST puck drop.

Analysis

Chicago learned the hard way that giving the high flying Oilers chances on the power play is a recipe for disaster. The Oilers scored twice with the man advantage.

Bedard has eight points in four games and continues to be a dominant force when the young forward jumps over the boards. In his third season, you can continue to see his off-ice conditioning shining through as the 20-year-old is finding some success at the faceoff circle and has been difficult to knock off the puck.

The post RECAP: Oilers beat Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime appeared first on The Rink.

Blackhawks head coach Anders Sorensen decided to shake up his forward group, putting Ryan Donato and Landon Slaggert up on the first line with Connor Bedard. Young center Frank Nazar was given the third-line center role. Arvid Soderblom was tasked with protecting the net against the Oilers’ high-octane offense.

First period

Despite the impressive offensive showing from both teams, the first period remained scoreless. Edmonton fired 12 shots toward Soderblom, while Chicago managed 15.

Chicago looked far more effective early throughout the first than they did in their last contest against the Panthers. Moving Slaggert and Donato up with Bedard helped prevent the Oilers’ top line from finding offensive form.

Second period

The second period was a more defensive-minded period compared to the first. Both squads settled into a sparring match, limiting high-danger chances from the other team.

The second period started off with a scary injury for Chicago. Five minutes into the period, center Jason Dickinson got tripped up by Oilers forward Vasily Podkolzin. In immense pain following the play, Dickinson had to be helped off the ice. He did not return to the game.

The scoring began a few minutes following the injury. From the left circle, Edmonton forward Viktor Arvidsson lifted a shot over Soderblom’s right shoulder. A surprising shot from his angle, Arvidsson gave the Oilers the lead at the 8:51 mark of the period.

It looked as though Chicago would remain off the score sheet going into the third. However, thanks to an effective entry by Teuvo Teravainen, and a smart decision by Lukas Reichel in parking himself in front of Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, the Blackhawks tied the game with six seconds left in the second.

An evenly matched period, Chicago and Edmonton went into the third tied at 1–1, with the Blackhawks outshooting the Oilers 23–21 after two periods.

Third period

The tie did not last for long. Just over a minute into the third, Oiler forward Jeff Skinner took the open space in front of Soderblom to take the 2–1 lead for Edmonton.

Seven minutes later, Edmonton extended its lead over Chicago. After a turnover in the defensive zone by Reichel, Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl gave his team a 3–1 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the game.

With hope seemingly lost, the Hawks found themselves on the power play following a Podkolzin interference. With 7:48 left in the third, Donato tipped in a strong pass from Teravainen, cutting the Oiler lead to one.

With less than five minutes remaining, Chicago turned up the intensity. Getting stronger on the forecheck, Bedard pinned the puck in Edmonton’s zone, allowing Donato to take the puck from Connor McDavid. After the turnover, Donato made an impressive pass to Martinez, who fired a hard shot into the net, giving Martinez his greatest career goal in the United Center — no, that cannot be disputed.

Thanks to Chicago’s late push, overtime was required in Chicago.

Overtime

With 3-on-3 hockey on the menu, Sorensen went with a defensive strategy. The Blackhawks started overtime with Bedard sharing the ice with defensemen Seth Jones and Alex Vlasic.

Despite the defensive mindset, Chicago found themselves in penalty trouble when Teravainen played the puck while Bedard was still on the ice, leading to a too-many-men penalty.

Edmonton, a very strong offensive team, took full advantage of the overtime power play, with McDavid finding goal-scoring forward Zach Hyman in front of the net to end the game in overtime.

Analysis

Despite the loss, Chicago kept up with a strong Oilers team for three periods plus overtime. Despite the criticism from panelists during the game, the first line of Slaggert-Bedard-Donato out-shot, out-chanced and out-scored Edmonton’s deadly top line.

In injury news, Sorensen confirmed the morning after the game that Dickinson suffered a high-ankle sprain, a tough injury, but proves that Dickinson avoided major damage, which is good news for a team that desperately needs Dickinson’s defensive play. Although he did not practice the next day, Chicago did not make any immediate call-ups, indicating confidence that the injury may be relatively short term.

The Blackhawks will look to halt their current three-game losing streak this Friday against the Nashville Predators in Chicago.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks fall in overtime on national television appeared first on The Rink.

Hoping to get off to a better start against Edmonton, the Blackhawks’ lines would look like this:

#Blackhawks lineup vs. Edmonton:
Bertuzzi-Bedard-Mikheyev
Foligno-Dickinson-Teravainen
Dach-Nazar-Reichel
Hall-Donato-Maroon

Martinez-Jones
Vlasic-Crevier
Allan-Brodie

Söderblom
Mrazek

Extras: Kurashev, Kaiser, Smith (back)

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 11, 2025

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First period 

The Blackhawks got things started fairly early in this game. Just 4:45 into the first, Jason Dickinson fed Teuvo Teravainen in the slot, who ripped one past Calvin Pickard.

5 points in 5 games for Teuvo pic.twitter.com/96feBAOq0h

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 12, 2025

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The Blackhawks were not done yet. Nick Foligno took an Alec Martinez shot off the end boards and tucked it home, 2–0 Chicago. The first period would end with the Blackhawks up by two scores over Edmonton.

after 20 pic.twitter.com/ntcQo23HlR

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 12, 2025

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Second period

The second period featured a lot of action on both ends of the ice. The Oilers cut the Blackhawks’ lead in half early, with Vasily Podkolzin getting a nice feed in front to get the Oilers back to within one. Halfway through the period, though, the Blackhawks would get one back.

After a steal in the offensive zone, Taylor Hall came up with the puck in the right circle. Then, he fed Nolan Allan, who in turn got the puck to Ryan Donato, who ripped it past Pickard, putting the Blackhawks back up by two.

13th of the year for Ryan Donato

: SNW
: Stream on Sportsnet+ pic.twitter.com/9JiGRVLr5L

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 12, 2025

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That is where the good news would stop for the Blackhawks. Five minutes after they scored, the Oilers came right back to cut the lead. Ty Emberson put a shot toward the net that got deflected by Adam Henrique in front, bringing the Oilers within one. TJ Brodie failed to tie up Henrique’s stick, allowing him to get the tip in the first place. Then, the Oilers would claw all the way back. Old frenemy Corey Perry was allowed to skate right into the middle of the ice and shoot, knotting things up at 3–3.

Third period

The big momentum swing toward Edmonton carried on into the third period. Allan got called for a trip, putting the Oilers up on the power play. They made the most of it, with Leon Draisaitl putting a shot on net that garnered a rebound. Zach Hyman was right in front to tuck it around the pad of Arvid Soderblom, giving the Oilers their first lead.

Even in pulling their goalie, the Blackhawks were unable to generate chances to claw back in. They even had a 6 on-4 due to a power play for the last minute, but could not convert. Edmonton would take this game by a score of 4–3 final.

Analysis

The Blackhawks dropped off after a good start to this game. As easily as they had gained momentum in the first 30 minutes, it dropped off just as quickly in the last 30. If I am the Blackhawks’ coaching staff, I would be preaching that they need to clear the front of the net. If someone is taking the puck right out in front, pick up that guy. There seemed to be way too much zone defense being played with the puck in close, especially given the fact that the Oilers were not on a power play. Everyone has their assignments, and they need to do them. When they do not, that is when things break down defensively. It also seemed like the Oilers scoring at all completely deflated the Blackhawks. As a team, you still need to come back and play with everything you have, and that just was not evident.

The Blackhawks will look to get back on track against the Calgary Flames on Monday night. That game will be at 6:30 p.m. CST on CHSN and NHL Network.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks bested by Oilers, lose 4–3 at home appeared first on The Rink.

First period

On his 24th birthday, Philipp Kurashev gave the Hawks a 1–0 lead late in the period with his first. Kurashev won the faceoff back to Wyatt Kaiser, who passed it to Taylor Hall along the blue line. Hall’s shot was partially blocked on its way toward the net but Kurashev was there to swat it past Pickard at the 15:50 mark.

BIRTHDAY GOAL FOR PHIL pic.twitter.com/TIXdiPRsnD

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 13, 2024

The Hawks would take the 1–0 lead to the locker room after 20 minutes. Shots on goal were even at 10 apiece.

Second period

Former Blackhawk forward Corey Perry tied the game at 1–1 with his first of the season. A wrist shot by Jeff Skinner from the left circle went off Perry, who tried to tap in the rebound but it went off Hawks defensemen TJ Brodie and trickled into the net at the 4:55 mark.

The Hawks regained the lead on the power play when Seth Jones scored his first of the season in his 800th career game. With multiple Oilers converging on Connor Bedard at the top of the left circle, the reigning Calder Trophy winner found Jones at the point, who sent a low shot past Pickard at 10:19 of the second.

seth jones:
– played in his 800th NHL game tonight
– scored his first goal this season pic.twitter.com/WcQDDZ1dQx

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 13, 2024

Chicago took a 3–1 lead on Bedard’s first of the season. A strong defensive play by Bedard led to an offensive rush. Teuvo Teravainen dropped the puck off to Bedard, who skated into the slot and used Oilers defensemen Brett Kulak as a screen and fired a wrist shot past Pickard at the 13:58 mark.

BEDSY WITH THE MOVES pic.twitter.com/7HnMfW1kEO

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 13, 2024

The Hawks had a two-goal lead after 40 minutes led by their forecheck, which forced several Edmonton turnovers.

Third period

Early in the period, Teravainen scored the Hawks’ second power-play goal in as many chances to give the visitors a 4–1 lead. With Connor McDavid in the penalty box, Nick Foligno won the draw, which allowed the Hawks to get their power play organized. Bedard at the half boards fed Jones, who faked the point shot and found Teravainen to the left of Pickard. Teravainen’s seam pass deflected in off an Oilers’ defensemen at the 5:35 mark.

Teuvo Teravainen the Chicago Blackhawk pic.twitter.com/ffaTa5prkS

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 13, 2024

Nearly midway through the third, the Oilers appeared to have cut the Hawks lead to 4–2, however, the Hawks challenged the play for goaltender interference. After review, it was determined there was goaltender interference when Viktor Arvidsson pushed Brodie into Mrazek, so it remained 4–1.

The Oilers would get a goal that counted when Leon Draisaitl scored his first of the season on the power play. Following some great puck movement by the Oilers, McDavid found Draisaitl in the slot, who beat Mrazek at 10:01. The Oilers trailed 4–2.

With the Edmonton net empty, the Hawks drew a penalty and capitalized when Teravainen one-timed an Alex Vlasic feed for his second of the game and third of the season at 19:13. The Hawks increased their lead to 5–2, which was the final for their first win of the season.

Analysis

After a sloppy first period filled with several turnovers, the Hawks turned it around in the second with an aggressive forecheck, which led to multiple forced turnovers including on the goal by Bedard. Teravainen finished with two goals and two assists while Bedard and Jones had three points each. Mrazek had a strong game with 35 saves. Also of note, the power play connected on all three opportunities. With upgraded talent, the power play looked significantly more organized than the last few seasons.

The Blackhawks conclude their season-opening road trip against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. Puck drop is at 8 p.m. CDT on CHSN with the radio call on 720 AM WGN.

The post RECAP: Hawks’ offense breaks out in 5–2 victory over Oilers appeared first on The Rink.

In their recent streak, they lost a three-goal lead in the final period against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday and a staggering 7–0 defeat to the Winnipeg Jets the night before.

