Blackhawks win 5th straight with 6-2 victory over Oilers

After four straight penalties to the Blackhawks during the first period that gave the Oilers two 5-on-3’s and a 2-1 lead, the Hawks scored five straight goals in the third period. Four of those goals were scored in a span of 2:48 minutes.

Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 12 games, Alex DeBrincat registered his 100th NHL point, and Drake Caggiula scored in his first game against his former team.

The Hawks are now riding a five-game winning streak, their longest of the season.

How it Happened

The Blackhawks started the game noticeably strong. They were making tape-to-tape stretch passes through the neutral zone and were dominating possession. It was only a matter of time before the Hawks would draw a penalty or generate a dangerous scoring chance.

Two minutes into the first period, the Hawks got their power play opportunity and scored right off the draw. Jonathan Toews won the face-off back to Erik Gustafsson who walked the line and took a wrist shot that went short side on Edmonton goalie Cam Talbot.

Toews picked up his 29th assist of the season on the goal and extended his point streak to five games.

Following their power play goal, the Hawks continued to roll all four lines, were generating lots of speed through the neutral zone with clean passes, and were winning puck battles below the goal line.

John Hayden was able to draw a penalty after forcing a turnover in the offensive zone and it sent the Hawks to their second power play of the game. They failed to convert, but have scored on 19 out of their last 47 opportunities, which is good for a 40.4-percent conversion rate.

After about 16-minutes of impressive play by the Hawks, Connor Murphy took a boarding call that gave the Oilers a chance to get back in the game. Shortly after the penalty, Leon Draisaitl was able to find a bouncing puck off a rebound for his 30th of the season to tie the game 1-1.

Then the Hawks had a mental lapse for the last three minutes of the first period. They took three straight penalties that gave the Oilers two 5-on-3 chances. On the first two-man advantage, Draisatil scored on a one timer off a pass by Connor McDavid.

The second 5-on-3 carried over into the second period, and Cam Ward was able to make a few big stops to get the Blackhawks back to even strength.

Escaping that mental lapse sparked the Hawks, who started to fire shots on net, drive possession, and had multiple A+ chances to tie the game. Ward and the Toews, Kane, and Caggiula line had a really solid period, and the momentum was clearly back in favor of the Hawks going into the third period down 2-1.

The Hawks exploded offensively in the third period. It all started with a forced turnover by Marcus Kruger along the wall in the offensive zone. Kruger got the puck back and found John Hayden backdoor to tie the game at two.

Hayden’s goal opened the floodgates on Talbot and the Hawks scored three goals in 1:15 minutes.

Dylan Strome scored his third goal his last five games on a 3-on-3 into the zone when he took a rising shot through a Darnell Nurse screen.

A mere 28 second later, Artem Anisimov took a shot towards Talbot as he crossed over the blue line. Brandon Saad tried to put home the rebound, but it bounced to Kane who was flying into the zone unnoticed. Kane tapped it home for his 32nd goal of the season and extended his point streak to 12 games.

The onslaught continued on Mikko Koskinen, who replaced Talbot after Kane’s goal.

Caggiula then earned some cheers from the disgruntled Edmonton crowd when he snapped home a slick pass from Toews who was circling around the net. It was Caggiula’s second goal with the Hawks and he now has four points in his last three games.

Near the end of a power play, Brent Seabrook drifted over the blue line and found Dominik Kahun backdoor who redirected a knee-high pass into the net. It was the Blackhawks second power play goal of the game and Kahun’s ninth of the season.

The Blackhawks continued to press and could have scored a couple more goals. It was some of the best offensive possession the Blackhawks have had all season and the Oilers were lucky they only lost 6-2 on home ice.

Three Stars

1. Patrick Kane (1 goal, 1 assist, 4 shots, 23:44 TOI)

2. Jonathan Toews (2 assists, 4 shots, won 56-percent of his draws, 20:31 TOI)

3. Dominik Kahun (1 goal, 1 assist, 3 shots)

What’s next?

The Blackhawks head back to Chicago and the United Center to take on the Canucks at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.