After a lengthy break to start the month of March, the Blackhawks returned to action on Friday night, as the Edmonton Oilers came to town. Many people consider the Oilers to be a push over and a gimme in the win column, but as we learned last time the Hawks visited Edmonton, there is no such thing. Friday night proved that theory correct, again.
The opening frame tonight featured several chances for teams, with Ben Scrivens making a few spectacular saves, to keep the Blackhawks off the scoreboard. While the Hawks failed to convert their chances, the Oilers managed to capitalize on one of theirs late in the first to give them a 1-0 lead after one. During the first period, the Oilers managed to get 18 shots on net. Good to know that Corey Crawford was on task, since the defense wasn't.
The Blackhawks opened the second period with an early power play, and despite having a couple of decent opportunities, once again, they couldn't get one past Scrivens. As the play went on during the second, Scrivens started to put on a goaltending clinic, making stellar save after stellar save. Its no wonder they call him The Professor. After a somewhat evenly matched second period, the game remained 1-0 with the Oilers in the lead.
As the third period got underway, the Blackhawks came out with a lot more energy than the first two periods, and peppered the Oilers net with shots left and right. Unfortunately the turnovers also continued, and the Hawks were lucky that one of those Oilers chances off of a turnover hit the post instead of the twine. Finally, just past the midway point of the third, Brent Seabrook fired a puck past a screened Ben Scrivens to tie the game at one. Even though the Hawks played a much better third period than rest of the game, we'd stay tied at one and head to overtime.
In overtime, the end to end chances continued, with a Brent Seabrook redirect of a Marian Hossa pass being the closest to ending the game. In the end though, the extra frame would wind up scoreless, and we'd head to a shootout. In the shootout, Crawford would stop all three Edmonton attempts, while Antoine Vermette would score in the third round for the Hawks, to give the Hawks the win. Yes, the Blackhawks did win the game, but this was hardly a win to be patting yourself on the back for. It was a textbook U-G-L-Y win.
The Good
- Stunning that I'm going to say, as a former goalie, this goaltending display put on by Corey Crawford and Ben Scrivens was phenominal. Who says we need more scoring in hockey to make the game more exciting?
- Its nice to say, the Blackhawks had a good night at the faceoff dot, as they won 29 of 49 faceoffs. Not to mention, Toews was 69%. Nice work Yanic Perreault.
- Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Seabrook were the two best defensemen tonight. Hjalmarsson had an extra jump in his step tonight, while Seabrook had the Hawks lone regulation goal.
- The #80 jerseys will be flying off the shelves tomorrow morning, as Antoine Vermette recorded the shootout winner.
- I'll throw this in just for Gate, Andrew Desjardins had 7, yes 7 hits in just over 9 minutes of ice time. How's that for MOAR GRIT and SANDPAPER???!!!
The Bad
- Despite being noticeably better, Brad Richards has now gone 22 games without a goal. Ouch. Somewhere Michal Handzus is laughing.
- The words "shootout win over the Edmonton Oilers" isn't something you should be thrilled about. Much like Monday against the Hurricanes, you should beat a team like the Oilers by a 5-1 margin. Okay, I get, I'm being Mr. Negativity.
- As teams start catching up to the Blackhawks in the standings, its worth noting that shootout wins don't count when it comes to playoff tie breakers.
The Ugly
- We've beaten this before, but its worth repeating. If Teuvo is going to be in Chicago, then why isn't he playing? Sitting in the press box next to Gorilla Salad is not going to develop his game. If anything, its going to hurt his development if Salad tries to give him some pointers.
- I'm not joking when I say the Oilers had 47 shots on net. Yes, the Blackhawks gave up 47 shots to the Oilers.
- Despite having a few good opportunities, I've seen better hands on a clock than that of the line of Bickell/Richards/Desjardins.
- Unofficially the Blackhawks had 8 giveaways tonight. Time to clean up the sloppy play.
- Seriously, if you didn't enjoy that goaltending clinic tonight, and say hockey needs more scoring to "be more exciting" then hockey isn't your sport.