If leaders step up in Game 4, Colliton's crew has excellent chance to oust Oilers

Jonathan Toews knows what it takes to put away an opponent in an elimination game.

As do Patrick Kane, Brandon Saad, Duncan Keith, Calvin de Haan, Olli Maata, Corey Crawford, Ryan Carpenter and Drake Caggiula.

As for the rest of the Blackhawks, they will be in unfamiliar territory when they stare across the ice at a buzzing, hungry - and somewhat snakebit - bunch of Edmonton Oilers as Game 4 begins Friday at 5:45 p.m.

"They had an excellent season and they don't want it to end," coach Jeremy Colliton said of the Oilers. "So that presence of those veteran guys can help hopefully our whole group be a little more prepared."

The Hawks are in this position thanks to the franchise's biggest back-to-back third-period goals since Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland scored 17 seconds apart on that magical night in Boston seven years ago.

Trailing 3-2 late in Game 3, Matthew Highmore scored on a redirect off a Slater Koekkoek blast from the point with 5:47 remaining to make it 3-3.

Then - just as the game appeared headed to overtime - the Hawks won an offensive zone faceoff, cycled the puck to Connor Murphy and were suddenly leading after Murphy's seemingly harmless shot hit Ethan Bear's stick and deflected off Toews into the net with just 1:16 remaining.

Corey Crawford stopped 25 shots and recorded his 50th postseason victory. Kirby Dach (assist, 23:21 time on ice) became the first Hawks rookie to record points in his first three playoff games since Eddie Olczyk scored in five straight in 1985.

The last time the Hawks had a chance to eliminate an opponent came in 2016 when they dropped Game 7 in St. Louis after Troy Brouwer notched the game-winner in the third period. The last time they had a chance to eliminate a team while holding the series lead came in Game 6 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final when they defeated Tampa Bay 2-0 at the United Center.

Edmonton, which continues to get big production from Connor McDavid (5 goals in three games) and Leon Draisaitl (3G, 3A) will be without the injured Tyler Ennis. The second-line winger was hurt after Dach ran him into the boards in the second period.

That's a key loss for the Oilers, but Alex Chiasson - who won a Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018 - has no doubt his team can come back and claim this series.

"We've faced adversity all year," Chiasson said. "If there's a group that can do it, it's this group here. I've been on a winning team - we've got a lot of the same ingredients of two years ago."

The Hawks figured to be the team facing elimination Friday as they failed on 5 of 6 power-play attempts, watched 5 shot attempts draw iron and were getting next to nothing out of Kane (2 SOG) and Dominik Kubalik (1 SOG).

"We stuck with it," Toews said. "It was a great team effort. Some great contributions from all over our lineup."

And especially from Koekkoek and Olli Maatta, the Hawks' third defensive pair.

Maatta opened the scoring when his blast from the point found its way through a maze of players at 9:14. Maatta, who also scored in Game 2, had just 2 goals in his first 70 postseason appearances.

Koekkoek, meanwhile, assisted on Highmore's goal and also scored in Game 2.

"Our forwards do a great job holding onto the puck," said Maatta, who won Stanley Cups with the Penguins in 2016 and '17. "That makes (the Oilers) collapse a little bit. They do a good job of giving us the puck with a little more time."

Eight of the Hawks' 25 shots on goal came from defensemen.

"It hasn't been only me and Kooks," said Maatta, who went on to praise Murphy, Calvin de Haan, Duncan Keith and Adam Boqvist. "They're getting pucks through and it feels like every time we get it to the net our forwards are in good position, battling for them, getting rebounds, getting tips. It makes it tough for them."

Which is exactly what Game 4 figures to be.

"We've had some experience in the past knowing how to play, knowing how prepare for those big games," said Toews, who has 44 playoff goals and needs 1 more to tie Steve Larmer for fifth all-time in Hawks annals. "It's having that killer instinct but knowing that every game in this series has gotten tougher.

"It's going to be the toughest game coming up. Their best players played well and capitalized for them, but we can expect a much better team game and for them to improve as we go along."