McDavid, Oilers shut out Blackhawks
Two-and-a-half minutes.
That's all it took for the legend of Connor McDavid to come to life for Blackhawks fans Monday night in a 5-0 Edmonton Oilers victory at Rogers Place.
On just his second shift of the night, McDavid took the puck from in front of his net and raced through the neutral zone with Nick Schmaltz in hot pursuit … for a second anyway.
After leaving Schmaltz in the dust, Gustav Forsling attempted to slow McDavid down, but that looked like a Yugo trying to keep up with a Ferrari.
At this point, McDavid was all alone behind the Hawks' net and he dished the puck out front, where Oscar Klefbom proceeded to bomb a shot right past Corey Crawford to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead just 2:37 into the game.
The speed, the stickhandling, the speed, the moves (did we mention the SPEED?), the on-ice awareness - it was all on full display during that incredible sequence, and Edmonton went on to hand the Hawks just their second regulation loss in 15 games.
"The McDavid kid's special," coach Joel Quenneville told reporters. "He absorbs a lot of attention. He's got some good play recognition, and he can change a situation rather quickly."
Because he broke his clavicle last season, this was the Hawks' first chance to play against McDavid, the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft. He finished with 2 assists, which give him a league-leading 24 points on the season.
The Oilers, which snapped a five-game skid Saturday, have won two in a row by a combined 10-2 score.
The Hawks (13-5-2) fell to 2-2 on the circus trip. They have trailed in all four games.
"You find yourself behind the 8-ball again, and you're not going to be able come back every time," said Patrick Kane.
Edmonton (11-8-1) led 2-0 after one period and took a 3-0 lead with 7.6 seconds left in the second when Andrej Sekera beat Crawford just after a power play had expired.
"You can't give up leads like this," Quenneville said. "We didn't generate enough traffic at the net. Had some shots, but not the ones that make it tough on the goaltender."
Crawford (22 saves) allowed a couple of goals he'd been stopping in past games, but Quenneville wasn't about to get down on his goalie.
"Crow's been great for us all year," Quenneville said. "So it's one game and we'll move ahead here. He's been one of the biggest reasons why we've gotten off to the start we've had."
Said Crawford: "It was just one of those games where nothing was going right. Everything they touched was going in."
The Blackhawks' most noticeable player was Vinnie Hinostroza, who tallied his first NHL goal during Saturday's 4-3 OT win in Vancouver. The Bartlett native nearly scored again when he made a sensational move around an Oilers defenseman with 6:10 left in the second period, but goalie Cam Talbot (31 saves) stopped a quick wrister from just a few feet away.
• The Rockford IceHogs have broken out of their slump, winning three of their last four games. Brandon Mashinter had a hat trick in a 3-0 win over Charlotte on Nov. 12, Tanner Kero had a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over Iowa on Wednesday, and Erik Gustafsson scored twice in a 5-4 shootout win over Texas on Saturday. Rockford (7-8-1) will play at the Chicago Wolves on Saturday.