The Edmonton Oilers provided just the confidence boost the team needed. In their last meeting, the Avalanche fell in a 6–2 loss on April 5.

Though the Oilers scratched most of their top players, it was still an opportunity for the roster to be put back into the winning mindset.

The good

The Colorado Avalanche came out of the gate hot, scoring four goals in the first 10 minutes of the game. Valeri Nichushkin kicked things off just over one minute into the period, setting the pace.

Mikko Rantanen lit the lamp at the five-minute mark. Nathan MacKinnon, who marked his 139th season point, assisted his goal and tied the franchise record.

Nathan Mackinnon sets a new franchise record for points in a season with his 140th #GoAvsGo

— Avs Stats (@avsstats) April 19, 2024

Nichushkin tipped in his second goal of the evening on the man advantage, helping MacKinnon break the franchise record for points scored in a single season. Cale Makar secured the secondary assist, tallying his 250th career assist. Nichushkin’s goal was his 200th of his career.

Josh Manson found the back of the net to conclude the first period, and Zach Parise secured a goal at the end of the second period. Parise’s goal marked the last goal he would ever score in a regular season game, making it even more special.

A goal to remember forever for Zach! #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/MNNHdCj2ZV

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 19, 2024

The prolific offensive performance resembled the team playing against the Golden Knights. The challenge would be holding onto it, which the team struggled to do in their last game.

The team recorded 27 shots on goal, 13 of them from the first period alone. The early jump on the Oilers was a promising look, especially on the doorstep of an undoubtedly challenging first round opponent.

The Avalanche posted Justus Annunen in the net, who looked confident and composed. He sported several massive saves for the team, showing his promise for a solid performance in the upcoming series.

Juiceeeee #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/yYPJ2UAvbT

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 19, 2024

The Avalanche only found themselves in the penalty box twice. Despite having a strong penalty kill, penalties can be costly and change the course of games.

The bad

Despite having a very successful game, Colorado still fell short in several key areas.

The team only won 32.7 percent of face offs and only capitalized on one out of four power play chances. The Avalanche also had seven giveaways. Most concerningly, the team only put up four shots in the final 20 minutes of the game.

The ability to finish a game is everything, and putting less than ten shots on the net in a period is asking for a last-minute comeback.

Alexandar Georgiev has had a spotty performance in the last games he has started. While Annunen is a reliable goaltender, relying on him for a deep playoff run is not a reasonable expectation. Georgiev had an opportunity for a get-right game against the Knights, but ultimately, he could not keep things under control in the net.

Arguably the most concerning aspect of the rest of the season is the health of the players. Jonathan Drouin went down hard on the ice in the second period and quickly limped off to the locker room. He is now listed as a lower body injury and head coach Jared Bednar had no comment regarding his timeline after the game.

Samuel Girard is in concussion protocol after a collision with his own teammate in the contest against the Jets. He is a fundamental defensive player, and his absence was noticeable. Coupled with the loss of Logan O’Connor, the Avalanche are catching the injury bug at a catastrophic time.

What’s next?

The Avalanche will be on the road for the first game of the seven-game series against the Winnipeg Jets. They will be on the road Sunday and Tuesday but return to Ball Arena on Friday and Sunday, April 28.

Colorado is 29–11–1 on the road but will have quite a matchup against Connor Hellebuyck.

Here is your FULL first round schedule for the playoffs. #Avs play Sun, Tues, Fri, Sun. #Avs #GoAvsGo @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/8aH7yAvz3R

— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) April 19, 2024

The post Avalanche find redemption against Edmonton Oilers appeared first on The Rink.

Valeri Nichushkin and Yakov Trenin have been absent because of injury, but both rejoined the lineup in tonight’s game against the Edmonton Oilers. While both players undoubtedly make a monumental impact on the team’s performance, the game against Edmonton was the second game in a back-to-back run

The good

The beginning of the game was off to a hot start. Corey Perry from Edmonton scored an early goal with a fortunate bounce, but Jonathan Drouin evened the score at the 12-minute mark with an assist from Nathan MacKinnon.

Drouin with the equalizing goal assisted by none other than Nathan MacKinnon.

Tied at 1 with the Oilers outshooting the #Avs 13-4.

6:13 to go in the first frame. #GoAvsGo @TheRinkColorado https://t.co/M1T15MnYyL

— Savvy Rafkin (@savvyrafkin) April 6, 2024

The quick bounce back into the game was promising, especially against a team as successful as the Oilers.

Even better, Ross Colton lit the lamp only four minutes later, giving the Avalanche the advantage. The game looked promising, and with all players back on the ice, it had the potential to be a good game.

Ross Colton puts the Avs ahead by one.

2-1 #Avs. #GoAvsGo @TheRinkColorado https://t.co/OngezBjC9Q

— Savvy Rafkin (@savvyrafkin) April 6, 2024

Despite being outshot 16–6 in the first period, the team held strong and scored on the few chances they had.

The Avalanche were 5-for-5 on the penalty kill. Against a competitive team, the ability to shut down any advantage is key.

The bad

The game quickly fell apart after Mikko Rantanen took a hard hit in the second frame and headed down the tunnel. Because of an upper body injury, Rantanen would not return to the game, and his absence was noticeable.

With a quick line shuffle, everything seemed okay. They entered the second period tied up with two goals, but they would quickly find themselves in a hole they could not dig themselves out of.

Despite Colorado’s reputation for unlikely comebacks, Edmonton’s relentless efforts and excellent defensive skills successfully prevented the top scorers from reaching the net.

They quickly took the lead 3–2 and added an insurance goal with a buzzer beater.

This is the goal that was under review.

EDM is heavily outshooting the #Avs 24-9. #GoAvsGo @TheRinkColorado https://t.co/txKeEX1SkT

— Savvy Rafkin (@savvyrafkin) April 6, 2024

Early in the season, this performance can be acceptable. But with five games left in the season and the Central Division playoff seating on the line, allowing four goals in two periods and being outshot 47–23 will have huge consequences in the postseason.

The team only won 33.9 percent of faceoffs and had 12 giveaways, both of which make winning the games unfavorable.

Takeaways

Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev is not entirely to blame for this loss, but his performance in the last few games he has played has been concerning.

Overall, he has a successful record. He sits 37–15–4 on the season, but in the last few games he has looked panicked and disorganized.

He allowed four goals against the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 4. Luckily, Justus Annunen has stepped up to the plate and provides reliable relief to Georgiev. Annunen’s relaxed presence in the net is exactly what the team needs from a secondary netminder.

If Rantanen has a long-term absence, the modifications to the lineup could take some time to find chemistry. The top line for the Avalanche has been not only consistent but also very successful.

Rantanen is one of the top point scorers for Colorado, and his chemistry with MacKinnon is a huge contributor to the team’s overall success.

The next five games are crucial to the team’s postseason run. They are only three points away from the Dallas Stars. With their game on April 9 against Dallas, a win would be a monumental step forward.

Moving forward into the ultimate games of the regular season, the team’s performance will be a good indicator of what to expect, especially if Rantanen does not have a timeline to return.

The post Avalanche push toward final stretch after Edmonton loss appeared first on The Rink.

They made a few tweaks to the lineup from the Kraken game on Wednesday. Isaak Phillips returned to the lineup on defense in place of Louis Crevier and the big return was that of Lukas Reichel. The young forward had been a health scratch the last two contests to try to get his offensive game going. He replaced Rem Pitlick in the lineup.

Blackhawks lines in warmups vs. Oilers:

Foligno-Kurashev-Raddysh
Blackwell-Dickinson-Anderson
Reichel-Entwistle-Donato
Katchouk-Sanford-RJohnson

Vlasic-Jones
Korchinski-Megna
Tinordi-Phillips

Mrazek

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 26, 2024

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First period

The Blackhawks came out hot. They were getting shots on net and back-checking hard. Jason Dickinson and Connor McDavid had a nice battle along the boards in the first period. The Hawks mustered 16 shots, with eight going on goal. Edmonton had 19 shot attempts with only only seven on net. The freshly extended Petr Mrazek stopped all seven Edmonton shots on net while Calvin Pickard of the Oilers stopped all eight shots he faced. The first period ended in a scoreless tie.

Second period

In the second period, the Oilers broke the scoreless game with a goal from McDavid. McDavid put the puck in a wide-open net because of poor positioning by Mrazek. Later in the period, MacKenzie Entwistle drew a penalty shot opportunity for going hard to the net.

MacKenzie Entwistle is denied on a penalty shot. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/qDiFCLIXex

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 26, 2024

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Entwistle was denied and the Hawks did not score in the second period.

Third period

In the third period, McDavid found Zach Hyman for this 29th goal of the season. McDavid added an empty-net goal to send the Blackhawks to their 19th road loss in a row and third consecutive loss overall.

Analysis

Despite playing hard once again, the Hawks do not have the offensive talent to play with the Oilers, who have now won 15 games in a row. Without Connor Bedard, the Hawks are one of the worst offensive teams in the league. While Entwistle generated four shot attempts, the returning Reichel generated only one attempt in 13:46 minutes of play. In his last five games going back to Jan. 13 against San Jose, Reichel has generated three shots and zero points. Reichel’s season continues to trend downward. This does not bode well for the young forward’s contract talks this offseason as he becomes a restricted free agent after this season. Before this season, the expectation was that the young forward would be up for a decent contract extension; now, he just might have to accept a qualifying offer for another season.

With Bedard out of the lineup, aside from the play of Mrazek and Alex Vlasic, there is not much to get excited about when watching the Hawks.

The Hawks take on the Calgary Flames on Saturday at 9 p.m. CST.

The post RECAP: Oilers extend win streak to 15 with 3–0 shutout of Blackhawks appeared first on The Rink.

Blackhawks lines in warmups vs. Oilers are all switched up:

Donato-Bedard-Kurashev
Beauviller-TJohnson-Raddysh
Foligno-Dickinson-Anderson
Reichel-Guttman-Entwistle

Vlasic-Crevier
Phillips-Murphy
Roos-Zaitsev

Mrazek

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) December 13, 2023

First period

Both teams were flying high out of the gate. Bedard got the scoring started with a nasty wrister to put Chicago up 1–0.

Ridiculous shot by Connor Bedard. Wow. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/S1CcYVk9NX

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 13, 2023

Not to be undone, McDavid got the Oilers on the board with a beautiful pass to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for the Edmonton goal. The Oilers added another goal from Blackhawks killer Sam Gagner. Gagner got a pass of the boards that he put past Petr Mrazek. The first period ended with the Blackhawks down 2–1 to Edmonton.

Second period

In the second period, the Blackhawks were outshooting Edmonton and playing really solid defense. The momentum shifted when Nikita Zaitsev deflected a pass into his own net. It is already tough on the Blackhawks’ goalies with the team’s defensive struggles; now they have to worry about errant deflections from their own defensemen. Leon Draisaitl was credited with the goal for Edmonton. The second period ended with Edmonton a power play.

Third period

The third period began with the Edmonton still on the power play. Zach Hyman scored, with McDavid recording his second assist of the game.

The final score was 4–1 Edmonton.

Analysis

With Bedard getting the first goal of the game, it was his 12th goal of the season. When the spotlight shines on Bedard, he appears to burn that much brighter. This game also shows the talent inequalities on the Hawks. Edmonton is a very talented offensive team that struggled to start the year; the Hawks have Bedard and that’s it.

