The Chicago Blackhawks welcomed in the Edmonton Oilers to the United Center last night and dropped a heartbreaker of a game in a 6–5 loss.
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.