Focused Hawks slip by Oilers
Some teams simply give the Blackhawks fits — and the Edmonton Oilers are one of them.
But in the end Sunday, the Hawks made sure the misery continued for the Oilers in a 5-4 win at the United Center.
Trailing 2-1 late in the second period, the Hawks scored 4 of the next 6 goals. Marcus Kruger snapped a 3-3 tie at 11:44 of the third period when he took a pass from Ben Smith and wrapped it around the leg of Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk.
Duncan Keith’s first goal of the season gave the Hawks a 2-goal lead they would need after Jordan Eberle struck short-handed at 18:32.
That’s 8 losses in nine games for the reeling Oilers, who might want to speed up goalie Ilya Bryzgalov’s conditioning stint in the minors. The Oilers, who have allowed 36 goals in those nine games, signed the free-agent Bryzgalov on Friday.
“Better effort (but) still lots to work on,” said Oilers coach Dallas Eakins. “That’s a very good hockey team over there. I thought our guys worked hard and competed hard and found a way to stay in it.”
It’s too bad the Oilers can’t play the Hawks every night.
“These guys have a great track record against us,” said Bryan Bickell, one of the Hawks’ five different goal scorers. “A couple games last year they kind of hit us pretty good and we wanted revenge. We’re just happy to get the 2 points.”
Two of Edmonton’s goals came on the power play, where the Oilers’ speed and skill is especially noticeable.
“They have a lot of skilled forwards and it seems we make a few more mistakes against these guys than we should and they’re able to capitalize,” Keith said. “They’re a younger team and probably get excited. We always seem to take penalties against this team and they’re able to capitalize on their power play against us.”
Hawks coach Joel Quenneville did everything he could to remind his team not to take the Oilers lightly, even starting goalie Corey Crawford in back-to-back games.
“It was a funny night,” Quenneville said. “I thought we checked well in the first period, but after that they started coming. Off the rush they’re as good as anybody in the league. They can make plays and they’ve got some finish. Their power play ignited their offense tonight.
“Still, it was one of those games where we stuck with it and found a way to win against a team that enjoys playing us and has had some success against us. We’ll take the points.”
The Hawks lost defenseman Michal Rozsival late in the third period when he was struck in the face by a puck while sitting in the bench and had to be helped to the dressing room. Quenneville said Rozsival would need some dental work done.
Edmonton’s Sam Gagner was awarded a penalty shot at 4:13 of the second period when Brent Seabrook tripped him on a breakaway, but he lost control of the puck after putting a move in tight on Crawford trying to go from backhand to forehand.
Crawford has stopped all 3 penalty shots he faced this season and is 8-for-8 for his career.
“We always look at guys’ penalty shots before the game, but for the most part it’s read and react,” Crawford said. “I felt that move was coming so when he went to the backhand I pushed to the other side.”
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