While Bedard continued to show why he is an all-world talent, Lukas Reichel continued to trend downward. After being benched for one game, Reichel was brought back into the lineup on the fourth line, where he has produced absolutely nothing. Reichel looked to an NHL regular after his stretch at the NHL last season; this season he appears to be a fringe NHL guy, at best. After two periods of play, Reichel had played less than six minutes. For the game, Reichel played a season-low 8:54. While “we” at The Rink suggest that Reichel might be sent to Rockford, Ben Pope of the Sun-Times believes that it is unlikely.

The Hawks were outclassed by a more talented team.

The Blackhawks travel to Washington to take on the Seattle Kraken on Thursday at Climate Pledge Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 9 p.m. CST.

The post RECAP: McDavid wins inaugural Connor vs. Connor battle as Oilers top Blackhawks 4–1 appeared first on The Rink.

Despite the poor play of Kane and Toews, the Hawks did try to come back in the third period with late goals from Max Domi and MacKenzie Entwistle. Unfortunately, the comeback fell short, as the Oilers held onto a 5–4 victory. The Hawks’ consecutive losing streak now stands at eight games.

• Domi continued his scoring ways recording his sixth and seventh goals of the season.
• Entwistle and Boris Katchouk both broke their scoreless droughts, notching their first goals of the season.
• Reese Johnson also tallied his first assist of the season in the loss.
• Former Blackhawks and current Oiler Mattias Janmark recorded his first goal of the season.
• The stars for the Oilers, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, combined for three goals and two assists in their victory.

The Blackhawks will head on the road to square off against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Saturday with a 6:30 p.m. CST puck drop.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One Timers — Nov. 30 vs. Edmonton Oilers appeared first on The Rink.

A brief recap of the scoring: Zach Hyman opened the scoring for the OIlers, and then the Blackhawks scored two to close the first period, making it 2–1 after 20 minutes. The second period was a ping-pong back and forth, with Connor McDavid scoring, then a minute later Jonathan Toews on the power play, then McDavid again on the power play and then Max Domi scoring on the power play. In case it was not obvious, the second frame in particular was filled with trips to the sin bin. Then, in the third, the Oilers scored two on the power play to go up by one. Patrick Kane then scored with 3:30 to go, and then in the last minute, Leon Draisaitl put the Oilers ahead to get them the win.

• I do not think I have ever watched a game with so many power plays, with this one having a whopping 20 penalties taken between both teams.
• The good: The Blackhawks generated lots of power play opportunities, converting two while still generally doing well and getting good chances on the others that they did not convert on. The Blackhawks won more face-offs, had vastly more hits and played the brand of physical hockey they seem to be developing this season. Reese Johnson also picked up his first tally of the year.
• The bad: There is no reason why the Blackhawks should not have converted on more of their power plays. Ten tries, and all you have to show for it is two goals. Not that that is terrible, but getting a third could have made all the difference in the contest.
• The ugly: You cannot expect to win games when you give away the puck 13 times to the opponent’s two. Phillipp Kurashev looked bad and was a -3 on the night. Seth Jones, surprise, surprise, was a -2 once again.

The Blackhawks play next at Buffalo on Saturday night. That game will be at 6 p.m. CDT on NBC Sports Chicago.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One-timers — Oct. 27 vs. Edmonton Oilers appeared first on The Rink.

Blocking shots, scoring goals and winning championships — thanks for everything, Hammer pic.twitter.com/TesF3U3fsf

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 4, 2022

First period

The Blackhawks jumped out to an early 1–0 after the fourth line generated an aggressive forecheck. Sam Lafferty forced a turnover in the corner and the puck squirted to Ryan Carpenter on the half boards. Carpenter fed Philipp Kurashev in the right circle who found Lafferty alone in front of the net and he skated across the crease and fired one through the pads of Koskinen for his second of the season at the 2:34 mark.

Following a Duncan Keith video tribute, the Oilers went on their second power play of the period after the Hawks committed their second penalty for too many men. This time, the Oilers cashed in and tied the game at 1–1 at 14:35. Connor McDavid skated around the net and through the left circle then backhanded a pass to Leon Draisaitl who fired a one-timer from a bad angle past Fleury for his 38th of the season and his league-leading 17th power play tally.

At the 16:55 mark, the Hawks took a 2–1 lead. Caleb Jones pinched in and tapped it to Dylan Strome who had a 2-on-1 down low and he fed a wide-open Patrick Kane who fired a one-timer from the left circle for his 17th of the season.

The Oilers tied it at 2–2 with 33.8 left in the opening frame. With both teams skating four-on-four, Draisitl skated down the right side one-on-one with Connor Murphy who appeared to have him well covered but a pass attempt deflected through to Evander Kane who skated in alone down the middle and wristed one past Fleury for his sixth of the season.

After a wild first period, the Oilers had an 11–8 advantage in shots on goal.

Second period

The Hawks generated several quality scoring chances including a near shorthanded tally by Brandon Hagel, however, neither team lit the lamp in the middle frame. The Hawks erased two Edmonton power play chances while the home team failed to score on their only man-advantage of the period. The Hawks outshot the Oilers 12–5 for the period and held a 20–16 advantage through 40 minutes.

Third period

The Hawks broke the 2–2 tie at the 2:49 mark when Koskinen went behind the net to play the puck then wrapped it around the boards right to Dominik Kubalik who shot it into an open net from the half boards for his 11th of the season.

Late in the third, with the net empty, the Hawks won the draw but Ryan Carpenter failed to clear the zone. A Seth Jones turnover led to Evander Kane, from the side of the goal, passing the puck in front which went off Calvin de Haan’s stick and into the net to tie the game at 3–3 with 49.3 left. For Evander Kane, it was his second of the game and seventh of the season.

Edmonton outshot Chicago 16–10 in the third which gave the Oilers a 32-30 advantage after regulation.

Overtime

Less than a minute into the extra frame, Draisatl was penalized for tripping Caleb Jones in the neutral zone to set up a 4-on-3 power play for the home team. The Hawks would cash in when Patrick Kane fed Alex Debrincat in the right circle but Cody Ceci blocked the one-timer, however, the puck went right back to number 88 who made the exact same cross-ice pass to “The Cat” who buried it for his 30th of the season at 2:23 of overtime to secure a Blackhawks win. The Hawks outshot the Oilers 2–0 in overtime and the two teams finished knotted at 32 in shots on goal for the contest.

Like we said: don’t doubt Cat and Kane in OT #CloroxClutch pic.twitter.com/5x5w5xJ1TI

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 4, 2022

Analysis

The Hawks rebounded nicely from not only giving up a late goal to force OT but a dreadful loss to the St. Louis Blues last weekend. Defensively, the Hawks limited the number of high danger chances by the high-powered Oilers with a ton of blocked shots and an aggressive forecheck. Additionally, the power play came through in a big spot after spending some practice time recently working on their execution with the man advantage.

The Hawks return to the ice on Saturday in Philadelphia for a matinee against the Flyers.  Puck drop is at 2 PM CST on ESPN+ and ABC with the radio call on 720 WGN.

The post Blackhawks defeat the Oilers in a 4–3 OT win appeared first on The Rink.

Early in the first period, Chicago was awarded a power play and could not get a better start when forward Alex DeBrincat scored his 11th goal on the power play, 27th overall, when Patrick Kane found the Michigan native for the early 1–0 lead with a nice no-look pass across the center of the ice.

Incredible no-look pass by Patrick Kane to Alex DeBrincat, who buries it. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/YnE2MGNHUO

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 10, 2022

One minute later, forward Brandon Hagel scored to give the 2–0 lead when Hagel beat Smith blocker side. DeBrincat did an excellent job of drawing a defender to him and found a streaking Hagel on a nice center lane drive by Caleb Jones. Watching Smith give up two goals within the first three minutes of the game is always fun.

Chicago looked very sloppy to start the second period and let the Oilers cut the lead in half when Leon Draisaitl scored his 33rd goal of the season. Fleury made several excellent saves, some in desperation, but Draistil’s power play goal was just a matter of time.

Oilers’ forward Evander Kane was sent off at with 11:28 left in the second period after boarding Hagel in the Oilers’ zone. At this point in the middle frame, Chicago had been outshot 12–0 since intermission. To say the Blackhawks were scrambling in their own zone and creating zero offense would have been an understatement.

Chicago was lucky to walk out of the period with the one-goal lead. If the period had to be described, it was methodical and boring for the Blackhawks.

Dylan Strome scored the second power play goal of the season at the 1:08 mark of the third period when he beat Smith for the Chicago 3–1 lead. The goal was Strome’s eighth goal this season. A few minutes later, Kirby Dach found the back of the net for his seventh goal this season. Chicago claimed the game 4–1 despite being outshot 37–22.

Three-point night for Alex DeBrincat, who connects with Dylan Strome. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/opxRGfTDsN

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 10, 2022

Analysis

Fleury was fantastic again tonight. When his game is on, he can be the huge Band-aid this leaky defense needs.

DeBrincat continues to lead the way with his fire power on offense. Blackhawks fans know what Kane has brought in his career, but we are starting to see that DeBrincat is the face of this franchise moving forward.

Chicago slept-walked for the middle frame and still came away with a three-goal victory. Hockey is a crazy game sometimes, but overall, the away team was forcing the issue in the first and last periods.

Edmonton is nothing without Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. Nothing.

Watching Mike Smith give up goals never gets old.

The Blackhawks return to action Saturday when they travel to face the St. Louis Blues for a 7 p.m. CST puck drop.

The post Blackhawks top Oilers 4–1 behind Fleury’s 40 saves appeared first on The Rink.

Coach Dave Hakstol was without defenseman Jamie Oleksiak for this game, who was in COVID-19 protocol. Chris Driedger was given the start over Philipp Grubauer, who left Wednesday’s game with an injury but was available to play. Edmonton was without some of their top contributors in Zach Hyman, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Kyle Turris.

DONATO STAYS HOT!
pic.twitter.com/3CildJipJN

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) December 19, 2021

The Kraken came out with some energy in the first period, scoring goals by Red Hot Ryan Donato and Jared McCann in the first half of the period, but Edmonton finally wiped the sleep from their eyes and game battling back to tie the game on a goal by Evan Bouchard and a power play goal by Warren Foegele before the teams could hit the intermission. Unfortunately for the Kraken, the Oilers led in shots 20–7 but Driedger weathered the storm enough to keep the score tied.

The game settled down a bit in the second period, with Edmonton leading in shots once again, but only by a 9–7 margin. The teams traded goals by Edmonton’s Colton Sceviour and Seattle’s Carson Soucy, which set up a 3–3 game heading into the third period. The Kraken had to be feeling fortunate that they were still in the game despite the 29–14 shot disparity.

After two periods where they fought and clawed (mostly by their goaltender) their way to stay in the game, things just fell apart in the third period. The Kraken managed only three shots on goal, while the Oilers threw 12 shots on the Seattle net. Foegele scored his second of the game 8:54 into the third on a disputed goaltender interference call and Connor McDavid (remember that guy?) put the cherry on top with an empty net goal in the final minutes of play.

In the end, the Kraken were probably lucky to even be in the game as late as they were, so they might be able to dress this loss up as a moral victory. Driedger certainly should.

