The Chicago Blackhawks picked up their first win of the season on Saturday night in a bit of an unexpected fashion: they knocked off the defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on the road.
Just like we all predicted, right?
Anyway, the first goal of the game came with just about four minutes remaining, as Philipp Kurashev started the sequence by winning a draw in the offensive zone and then finished the sequence by neatly redirecting a point shot from Taylor Hall:
Corey Perry tied the game at one at the 4:55 mark of the second period. It won’t be posted here because Corey Perry sucks.
Later in the second, in what would become a theme of the night, Chicago added a power-play goal when Seth Jones got this point shot past Edmonton goalie Calvin Pickard:
A few minutes later, Connor Bedard finally cashed in on one of the opportunities he’d been generating all night with this largely solo effort that resulted in a goal and a 3-1 Chicago advantage:
The power-play success continued early in the third as Teuvo Teravainen scored when his apparent attempt at a centering pass hit traffic and found its way into the Oilers’ goal:
Edmonton added a power-play goal of its own in the middle of the third to make it a 4-2 game, but that was as close as the Oilers would get on the scoreboard. In the final minute, Teuvo scored his second of the night for his fourth point overall just to make sure this game was put to bed:
Notes
All of the 5-on-5 data will proclaim this game as a comically lopsided affair in favor of Edmonton, which makes sense considering that the three-goal advantage Chicago enjoyed at the end can be chalked up to those three power-play goals. Edmonton is clearly the better team on paper and was the better team on ice for large swatches of this game, save for its ability to solve Petr Mrazek enough to matter. Sports are funny like that sometimes.
We were neither the first nor the only publication to point out that Mrazek hasn’t really put together back-to-back solid seasons at any point of his career. Would not expect that to suddenly change now that he’s over a decade into his NHL tenure but keeping that potent of an offense to just two goals when it had plenty of chances for more is a significant point in Mrazek’s favor.
The other thing about Chicago being so wildly outplayed at 5-on-5 and relying heavily on its goaltending and power play to get the win is that this team does possess one remedy for those moments when it’s being overwhelmed: Connor Bedard, who can create a goal out of precious little, just as he did in this game for what proved to be the winning goal.
There are just so many things to like about that Bedard goal. There’s the general approach of it all, which felt like the equivalent of Bedard saying “Get me the puck and get out of my way.” He so expertly used all of the tools at his disposal to set up the shot angle in such a manner that the Edmonton D attempting to block the shot merely screened his own goalie instead. And the confidence to do all of that when — say it with us — he’s still just NINETEEN YEARS OLD sometimes feels impossible. But it’s very much the reality, and what a reality it is.
Bedard had an extra jump in his game from the opening whistle, as indicated by this absurd pass he made to Teuvo in the first period that nearly led to a goal:
It’s probably lost on those of us here in the states how big of a deal it is for Canadian-born players to play on Hockey Night in Canada, which was the occasion for Bedard and the Hawks tonight. The obvious comparison here is for the Sunday/Monday night games during the NFL season, when the national attention on the game ramps up the atmosphere a touch. Bedard seemed to feel that and he also seemed to rise to meet the moment, which can inspire some optimism about what he’ll do when brighter spotlights like those in the postseason land on his agenda.
Also: yeah, it’s early, but the Teuvo/Bedard chemistry seems to be blossoming already.
One little thing on that second Teuvo goal: heck of a cross-ice pass from Alex Vlasic to set it up. That was a bit of a garbage goal based on the the situation, so we won’t get carried away with it, but it’s still worth some recognition.
None of what happened in this game is a recipe for long-term success for this team, so let’s not treat it like anything other than the anomaly it almost certainly is. But Bedard showed out on a national stage and the Hawks probably have made some Western Canada media member ready to declare the Oilers dead just two games into an 82-game season. Enjoy it for what it’s worth.
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Connor Bedard (CHI) — 1 goal, 2 assists
- Petr Mrazek (CHI) — 36 saves on 38 shots
- Teuvo Teravainen (CHI) — 2 goals, 2 assists
What’s Next
The Blackhawks remain in Alberta for a few days before wrapping up this road trip on Tuesday night against the Calgary Flames at 8 p.m.