After another disappointing game Friday night, the Chicago Blackhawks are right back in action on Saturday, returning to the United Center to face the Oilers in the second game of a back-to-back.
The Oilers are wrapping up a four-game road trip with a visit to Chicago, looking to rebound from a 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins that ended their four-game win streak. The first period doomed the Oilers, who fell behind 4-1 in the first period. Despite Edmonton outshooting Pittsburgh 43-26 and the former’s stars trying their best — Leon Draisaitl scored twice and Connor McDavid had three assists — the team was unable to recover in the final 40 minutes. However, the loss was uncharacteristic, and with a solid 7-2-1 record over their last 10 games, the Oilers remain a team to watch as they aim to strengthen their position in the standings. They currently sit third in the Pacific Division, tied with the Los Angeles Kings in points (53) but having played two more games.
The Oilers greatest weakness is in net, where the team has just a combined .894 save percentage, which is ranked 16th in the NHL this season.
Of course, when a team has the firepower the Oilers have in their top two stars, it’s usually pretty easy to outscore their issues in net. Draisaitl leads the NHL with 31 goals and is second in points with 61 in 41 games, though Connor McDavid has a slightly better points-per-game rate of 1.53 (58 in 38). Zach Hyman with 24 points (13 G, 11 A) in 36 games and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with 24 points (11 G, 13 A) in 40 games are the only other two forwards over a 0.5 PPG pace on the team, but they have two other players close: Connor Brown and Viktor Arvidsson both at 0.46 PPG. Otherwise, the forward group is shallow in production but fairly solid defensively.
Evan Bouchard (0.76) leads the defenders while Darnell Nurse (0.45), Mattias Ekholm (0.44), and Brett Kulak (0.34) round out the top-four. The way the Oilers run their defense is well-balanced too: everyone in the top-four plays an average of at least 20 minutes with no one close to 25 minutes a night on the regular.
As for the Oilers lines against the Blackhawks, they made at least one adjustment up top from when they played the Penguins: Brown and Hyman are swapped on the first and third lines. McDavid was at his Erie Otters jersey retirement ceremony on Friday, so Jeff Skinner was a placeholder on the top line.
The @EdmontonOilers practice in Chicago
— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) January 10, 2025
(McDavid in Erie for Jersey Retirement)
J.Skinner-RNH-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Arvidsson
Janmark-Henrique-C.Brown
Perry-Ryan-Kapanen
Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Stecher/J. Brown
Kulak-Emberson
Pickard
S.Skinner
It unknown at this time which goaltender will be in net, but both Stuart Skinner (16-9-3) and Calvin Pickard (9-4-0) have identical .898 save-percentages this season, so quality will be similar either way.
Like the Oilers, the Blackhawks are also coming off a loss where one period was absolutely terrible, it’s just a much more regular occurrence for the home team. The Blackhawks opened the Detroit game well, but an abysmal second period that bled into the start of the third, when they were completely dominated, led to the Blackhawks being down 4-1 with just over 10 minutes left to play in the game. Teuvo Teravainen scored twice to make the game interesting, but it wasn’t enough and the Red Wings won 5-3. Connor Bedard notched an assist to extend his point streak to nine games, and Petr Mrazek stopped 23 shots for the Blackhawks in the loss.
With Bedard’s assist, he now has a chance to hit 100 points against Edmonton. Bedard did well the first time these two teams faced off this season back in October: he scored his first goal of the season and had two assists, helping Chicago win 5-2.
📰 ➡︎ https://t.co/vArZeuzIET
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 11, 2025
🔴Connor Bedard is the third teenager in franchise history with a nine-game point streak and currently sits at 99 career NHL points pic.twitter.com/zKT3gyRxcO
The Blackhawks did not hold a morning skate Saturday, so their lines against the Oilers are unknown at this time. It’s possible there will be a shake-up after the latest loss or there may only be a small change like Lukas Reichel in for Philipp Kurashev.
Arvid Soderblom is likely in net since Mrazek played Friday.
Blackhawks — Statistic — Oilers
45.04% (31st) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 53.94% (3rd)
44.98% (30th) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 54.37% (4th)
2.55 (29th) — Goals per game — 3.29 (8th)
3.40 (28th) — Goals against per game — 2.78 (10th)
44.2% (31st) — Faceoffs — 53.5% (3rd)
23.1% (12th) — Power play — 24.00% (8th)
83.6% (5th) — Penalty kill — 76.6% (24th)
(All stats from this season)
How to watch
When: 6 p.m. CT
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: CHSN
Webstream: ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720