Anchor points

  Driedger might want that Bouchard goal back, but overall, he played a solid game and put the team in a position to win. When your team cannot manage 20 shots on goal and they give up 41, you should not be within one goal in the third period.

“Not up in here!” -Chris Driedger, probably.

Check out tonight’s @WAFDbank‘s Signature Save of the Game. pic.twitter.com/kR720t1UN2

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) December 19, 2021

  The Kraken only had one power play of their own and were not able to convert. On the other hand, Edmonton converted on one of their two power plays.

  The game was not a total loss. Seattle had several close calls at the Edmonton end of the ice, as they appeared to go for quality over quantity. There were posts hit and a couple of big saves by Edmonton starter Stuart Skinner.

  Edmonton crushed the Kraken in every relevant possession metric, which predictably figured in the final score:

5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 70% – 30%
5-on-5 Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts) 67% – 33%
5-on-5 High Danger Chances For 65% – 35%
5-on-5 Expected Goals For 66% – 34%
Faceoff Percentage 58% – 42%

  The Kraken were supposed to face the Toronto Maple Leafs later tonight, but the game was postponed due to Covid-19 concerns (along with Thursday’s game in Calgary). As a result, their next contest will be Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena against the Arizona Coyotes. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PDT (allegedly).

The post RECAP: Oilers spoil Kraken return home, win 5-3 appeared first on The Rink.

Three plays tonight for the Tommy Train passengers. Remember, pick up your food voucher at the station and $1 Busch lights on the drink cart tonight.

(Odds courtesy of BetRivers)

Nashville Predators -125 @ Detroit Red Wings

O/U: 5.5 +110

My pick: Red Wings ML +108. We got a matchup of old conference foes in Detriot tonight. I really like the Detroit Red Wings as home underdogs here. They are 9–2 in their own barn and four of their five wins on the win streak have come at home. This pick holds great value. No need to overthink. Ride the Wings.

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Toronto Maple Leafs -250

O/U: 6 +100

My pick: Maple Leafs three-way -157. Road games have not been good to the Columbus Blue Jackets in recent weeks, losing four straight and being outscored 18–6. Elvis Merzlikins gets the start between the pipes and his road goals against average is 4.32. The Toronto Maples Leafs should have no problem taking care of business tonight at home.

Minnesota Wild @ Edmonton Oilers -122

O/U: 6.5 -134

My pick: Over 6.5 -134. Two teams here who can flat out score. The Minnesota Wild ride a six-game win streak into Edmonton tonight, so their ML at +106 is something I would consider as well.

Make sure to follow me on Twitter, @ThomasGibbons_3, for my bonus play at 5 p.m. CST.

Happy gambling, and remember, always ride the Tommy Train.

Basics of hockey betting Money line — Winning team Puck line — Team wins by at least two goals (-1.5 when placing a bet) Three-way line — Team wins in regulation  Over/under — Total goals scored during a game including overtime but not a shootout  Parlay — A combination of two or more bets

The information contained on this website is for entertainment purposes only. Please confirm any wagering regulations in your jurisdiction, as they vary from state to state, province to province and country to country. Using this information to contravene any law or statute is prohibited. The Rink is not associated with or endorsed by any professional league, association or team.

The post Tommy’s Puckline Picks — Dec. 7, 2021 appeared first on The Rink.

First period

The Blackhawks started off putting good pressure on the Oilers, getting pucks on net and keeping much of the action down at the offensive end of the ice. Just before the 10-minute mark of the period, Jesse Puljujarvi of the Oilers batted the puck out of the air to a blistering Connor McDavid, who put the puck off of the back of Lankinen, who was able to keep the puck behind his net and avoid any further chance from the Oilers.

Shortly thereafter, after a Lankinen equipment issue, the puck went from behind the Blackhawks’ net out in front out to Evan Bouchard, who took a shot on net, with the rebound popping out in front to McDavid, who put the puck into the back of the net for a 1–0 Oilers lead. Philipp Kurashev took a tripping penalty just a few seconds after that goal, putting the Oilers on the power play for the first time. Then, Jonathan Toews got a stick up high on McDavid, putting the lethal Oilers power play in a 5-on-3 situation.

Down 1-0 and then having to kill the league’s best powerplay unit on a 5-on-3 with Jonathan Toews in the penalty box is not how you want to go about things #Blackhawks https://t.co/7sMez1JSdA

— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) November 21, 2021

They were easily able to convert, with Tyson Barrie burying the puck past Lankinen doubling the Edmonton advantage to 2–0.

At the 5:19 mark of the period, Puljujarvi took down Seth Jones beside the Blackhawks’ net, giving the Hawks their first power play of the evening. Jones then gave up a horrible turnover in the offensive zone right to Kailer Yamamoto, who took the chance the other way and wristed the puck right past Lankinen pushing the gap to 3–0 Oilers.

The Oilers kept pouring it on, with Ryan McCleod busting right through the slot unabated, roofing a backhander past Lankinen to give Edmonton a commanding 4–0 lead.

Mercifully, that was finally answered after a Jones shot from the point deflected off of Kirby Dach, and then off of Alex DeBrincat, getting the visitors on the board at 4–1, which is how it would stay at the end of the period.

Second period

The second period started off the opposite of the first, with the Oilers pouring on pressure on the Blackhawks, with Caleb Jones and Connor Murphy out on the ice for almost five minutes on the ice in one shift to start off the period.

Connor Murphy and Caleb Jones just logged a shift of 4:50. Holy cow. #Blackhawks

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 21, 2021

The first eight minutes of the period went by without a whistle at all until the Blackhawks got an icing call against them. Zach Hyman took a roughing call at the 8:19 mark of the frame, giving the Hawks another power play opportunity on an incredibly stupid penalty. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks could not make Hyman pay for the elbow on Patrick Kane, and both teams went back to 5-on-5 hockey. Lankinen then denied the Oilers on a 3-on-1 break in order to keep the score at 4–1 Oilers.

Third period

Trying to get something going to claw back into this game, Kane streaked into the Oilers’ zone and rang one off of the post, beating Stuart Skinner but not the iron.

Edmonton continued to put on pressure, as Kurashev got a holding penalty at the 13:07 mark of the frame, giving the Oilers another power play. The Blackhawks killed it off, and then, Kurashev got a breakaway, looked for DeBrincat and got the puck over to him to put the puck past Skinner, cutting the gap to 4–2.

After a flurry of penalties, the Oilers ended up with another shorthanded goal when Leon Draisaitl had a breakaway and beat Lankinen again, putting Edmonton ahead by three goals at 5–2.

That is how a disappointing game would finish, with the Blackhawks snapping their win streak at four games.

Analysis

The Blackhawks let McDavid get in their heads, and really shot themselves in the foot several times in this game, especially in allowing two shorthanded goals. The amount of defensive zone time needs to be much more limited as well, as a 4:50 shift is absolutely ridiculous, even though Murphy and Caleb Jones played very well that shift for how exhausted they must have been.

The Blackhawks are back in action on Sunday night against the Vancouver Canucks for a 7 p.m. CST puck drop.

The post Blackhawks get beat down, lose to Oilers 5–2 appeared first on The Rink.

It has become commonplace for the Kraken to either score or give one up fairly early on in their games. This game was no different. The score was 2–1 in favor of the Oilers just over six minutes after puck drop. Both Edmonton goals were at the hands of Oilers star forward Leon Draisaitl, while Kraken veteran forward Jaden Schwartz scored an exciting end-to-end goal of his own sandwiched between Draisaitl’s markers.

Jaden “end-to-end” Schwartz. #NHLOnSN pic.twitter.com/rsZxyo57Gs

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 2, 2021

That said, Seattle only gave up four shots on goaltender Joey Daccord in the first period, while sending six shots at Koskinen. It almost seemed like Head Coach Dave Hakstol knew he could not slow down the Oilers stars, so he sacrificed Daccord at the altar of Draisaitl.

It was much of the same in the second period, with Seattle outshooting Edmonton 14–8. Longtime Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith scored his first goal as an Oiler, while Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy scored his second of the year late in the period. As the horn for the second intermission sounded, the Kraken were leading in shots 20–12 but down 3–2 on the scoreboard.

Carson Soucy with all the heat on that rip. pic.twitter.com/6Ha3KGWTwh

— NHL (@NHL) November 2, 2021

The Kraken were still in the game, though, at the intermission.

Unfortunately, the wheels fell off the cart in the third period. Daccord gave up two more Oilers goals, which put the game out of reach with over seven minutes still to play. Edmonton forwards Kyle Turris and Kailer Yamamoto seemed to eat Daccord up in close, which was a theme on the night.

Anchor points

The Kraken power play has continued to fail them again and again. They had two second period opportunities to tie the game and failed. Edmonton went one for three on their opportunities, which is actually less than their ridiculous season average of 46.2%. As good as the Kraken penalty kill is, Edmonton’s world-class power play is going to score at least one. If Seattle could just match that, the game could have had a different outcome.

Not that Daccord had a chance, but the Kraken needed better goaltending when the game was still early. Three goals on 12 Oilers shots is simply not adequate.

For the second game in a row, the Kraken led their opponent in most relevant possession numbers. They led 57%–43% in Corsi (shot attempts) and 60%–40% in Fenwick (unblocked shots). They also had more high danger chances (14–11) and had an expected goals percentage of 56%. The numbers were there, but they could not get a save.

Defenseman Adam Larsson had an awful night against his former team, with a team-low 33% 5-on-5 Corsi.

The Kraken are back home on Thursday to face the Buffalo Sabres. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PDT.

The post RECAP: Kraken cannot stop well-oiled Edmonton machine, lose 5–2 appeared first on The Rink.

I have become more invested in sports gambling over the past year or so. How invested, you may ask? Last week, I was refreshing the box score to a KHL game in my Uber on my way home from a night out with friends. I love the entertainment and the opportunity to earn some spending money. 

Basics of hockey betting

Money line — Winning team 

Puck line — Team wins by at least two goals (-1.5 when placing a bet)

Three-way line — Team wins in regulation 

Over/under — Total goals scored during a game including overtime but not a shootout 

Parlay — A combination of two or more bets 

Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the defending champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in extravagant fashion, 6–2. The Penguins were the underdogs, and playing their money line at plus odds would have been a sweet win. The over also hit (5.5). For the nightcap, the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Seattle Kraken by a score of 4–3. That over (5.5) also hit, however, the Golden Knights, the favorite, did not cover the puck line by only winning by one goal. 

Tonight, we have five games on the slate. Let’s dive into my picks.

(All odds courtesy of BetRivers IL)

Montreal Canadiens (+160) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (-186)

O/U: 6

In terms of how I make my picks, everyone has their strategy. For me, it is a mix of gut and research. 

Both teams are missing arguably their best players tonight in Carey Price for the Montreal Canadiens and Auston Matthews for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canadiens are also without defensemen Shea Weber for the entire year and Joel Edmundson will miss the start of the regular season. Forwards Paul Byron and Mike Hoffman are also on long-term injured reserve. It is a banged-up Canadiens team traveling to Toronto. Mitch Marner is also a game-time decision, but I would expect him to play. 

My pick: Over 6. The Maple Leafs have the firepower on offense even without Matthews in the lineup, and the Canadiens have their own sharpshooters in Cole Caufield and Tyler Toffoli. I think goals come early and often tonight in Toronto. 

