The Edmonton Oilers have been struggling lately, and have really had a rough time against the Western Conference this season, going 0-9-1 against the West before tonight. But the ‘Hawks have had trouble in the past against Edmonton, and sure, you can’t overlook any team in the NHL these days.
But this game turned out exactly the way we all thought it would, with the Blackhawks just dominating the Oilers from start to finish on their way to a 7-1 victory.
Chicago didn’t waste any time tonight, getting off to yet another quick start, but unlike last game, they didn’t let Edmonton get back into this one. Jonathan Toews got the ‘Hawks on the board first, after a pretty pass from Brandon Saad that Toews was able to get a handle on and then make a great move to get the puck past Scrivens. Marcus Kruger sniped a shot up and in to give the ‘Hawks a 2-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
Chicago made it 3-0 when Marian Hossa got the puck right to a wide-open Brent Seabrook, who blasted a bomb of a shot past Scrivens. Toews was later given credit for the goal, as he apparently got a stick on it before it went in.
The Blackhawks continued adding to their lead on a 5-on-3 man advantage. Versteeg ended up getting credit for the goal, though the puck went in off of Andrew Ference’s stick. On the remaining power play time, Marian Hossa got rewarded with a rebound goal that ended Ben Scrivens’ night after giving up five goals.
Viktor Fasth could not stop the bleeding for Edmonton, as Duncan Keith got the ‘Hawks sixth goal just four minutes into the second period. It stayed quiet until Edmonton ended the shutout in the third period, with David Perron deflecting one in past Crawford. Kris Versteeg made a nice pass to Patrick Kane, who now has four goals and four assists in his last four games, to put Chicago up 7-1 and that was it for this one.
Other Thoughts
- Corey Crawford was supposed to have the night off, but Antti Raanta was too sick to start. Crow made some nice saves, but in the end, wasn’t challenged too much. Hopefully he’ll be able to get a night off sometime soon.
- Phillip Danault made his NHL debut tonight. He may not have showed up on the scoresheet, but he drew a penalty in the third and didn’t look afraid or nervous at any point of the game. Solid debut for the kid.
- Q began to rest some of his big guns once the ‘Hawks were up 6-0 and rightly so. With this being the first of back-to-back games, and with 3 games in 4 days coming up at the end of the trip, it was nice to have Q truly rolling four lines and see everybody with at least 10 minutes of ice time.
- Marian Hossa is off to one of the slowest starts of his career, but you knew it was only a matter of time before he had a big night. Hoss put up four points and just looked dominating and in control all night. Hopefully a game like this was the offensive spark he needed.
The ‘Hawks will be back at it quickly, taking on the Vancouver Canucks tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m.