New York Rangers (-107) vs. Washington Capitals (-109) 

O/U: 6.5

One thing to note. O/U 6.5 means there must be at least seven goals for the bet to settle as a win. As for the Maple Leafs-Canadiens game, the O/U is set at 6, which also means there must be at least seven goals for a win. However, without the .5, if the game finishes with six total goals, it would be considered a “push” and you get your wagered money back. 

First off, neither team have plus odds. I would consider this a toss-up. So, if you would want plus odds on either one of them, you could play the three-way line or the Washington Capitals are -1 at +160. A $10 wager would win $16 and the payout would be $26. 

The New York Rangers are locked and loaded. They are healthy and ready to go to battle with their slew of assistant captains. I really like their roster. They made several additions in Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Reaves and former St. Louis Blues forward Samuel Blais. Their back end is solid, led by Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba. And, their goaltending duo of Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev gives new head coach Gerard Gallant options.

As for the Capitals, there are plenty of familiar faces. They will be without Nicklas Backstrom tonight and for the foreseeable future. Vitek Vanecek will tend the pipes tonight, and the Capitals will be ready to prove they are capable of another run at the Cup. 

My pick: Capitals three-way +145. I will ride the Capitals on home ice tonight. The building will be electric and Alex Ovechkin will shine on the first regular-season game broadcast on TNT. 

Chicago Blackhawks (+170) vs. Colorado Avalanche (-200) 

O/U: 6.5 

Even with no Nathan MacKinnon tonight after testing positive for COVID-19, the Colorado Avalanche are the heavy favorite at home. It is not shocking considered the Avs are one of the favorites to win it all this year. Their roster is loaded with stars all over the place. This is a team that will be entertaining all year and favored in the majority of their contests. 

The Chicago Blackhawks are running out a new-look squad headlined by goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and defensemen Seth Jones. Jonathan Toews is back after missing all of last season with an illness. The rebuild was short-lived in Chicago, and, at least on paper, General Manager Stan Bowman has put together a playoff-contending roster.  

My pick: Hawks ML +170. Homer pick? Absolutely. There is plenty of excitement coming into this season, and I am going to ride it on opening night. Fleury will keep them in the game and give them the chance to pull out the victory.

Vancouver Canucks (+160) vs. Edmonton Oilers (-186)

O/U: 6.5 

I had to think about this game for a bit. There were a lot of angles I was looking into. First off, I liked the over until I saw Mike Smith was 4–0 with a .937 save percentage for the Edmonton Oilers against the Vancouver Canucks last season. This one is tough. I feel that the Oilers are a deeper team offensively, but I lean toward the Canucks’ defense. But, I had to settle on something to try and win some cash for the weekend shenanigans. 

My pick: Oilers three-way -121. Conor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are one of the best duos in the NHL. In March of last season, The two have combined on an NHL-best 197 goals since 2016–17. Insane! Riding these guys tonight is the safe bet. 

Winnipeg Jets (-132) vs. Anaheim Ducks (+112) 

O/U: 5.5 +100

It is always hard to pass up an O/U at plus odds, so think about it. 

Hey, a road favorite! The Winnipeg Jets have had a winning record on the road for the past five seasons. It is a balanced roster and is destined to finish near the top of the Central Divison. As for the Anaheim Ducks, their roster is nothing special. They have finished toward the bottom of the league the past three seasons. Trevor Zegras will be the highlight of the team this season, as he will be in the race for the Calder Trophy with Cole Caufield and Spencer Knight. Maybe they surprise some people, but right now it does not look like it.

My pick: Jets -1.5. I think they win comfortably. John Gibson is the likely starter in the net for the Ducks, and while he is not a bad goalie, I do not like the defense in front of him. Ride the Jets into the night.

I would parlay:

— Leafs O 6/Jets -1.5 +425

Props I like:

— Canadiens team total including overtime over 2.5 -115

— Toews to have a point +105

— Zegras to score +310

Let’s start off the year with a bang! Happy gambling!

The post Tommy’s Puckline Picks — Oct. 13, 2021 appeared first on The Rink.

The Flames scored their first goal with 17 seconds remaining in the first period, on the power play, from Byron Froese.  Defenseman Michael Stone scored his second of the preseason (and second against Seattle) three minutes into the second period.  Five minutes later, Glenn Gawdin gave Calgary a three-goal lead just five minutes later, shorthanded.

For the Kraken, Vince Dunn scored his first for Seattle, on the power play, at the midway point of the second period.  That was all the offense that fans would get from the home team.

Connor Mackey scored the only goal of the third period, with under 10 minutes remaining in regulation, which ended up just being another insurance goal.  Calgary had only 13 total shots on net but made the most of those shots.  Kraken goalie Chris Driedger continued to struggle this preseason, making only nine saves (.652 sv%).

Anchor points

Without many bright points for the Kraken, Vince Dunn was as assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, fight)

Joonas Donskoi had an assist but was also minus three on the night

The Kraken will travel to Vancouver to face the Canucks for their final preseason game, on Tuesday. Vancouver will be looking for some revenge for their loss against Seattle to open the preseason.  The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PDT.

The post RECAP: Kraken take their lumps from Calgary Flames, lose 4–1 appeared first on The Rink.

Overall, the game did not have a high goal count, but there were plenty of shots and action around goalies Joey Daccord (SEA), Philipp Grubauer (SEA) and Stuart Skinner (EDM). They all saw their fill of shots, saving a combined 64 of 67 (.955 save percentage), with Skinner giving up two goals, Grubauer giving up one and Daccord going a perfect 8 for 8.

Seattle tied the game with under a minute remaining in regulation and the goaltender on the bench for the extra attacker. Jaden Schwartz was the momentary hero for the Kraken after the Brendan Perlini swan song continued, with his third goal vs. Seattle this preseason early in the second period.

Center Jared McCann continued his hot play, with the Kraken game-winner with under a minute remaining in the overtime period. The “home” team outshot Edmonton 41–26 in the contest.

Anchor points

On Thursday, the Kraken announced that (D) Ryker Evans, (F) Brent Gates, (F) Tye Kartye, (F) Ryan Lohin, (F) Cole Mackay, (G) Francis Marotte, (F) Jacob Melanson, and (C) Ryan Winterton had all been released from camp or re-assigned to their junior club.

Postgame, they announced that (G) Antoine Bibeau, (D) Connor Carrick, (D) Cale Fleury and (F) Gustav Olofsson had been waived. This means they are probably headed to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL.  Forward Luke Henman was sent to Charlotte outright.

Antoine Bibeau (SEA), Connor Carrick (SEA), Cale Fleury (SEA), Gustav Olofsson (SEA), Tanner Kaspick (STL), Matthew Peca (STL), Nolan Stevens (STL), Maxime Lagace (TB), Otto Somppi (TB), Daniel Walcott (TB), Shane Gersich (WSH), Lucas Johansen (WSH) and Dylan McIlrath (WSH).

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 2, 2021

The Kraken face the Flames again, in Kent, Washington, tonight. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PDT.

The post RECAP: Kraken get revenge, beat Oilers 2–1 in overtime appeared first on The Rink.

The Toronto Maple Leafs started their first extended road trip of the season in Calgary, facing the Flames twice. 

Jack Campbell started in net for Toronto. Having a consistent backup goalie is something the team desperately needed last season and allows them to give Frederik Andersen a break. This is especially important with this year’s condensed game schedule. As well, Auston Matthews returned to the lineup after missing the previous 4–2 win. When asked about why he sat during the last game, he explained that it was an ongoing issue.

“Obviously take care of it here the next couple of weeks, but it feels a lot better, feel more than good enough to play and good enough to go out there and contribute to the team,” Matthews said in an interview.

Speaking of Matthews, his goal in this game was his first against the Flames. He has now scored against all 30 NHL teams. Wayne Simmonds also scored in this game, his first goal with the Maple Leafs.

Campbell was the Leafs’ best player in this game and stopped 31 of the 33 shots he faced. Near the end of the game, however, he went down and appeared to be in serious pain. Although Campbell finished the game, he will be out for “weeks” with an unspecified leg injury. This is massively unfortunate for the team, as they lost Aaron Dell to waivers just last week.

Game two

Going into the second game against the Flames, Toronto Head Coach Sheldon Keefe made a couple of small lineup changes. In addition to Michael Hutchinson replacing Campbell in the blue paint, Jason Spezza and Alexander Barabanov sat. Travis Boyd and Joey Anderson (both acquired over the summer—Boyd in free agency and Anderson in the Andreas Johnsson trade) drew into the lineup.

The Flames got off to a slow start, and the Leafs picked up a two-goal lead in the first period. In the second, however, the Leafs lost all their momentum and let the Flames back into the game. This team clearly still struggles with consistency. Johnny Gaudreau tied the game at 3–3 in the third period.

In the middle of the third, Matthews scored to regain the lead and the Leafs held on for the two points.

Game three

Barabanov and Spezza replaced Boyd and Anderson, and Travis Dermott filled in for rookie defender Mikko Lehtonen.

The game was back and forth for the full 60 minutes, at first the Leafs leading 2–0 and then 3–2 before finally winning 4–3. 

Through the beginning portion of this season, the Leafs have not been able to stay out of the penalty box, and it continues to cost them. In this game, they took seven penalties. Three of the penalties were back to back late in the second period—while they were holding on to a one-goal lead. The Oilers’ tying goal in the third period was also the result of a Maple Leafs penalty. Andersen was a huge reason why the Leafs pulled off the win in this game. 

Game four

In this game (and for the remaining games where the team is wearing Reverse Retro or St. Pats jerseys), Jake Muzzin and Zach Hyman served as the alternate captains.

Veterans Jake Muzzin and Zach Hyman will serve as alternate captains tonight in Edmonton.

Muzzin and Hyman will wear an ‘A’ in each of the @MapleLeafs upcoming Reverse Retro and St. Pats games this season. #LeafsForever

— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) January 30, 2021

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Early in the game, the puck slipped by Andersen, and Lehtonen barely stopped the puck from crossing the line. 

Lehtonen covering the puck with his hand gives the Oilers a penalty shot

It was going in pic.twitter.com/gTNq3609SH

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) January 31, 2021

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This gave the Oilers a penalty shot, which Tyler Ennis took and missed the net on.

Dominik Kahun scored to take the lead later in the first. Although William Nylander tied it up not long after, the Oilers scored again to take the lead heading into the second. Early in the second period, Connor McDavid went end to end, evaded Jake Muzzin and beat Andersen to put Edmonton up 3–1.

McDavid went full end-to-end video game pic.twitter.com/rdSymdoWqM

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) January 31, 2021

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Matthews scored his sixth goal of the season and Hyman picked up a power play marker to tie the game up at 3–3.

In the third, Andersen was forced to make some big saves.

HIS NAME IS FREDERIK ANDERSEN pic.twitter.com/5eJc6rnvzW

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) January 31, 2021

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However, McDavid got the last laugh, winning the game for the Oilers in overtime.

After the game, Keefe had a lot to say about Lehtonen’s performance, and it was not all good. Keefe pointed out that Lehtonen did not look comfortable when he was not on the power play, and that Lehtonen has a long way to go in terms of being a regular in the lineup. The Leafs’ defense situation has been interesting this year. Dermott and Lehtonen have been trading off every other game or so, and Rasmus Sandin has yet to play a game.

The Leafs are now 7–2–1 on the season and sit first in their division, though they have played two more games than the second-place Montreal Canadiens. Toronto starts this week on a three-day break before facing the Vancouver Canucks at home.

The post WEEKLY RECAP: Leafs collect seven points on Alberta road trip appeared first on The Rink.

After serving a one-game suspension for an illegal check to the head, Drake Caggiula made his way back into the lineup for the Blackhawks. Meanwhile, Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson was ruled “unfit to play” during warmups. Caleb Jones drew into the lineup to replace Larsson, sliding onto the third pairing alongside Matt Benning.

For once, Connor McDavid did not score early in the period to give the Oilers an early lead. Instead, the Blackhawks were the ones to put the puck in the net first. More specifically, Olli Maatta gave Chicago a 1–0 lead just under halfway through the opening frame with a blast from the point.

Voice activated personal assistant, play Chelsea

It was only a Maatta of time before someone got on the board and it's the @NHLBlackhawks first! #EDMvsCHI | #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/u2pyalTeR8

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) August 6, 2020

But, just 30 seconds later, the Oilers tied it up thanks to Hart Trophy nominee Leon Draisaitl. Three Blackhawks were looming behind the goal line and got caught there once the puck found its way to Tyler Ennis, who passed it over to Draisaitl.

They don't call him Neon Leon for nothin'

The Oilers even the score quickly. It's gonna be a good one. pic.twitter.com/qju570iTKY

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) August 6, 2020

After the tying goal, both teams traded a handful of chances. But the Blackhawks had a surplus of golden opportunities in the first period, including three posts. Within the final four minutes of the period, three penalties were called on the Oilers, giving Chicago a five-on-three opportunity they eventually capitalized on.

After Alex DeBrincat found Kirby Dach down low, the rookie tossed the puck in front of the net for Dominik Kubalik. Kubalik could not put it past Edmonton netminder Mikko Koskinen, but the biscuit somehow found its way in off Jonathan Toews‘ foot with 4.2 seconds left in the first period, giving the Blackhawks a 2–1 lead.

Somehow went in. Blackhawks have the lead heading into the 2nd period!

Stream: https://t.co/5Fh2WVMIU9 pic.twitter.com/tQE0BSODY9

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) August 6, 2020

With just under five minutes gone by in the second period, the Oilers found themselves with a couple of good chances in the offensive zone. From the boards, Benning put a slap shot on net. Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford was able to get a piece of that shot, but was unable to corral the rebound. Once again, Draisaitl found the puck and lifted it past Crawford to tie the game at 2–2.

DRAISAITL! AGAIN! #NHLonSN pic.twitter.com/yzHMDkQgrl

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 6, 2020

Edmonton and Chicago exchanged power plays throughout the period, and Brandon Saad hit his second post of the game. Both teams remained fairly undisciplined throughout the rest of the period, which seems to be a theme during this series.

With around three minutes left in the period, Dach laid a hit Ennis, who unfortunately was injured on the play. Ennis, an Edmonton native, left the game without putting any weight on his right leg.

DeBrincat and Benning got into a scrum and both were given infractions just over a minute later. Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, DeBrincat was called for both slashing and roughing, putting Edmonton on the power play.

The Oilers moved the puck well on the advantage and eventually capitalized. Draisaitl tossed the puck to the front of the net. Crawford could not grab the rebound, the puck landed on McDavid’s stick and he gave Edmonton a 3–2 lead heading into the final frame.

You can always count on Connor McDavid to get it done

The @EdmontonOilers take the lead heading into the break. pic.twitter.com/DJakImfRcN

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) August 6, 2020

Things moved a bit faster during the third period. Toews hit the post off a rebound just over four minutes in, narrowly missing out on leveling the score. In total, the Blackhawks hit five posts during the game.

After back and forth action throughout the frame, Chicago found some time in the offensive zone with 5:47 left. Slater Koekkoek took a slap shot close to the blue line. Matthew Highmore deflected it in right by Koskinen to tie the game at 3–3.

BLACKHAWKS TIE IT

You're not going to want to miss the rest of this game, promise:
: NBCSN
: https://t.co/lkz1HvPxNq pic.twitter.com/mMj2OEnKAQ

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) August 6, 2020

In a major turn of events, the Blackhawks were given a gift of a goal. Toews won an offensive-zone face off, allowing Chicago to try and get the puck on net. Connor Murphy snapped it toward goal, hoping for a tip from Toews, and that is exactly what he got. Well, kind of. The puck actually went off Toews’ knee after being deflected by Edmonton defenseman Ethan Bear. Either way, it was a goal, giving the Hawks a 4–3 lead with just over a minute remaining in the game.

Despite some pressure from the Oilers late, Chicago held onto the lead and took a 2–1 series lead.

A stellar face-off win by the Captain sets the @NHLBlackhawks up to take the lead late in Game 3! pic.twitter.com/oiKChbTqUO

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) August 6, 2020

Along the boards

Kirby Dach led all team forwards in ice time at 23:21, which is new a career high. #Blackhawks

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) August 6, 2020

Everyone noticed how good rookie forward Kirby Dach looked during Phase 3 training camp. That has clearly translated into actual game play so far, and he looks fantastic. He is battling along the boards for pucks and planting himself in front of the net on the first power play unit. Dach is doing everything fans want from him, and he is been rewarded by earning more and more ice time every night. So far, he has four points in three games, all of them being assists. Hopefully he gets a goal at some point, because he truly deserves it.

The Blackhawks are 1-for-6 on the power play, and that one goal came on a 5-on-3 and was an accident.

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) August 6, 2020

There is no question the Oilers’ special teams are very good, but Chicago’s power play was abysmal tonight. Outside of the five-on-three conversion, they generated little to no opportunities every time they had a man advantage. In a series that hinges on power play and penalty kill success, this team simply cannot give away prime opportunities when up a man.

https://twitter.com/DimFilipovic/status/1291229556238454784?s=20

There is not much to point out here. It is there for you to see. The Blackhawks have to do a better job at defending the right side of the net. Edmonton is getting most of their chances from this area of the ice. Crawford also needs to do a better job at controlling rebounds. While there was no game plan to plant defenders at this side of the night tonight, there needs to be one going forward or the Blackhawks will find themselves in a lot of trouble.

The Blackhawks and Oilers will be back for Game 4 on NBCSN on Friday. The game is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. CDT.

The post Along the Boards: Blackhawks defeat Oilers 4–3, take 2–1 series lead appeared first on The Rink.

In Game 2, the Oilers were led by Connor McDavid. The former Hart Trophy winner struck early and often in this contest. 

Just 19 seconds into the first period, McDavid got the Oilers on the board, as Adam Boqvist blew his assignment and left McDavid wide open.

19 seconds in. Fans weren’t even in their seats yet… #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/UQ8eDOZ9zW

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) August 4, 2020

After going up 1–0, McDavid kept his scoring jets fired up and went top shelf on Corey Crawford for the Oilers’ second goal of the game and a 2–0 advantage.

Connor McDavid’s second of the game is ridiculous pic.twitter.com/iiUElNEVN7

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) August 4, 2020

With momentum firmly on Edmonton’s side, Chicago responded with an answer of their own. When the spotlight is bright, the stars shine the brightest. One of the Blackhawks’ bright stars, Patrick Kane, cut the lead in half at 2–1 with a goal of his own.

Patrick Kane scores his first goal of the postseason and lets out a big celly. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/dHIiDorLCF

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) August 4, 2020

The chaos of the period continued, but the score at the end of the first period was Edmonton leading 2–1.

In the second period, the Oilers struck first with a goal from Tyler Ennis, pushing the gap to 3–1. The Edmonton native went five hole on Crawford from distance.

What a shot from the hometown boy.

Tyler Ennis makes it 3-1 from the point! #NHLonSN pic.twitter.com/HE2eBbMVpb

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 4, 2020

After the Ennis goal, the Oilers began their parade to the penalty box, as Edmonton committed three consecutive penalties. Despite the trio of power play chances, the Blackhawks’ special teams offense was stymied by the Oilers.

With both teams at full strength, the game got even crazier with a goal from Slater Koekkoek to cut the Chicago deficit to one at 3–2. This was Koekkoek’s first-ever postseason goal and point.

Slater Koekkoek with a beautiful shot to draw the Hawks within 1!

Stream the game: https://t.co/5Fh2WVv7vz pic.twitter.com/ajeqSbhjaF

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) August 4, 2020

The second period continued its unpredictability when fellow defensemen Olli Maatta scored the equalizer to level the score at 3–3. It was Maatta’s third postseason goal of his career and his first as a member of the Blackhawks.

We’ll take it! Maatta’s blast trickles in to tie things up.

Watch live: https://t.co/mfQ1ZBC5v2 pic.twitter.com/hzd3N9eJ4D

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) August 4, 2020

After two goals from unlikely goal scorers, the Oilers went back to the power play. Unlike the Blackhawks, McDavid was not silenced and scored his third goal of the game, notching the hat trick with less than four minutes left in the second period. This was the lone power play goal scored in the game by either team and put Edmonton ahead 4–3, the score after 40 minutes.

Connor McDavid finds twine on the shot-pass to finish the hatty!

#LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/JxOjJrg7mz

— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) August 4, 2020

After fighting valiantly for two periods, the Oilers pulled away from the Blackhawks in the third period. In a span of 40 seconds, Edmonton doubled up the Blackhawks to extend the Oiler lead to 6–3. Edmonton got goals from James Neal and Alex Chiasson to bury the Blackhawks to cap the night’s scoring.

Along the Boards

In Game 1, the Blackhawks were lead by the Jonathan Toews and Dominik Kubalik line. In Game 2, the Blackhawks’ offense was lead by Patrick Kane, Kirby Dach and Alex DeBrincat. Kane tallied one goal and one assist, while Dach and DeBrincat each marked two assists.

With Drake Caggiula serving a one-game suspension, Chicago head coach Jeremy Colliton chose to play John Quenneville in his place. Quenneville spent just 5:05 on the ice in the loss.

The Oilers made a change in net. Mike Smith started Game 1, but was replaced by Mikko Koskinen for Monday’s outing. Koskinen made 23 saves on 26 shots for an .885 save percentage.

The Blackhawks and Oilers will be back on NBCSN on Wednesday. The game is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. CDT.

The post Along the Boards: McDavid blitzes Blackhawks en route to 6–3 decision appeared first on The Rink.

The Blackhawks needed a great game in Game 1 to have any chance against the Edmonton Oilers. Fans sat in anticipation as Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews looked to take down two of the league’s best in Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. 

Despite the Blackhawks understanding the importance of this game, they proceeded to take a terrible penalty in the game’s first minute and a half. A too many men penalty sent the Oilers top powerplay unit into action. As many probably expected, Connor McDavid tallied from the left wing side of the ice to give the home team the early 1–0 lead. 

Playoff Connor: Activated. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/dOoGodqcps

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) August 1, 2020

After about six minutes of play, the Hawks’ second line had a golden opportunity. After Kane was denied on a point blank chance following an Oscar Klefbom turnover, Mike Smith mishandled the puck behind the net and right to Dylan Strome. Strome banked the puck off of Smith as he returned to his crease and tied the game for the visitors. 

The Strome's a-brewin'#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/gfGE5GClbb

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) August 1, 2020

Not too long after Strome tallied the tying mark, he preceded to draw a penalty and send the Hawks to the power play. Edmonton pushed Patrick Kane into the right wing corner, knowing he was the focal point of the power play. However, the puck squeaked out of the corner and onto the stick of Dominik Kubalik, who found Jonathan Toews wide open on a backhand pass. Toews finished top shelf against Smith and gave the Hawks the lead. 

The best leader in hockey just put the @NHLBlackhawks ahead! pic.twitter.com/rUHe86KKqK

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) August 1, 2020

In what seemed to be a momentum shift, the Blackhawks struck again. This time, a point shot from Olli Maatta was tipped in front of Smith by Brandon Saad. The puck changed direction so much that it would have been difficult to stop. The tally gave the Blackhawks an early two goal lead against the favored Oilers. 

https://twitter.com/NBCSBlackhawks/status/1289649435429879808

Hockey players always say momentum is a real thing. Well, the momentum was in favor of the Blackhawks because they were not stopping. The top line forechecked hard against the McDavid line and Brandon Saad pressured McDavid into a turnover. Kubalik found the puck and dished it to the captain who buried his second (yes, second) goal of the game and gave the Hawks a 4–1 lead early in this game.

Jonathan Toews scores his second goal of the first period and Dominik Kubalik picks up his THIRD assist. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/8k1lBqXAQK

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) August 1, 2020

The Blackhawks carried the momentum through the whole entire opening frame. The Oilers looked asleep, and Chicago was trying to put their foot on Edmonton’s hypothetical throats in this game. They had to keep it up in order to hold on though, as the Oilers still have so much fire power. 

The teams opened the second period and Edmonton found some sense of urgency. About four minutes into the period, the Oilers were able to get a goal back on the power play. Leon Draisaitl tapped home a McDavid pass after some chaos around the blue paint. Corey Crawford was a little slow to get back to his crease, leaving an open net. 

However, the Blackhawks found a way to get one back. After a Darnell Nurse penalty, Duncan Keith tee’d up Domink Kubalik for a beautiful one-timer on the right wing boards. Kubalik finished off the feed for his first goal of the day and his fourth point of the game to regain the Blackhawks’ three-goal lead. Mike Smith subsequently was pulled in favor of Mikko Koskinen after Kubalik’s one-timer.

#KubyKannon #Blackhawks #CHivsEDM #AllForOne 5-2 https://t.co/VnYqgIWUPq

— Puckin Hostile (@PuckinHostile.bsky.social) (@PuckinHostile) August 1, 2020

After plenty of back and forth action, the Blackhawks added to their already impressive lead. On the power play, yet again, Dominik Kubalik tipped a Keith shot from the point past Koskinen with about two minutes and change left in the period. The goal was Kubalik’s second goal and fifth point of the day.

ANOTHER ONE!

Dominik Kubalik redirects Duncan Keith's blast in and it's 6-2! #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/DB9Xy4uJqF

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) August 1, 2020

As action entered the third, both teams were quiet on the score sheet. With three and a half minutes remaining, the Oilers pulled Koskinen in favor of the extra attacker. The strategy worked twice for Edmonton in the span of about 35 seconds, as James Neal hammered home a puck in a scrum in front of Crawford, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tallied on a tip of a point shot. 

Despite Patrick Kane’s empty-net goal being overturned, the Blackhawks held on to win 6–4 over the favored Oilers. It was quite a game from the #12 seed Blackhawks, and the game certainly gave fans hope of what is to come.

Around the boards

Is this revenge for 2012? It’s really nice to see Mike Smith get his ass handed to him. #Blackhawks #CHivsEDM #AllForOne pic.twitter.com/xboI5J0qWZ

— Puckin Hostile (@PuckinHostile.bsky.social) (@PuckinHostile) August 1, 2020

It was nice seeing the Blackhawks enact some revenge on Mike Smith, who is almost 100% responsible for eliminating Chicago from the playoffs back in 2012. Today, the Blackhawks got Smith for five goals, and fans loved seeing him leave the game after the Kubalik one-timer on the power play. 

#Oilers not keeping their feet moving, making the #Blackhawks look quicker than them. #CHIvsEDM

— Ray Napientek (@NapsakRay) August 1, 2020

The Oilers did not look fast today; multiple Blackhawks players, including Toews, Saad, and Kubalik, made Edmonton look slow. Much of that was due to the Oilers not looking ready to play. However, instead of the Blackhawks playing down to Edmonton’s level today, they took their energy through the roof and were able to keep the Oilers in a bad situation for almost the entire game. 

4-1 #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/n39KcmU2na

— Sean Fitzgerald (@Diesal3426) August 1, 2020

Yeah, I felt that way too. I think most Blackhawks fans felt that way today after they brutally outplayed the Oilers. The key moving forward is for Chicago to keep that up. If they can sustain that level of offense, they could steal this series against Edmonton. If I’m one of the leaders on the team, I’m feeling good and letting guys feel confident, but reminding guys this is only game one, they need to win two more before they can truly experience real playoff hockey. 

The Blackhawks and Oilers will be back on NBCSN on Monday, August 3. The game is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. CDT.

The post Along the boards: Blackhawks take care of Oilers in Game 1 appeared first on The Rink.

Game 1          3 PM, Saturday, August 1
Game 2          10:30 PM, Monday, August 3
Game 3          10:30 PM, Wednesday, August 5
Game 4           Friday, August 7 (if necessary)
Game 5           Saturday, August 8 (if necessary)
(All times Eastern)

Regular season stats

Head-to-head
Chicago 2-1-0
Edmonton 1-2-0

Special teams
Edmonton power play 29.5% (1st) v. Chicago penalty kill 82.1% (t-8th)
Chicago power play 15.2% (28th) v. Edmonton Penalty kill 84.4% (2nd)

Faceoffs
Chicago         49.9% (17th)
Edmonton      49.0% (23rd)

SF/SA
Chicago         31.8/35.1
Edmonton      29.6/32.0

Avg. age/height/weight
Chicago
6’1”, 191.5 lbs, 25.4 years

Edmonton
6’2”, 197.3 lbs, 25.9 years

Projected lineups

Chicago

Dominik Kubalik – Jonathan Toews – Brandon Saad
Alex Nylander – Dylan Strome – Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat – Kirby Dach – Drake Caggiula
Matthew Highmore – Ryan Carpenter – David Kampf

Duncan Keith – Adam Boqvist
Calvin DeHaan – Connor Murphy
Slater Koekkoek – Olli Maatta

Corey Crawford/Malcolm Subban/Colin Delia

Edmonton

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Connor McDavid – Zack Kassian
Tyler Ennis – Leon Draisaitl – Kailer Yamamoto
Andreas Athanasiou – Riley Sheahan – Josh Archibald
James Neal – Jujhar Khaira – Alex Chiasson

Oscar Klefbom – Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse – Ethan Bear
Kris Russell – Matt Benning

Mikko Koskinen/Mike Smith

Analysis
This series will ride on the relative health and player status of the two teams— whether it’s quick, three game work for the Oilers, or if the Blackhawks can channel past mojo and make a four or five game contest of it.

On paper, the series tilts toward the Oilers, though that could be mitigated by the recent return to “health” of goaltender Corey Crawford. A healthy and dialed in Crawford gives the Blackhawks a chance in any series. However, in light of his absence from practices and injury history over the last two seasons, that Crawford is far from assured at this point. If Crawford plays, and plays very well in the Wednesday exhibition versus St. Louis, then consider this series a more even match than it was a week to ten days ago.

And you can argue that old stalwarts Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith also give the Hawks a chance every time they hit the ice. But the Chicago supporting cast in August 2020 pales in comparison to that of the Blackhawks last playoff series win in June 2015 (yes, it’s been that long). And that’s where this series will likely turn— in favor of the Oilers.

In any playoff series, it’s all about the matchups. And it’s usually about which team imposes itself physically on the other. Nearly across the board, the Oilers seem to be getting the better of the odds.

Special teams? A pretty clear advantage to Edmonton.

5-on-5?

Aside from the fact that the Oilers are faster than the Blackhawks, they are also bigger. In particular, as playoff hockey tends to be much less “officiated”—and clutching, grabbing and grinding on one end or other is much more prevalent—the Oilers big, nasty defense corps, led by Adam Larsson, Darnell Nurse, and Oscar Klefbom, will have a huge advantage against a basically pretty soft and somewhat inexperienced Chicago forward group. While Alex Nylander, Dylan Sikura, and Kirby Dach have been at times dominant in no/low contact intra-team scrimmages, as they say, there ain’t nothin’ like the real thing, baby.

The Oilers are going to target and try to intimidate these players from the first puck drop. Add Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat to the Oilers’ list as well. And don’t think of it so much as running around for big hits, but bodying younger, smaller Chicago forwards off of pucks, an elbow here, a cross check there, seeing how quickly the young Hawk forwards will start pulling up early, quitting on pucks, and otherwise daydreaming about golf season.

Playoff goals tend to be a lot more greasy than those in the regular season, and a pure perimeter team (which is what the Columbus Blue Jackets turned the heretofore “greatest team in recorded history,” the Tampa Bay Lightning, into last April in a four-game sweep) tends to fold like a tent in the postseason. Unless the Hawks can muster a lot of pushback, this is Edmonton’s game plan.

It’s not like these Oilers are the 1983 version of themselves either, but they are a team on the rise and with good reason. All Everything centers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are essentially this decade’s Crosby and Malkin. This duo gives Oil head coach Dave Tippett the ability to roll two potent scoring lines or load up putting both of the superstars out at the same time. Consider this, McDavid and Draisaitl were on pace for 114 and 127 points respectively when the regular season ended in March. Sure you can argue: stop them and stop the Oilers. But beyond Toews, the Hawks don’t seem to have the horses down the middle to get that done.

Assume Toews will be out against McDavid or Draisaitl. But if Toews takes one, that means Dylan Strome or perhaps Kirby Dach or Ryan Carpenter must take the other: a massive mismatch up and down the ice. Dach may emerge over the next couple of years as a fine NHL player. But a recent stellar performance in no-contact team scrimmages does not mean “yeah, roll him out against McDavid, no problem.”

There was a time when Joel Quenneville could do the same with Kane and Toews, but this is 2020, Kane and Toews are both to varying degrees not quite what they were five to seven years ago, and Hawk head coach Jeremy Colliton is no Quenneville either.

Quite frankly, he has not proved he’s in Tippett’s league.

You almost feel sorry for Colliton in this series. Hell, with the slow slide to mediocrity the Hawk front office has facilitated for the last five years, you feel sorry for him all the time.

Regardless, he’s going to be highly challenged trying to matchup with the speed and size of the Oilers, and always in Edmonton’s building.

Does Chicago have any chance in this series?

Well, no one really knows how “healthy” Crawford is except the player himself and perhaps his doctor. And even then, with COVID-19, there is ample and growing evidence that even young, otherwise healthy patients can have mild symptoms followed by “negative” tests for several days—then suddenly fall off a cliff.

We do know Crawford is unlikely to be 100% dialed in after four months off and a week of practice. And then he is going to see a lot of rubber night in and night out. That’s if he even plays in game 1, or then past game 1. Remember, we were all told Brent Seabrook was going to play until we heard he couldn’t.

Everyone at Hawks camp keeps raving about the strides taken by 2019 #3 overall selection Kirby Dach, but if there’s one other Hawk X-factor in this series, it may be 2018 #8 overall selection Adam Boqvist.

Boqvist could literally go either way in this series, getting caught way too far up ice or out of position and end up with Michelin tracks all over him—or he could rise up to the promise of his exceptional mobility and offensive talent and really give the Oilers an unexpected problem. Or both. But more likely the former than the latter, because again, we’re lighting candles here.

Finally, if Chicago can surprise the Oil in Game 1, take two of the first three, and Crawford plays, it goes five and will be a nail-biter. But . . .

Prediction

Oilers in 4 if Crawford plays. Oilers sweep if he doesn’t.

The post Blackhawks at Oilers/Round 1 Play-In Preview appeared first on The Rink.

From the onset, both teams came out with great speed. Edmonton seemed to dominate possession early on but the Blackhawks were able to get some good looks on Oilers goalie Mike Smith. Brandon Saad was found alone in front of the net just four minutes in but was stopped by Smith. Just four minutes later Jonathan Toews had a breakaway but was denied on his five-hole attempt.

At the 11:17 mark, the league’s best power play was given their first chance as Ryan Carpenter was called for holding. Edmonton held possession for almost the entire power play but were denied several times by Crawford.

Three minutes after the penalty kill the Blackhawks scored the first goal of the game on a beautiful move by Patrick Kane. Kane’s 30th goal of the year was set up by Dylan Strome and Alex Nylander.

Patrick Kane is now a five-time NHL 30-goal scorer. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/KiwH68i79Z

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 6, 2020

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The second period the Blackhawks absolutely dominated the Oilers and took over the game. Toews scored his 18th of the season just 47 seconds in on a wrap around to get the momentum going.

Alex DeBrincat came through with two goals in the second period. Both goals were very similar. Snap shots from the top of the circles with Drake Caggiula providing a screen out front. DeBrincat now has 18 goals on the season. Between the two DeBrincat goals, the Oilers finally got on the board with a goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. His 21st goal of the year.

The Blackhawks dominated the period outshooting the Oilers 14–4. After DeBrincat scored his second goal to make the game 4–1, Edmonton pulled goalie Mike Smith. Smith was replaced by Mikko Koskinen.

#Oilers goalie Mike Smith is not happy. pic.twitter.com/Wa29KGDjZS

— Second City Hockey (@2ndCityHockey) March 6, 2020

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The third period started out well for the Blackhawks but the high flying Oilers eventually made it a close game. Edmonton scored two goals just 49 seconds apart at the 8:03 and 8:52 minute marks of the period.

The first goal was scored on a two on one by Josh Archibald from a beautiful pass by Zack Kassian. There was confusion near the Blackhawks bench as to who was staying on the ice which led to a turnover and a goal by Archibald. The second goal scored in the period for Edmonton was by Kailer Yamamoto. His shot went in and out of the net so fast that no one else knew that he scored. The game continued but was eventually stopped and the play was reviewed. It did not take long to see that the puck went in and it was now a one goal game at 4–3.

WIth two minutes left in the game, Edmonton pulled their goalie but were not able to get off many good chances on Chicago goalie Corey Crawford. Crawford ended up with 21 saves in the game. With the Hawks chasing the last wildcard spot in the West, it was two huge points to gain especially against one of the top teams in the conference.

Late in the second period, Blackhawks defensemen Lucas Carlsson took a puck to the side of the head. He went down on the ice and it appeared that his ear was bleeding. He left the game and did not return. It was reported that Carlsson will travel with the team for it’s tonight against Detroit game but not sure if he will be available to play.

Lucas Carlsson takes a puck to the side of his head and goes straight to the dressing room. Ouch. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/rgIc7sZFOX

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 6, 2020

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#Blackhawks improve to 89-8-5 all-time when Patrick Kane & Jonathan Toews both score a goal in the same game (regular season); 6-0 in playoffs.

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) March 6, 2020

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The Blackhawks are now four points back of the last wild card spot in the Western Conference. Their next game is Friday night against the Detroit Red WIngs.

The post Along the Boards: Blackhawks survive vs Edmonton to win fourth straight appeared first on The Rink.

This morning, head coach Jeremy Colliton announced that Dylan Strome would be a healthy scratch. Robin Lehner got the start in net.

The Oilers got an early lead in the game. Zack Kassian‘s original shot was blocked by Alex DeBrincat, went off the pad of Lehner, and bounced right to Riley Sheahan for an easy tap-in goal.

Sheahan gets us on the board in a hurry. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/uMBtRPTWpl

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 12, 2020

About four minutes later, Patrick Kane streaked into the zone and patiently waited for Brandon Saad to follow him in. Saad beat Kassian to the net, and Kane sent a cross-crease pass right to the stick of the winger to tie the game at one goal apiece.

WHAT. A. PLAY!

Kaner is now tied for 𝟖𝟖𝐭𝐡 on the career points list with 1,006 AND the Blackhawks ties this one up: https://t.co/Zb0aASqEuf pic.twitter.com/o2cztktcSf

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) February 12, 2020

After taking a penalty just over five minutes into the first period, the penalty kill went to work. Olli Maatta battled for the puck along the boards in the Oilers’ offensive zone and sent it to Jonathan Toews. He passed to Ryan Carpenter on the blue line, who then slipped it across the ice to the captain for a shorthanded goal and a 2-1 lead.

Who needs 5 guys anyway? pic.twitter.com/e9yrg9qwyT

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) February 12, 2020

Then, after a questionable penalty call on Jonathan Toews for “tripping,” the Kailer Yamamoto tied it back up on Edmonton’s power play when Chicago failed to clear the zone.

Early into the second period, the Blackhawks found themselves on a rush down the ice. Kane beat Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and slipped a pass to a yawning Adam Boqvist, who directed it right by Mike Smith to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead.

When Kaner tells Boqer "Nice shot!"

Watch live: https://t.co/mfQ1ZBC5v2 pic.twitter.com/DFeRyKheNr

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 12, 2020

Not even two minutes later, the Oilers tied it up yet again. The original shot by Nugent-Hopkins hit Lehner’s pad, but Yamamoto found the loose puck right and deposited it into the net for his second of the game. That’s a puck your goalie just has to stop, but no defensive coverage in front of him didn’t help either.

Kailer Yamamoto, big equalizer guy. That's two on the night. @kailer_yamamoto | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/vR4dckaENc

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 12, 2020

The Oilers then went to the power play on another questionable call, and they capitalized. Smith sent a pass all the way down to Nugent-Hopkins. Leon Draisaitl then threw it on net before Nugent-Hopkins converted on the man advantage to give Edmonton a 4-3 lead.

8 goals, 13 assists & 21 points in his last 15. The Nuge has moved from heating up to full on-fire status. @RNH_93 | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/NXuMUmYJNo

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 12, 2020

As the game continued, the Blackhawks had a surplus of chances. The power play started off awful, but eventually got better the more time they received on the advantage. Chicago put six shots on net during their third power play of the game.

Despite dominating the third period in shot attempts (28-6), shots on goal (18-5), scoring chances (12-3), and high-danger chances (6-1), the Blackhawks couldn’t put the puck in the back of the net again to tie it up. Draisaitl scored the empty-netter and the Oilers handed Chicago their fourth-straight loss.

Along the Boards

pic.twitter.com/IECNo15xdx

— Second City Hockey (@2ndCityHockey) February 12, 2020

For the third game in a row, questionable calls were made. This “trip” that the officials called on Jonathan Toews was nothing of sorts. Instead, the Edmonton player fell right over the linesman’s skate, but the crew still deemed it a penalty. So instead of the call being overturned by the linesman, the Oilers go on the advantage and tie the game.

They made another bad call in the second period, dinging Zack Smith for slashing (rightly so) but not getting Gaetan Haas for holding the stick, which is what clearly happened before Smith slashed them. What should’ve been coincidental minors ended up being a power play for Edmonton, and they scored the game-winning goal.

Officiating gets worse and worse every night.

GOAL: Boqvist from Kane. 3-2 Blackhawks. Kane with two unreal primary assists tonight.

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 12, 2020

This isn’t about Kane having two ridiculous assists tonight, which he did, but more about Boqvist scoring the 3-2 goal. I loved watching him join the rush with Kane on this play. We all know he’s offensively talented, and that shows when he’s on the power play. But plays like this are where he can make a difference on the offense, because he’s not afraid to act as the fourth forward at times.

And while that sometimes can end up being a bad thing if he’s behind a rush the other way, Boqvist has been steadily improving defensively every night. He’s a joy to watch, and much like Kirby Dach, it’s awesome to see him grow. I think he’s going to turn into a much better defenseman than we anticipated if he can continue to up his defensive game.

Due to the medical emergency involving Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, tonight’s game has been postponed and will be made up at a later date. #stlblues

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) February 12, 2020

#stlblues telecast says Jay Bouwmeester was alert and responsive as he was being taken to the hospital. @Panger40 reported that a defibrillator was “close by” and #stlblues and #nhlducks trainers and doctors were on the case immediately.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 12, 2020

Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester collapsed on the bench during the first period of their game against the Anaheim Ducks tonight. He was transported to the hospital and is alert. The Blues and Ducks postponed the game to a later date due to the medical emergency. All of us here at The-Rink are sending thoughts to Bouwmeester, his family, and the St. Louis Blues organization. We wish him the best in his recovery.

The Blackhawks will continue their western Canadian road trip tomorrow when they take on the Vancouver Canucks. Daniel and Henrik Sedin will have their jerseys retired in a pre-game ceremony. Puck drop is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CST. 

The post Along the boards: Blackhawks drop fourth in a row, defeated by Oilers 5-3 appeared first on The Rink.

The #Oilers are in on Saad but like Toffoli, Saad will have multiple teams interested. His ankle injury is considered relatively minor. Worth keeping an eye on. https://t.co/seNFLfbuzH

— Kurt Leavins (@KurtLeavins) December 30, 2019

Considering that the Blackhawks are currently one of the bottom ten teams in the NHL and last in their division, this kind of talk should come as no surprise to the Chicago faithful. Despite Saad’s ankle injury and subsequent trip to the long term injured reserve list, the Western Conference foes value his modest $6 million cap hit and steady production. Leavins and Spector go on to state that the additional year on his current contract (following this season) has been a bit of a stumbling block instead of being just a typical trade deadline playoff rental.

With both teams having (alleged) depth on their defense, organizationally, this kind of deal might interest Stan Bowman. Saad’s age, experience, and consistent production is just what a playoff bound team could use on the left side.

The 2011 second-round draft pick is in his second stint with the Blackhawks after originally getting traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the summer of 2015. He was re-acquired in the much maligned Artemi Panarin trade on June 23, 2017. This season, Saad is fifth on the Blackhawks in scoring with 19 points (11 goals, 8 assists).

The-Rink’s very own John Jaeckel estimates Saad’s trade value to these clubs as potentially returning a mid to late first-round pick, a young player and a solid prospect. Edmonton has some very young defensemen like Evan Bouchard and Philip Broberg, while the Avalanche have a plethora of young promising defensemen such as this year’s first-round draft pick Bowen Byram. Those players may or may not be in available, but Stan Bowman should definitely be inquiring about players of that level of pedigree.

Another player that is undoubtedly available in Edmonton is 2016 fourth overall pick Jesse Puljujärvi who has been holding out from signing with the Oilers and is currently playing in Finland with Oulun Kärpät of Liiga.

What could a Saad-to-Edmonton/Colorado trade fetch for Stan Bowman and the Blackhawks? Register for our message board and comment below!

The post REPORT: Oilers and Avalanche inquiring about Brandon Saad appeared first on The Rink.