Oilers, Blackhawks shoot out the lights.
6-5 win gives team needed confidence
CHICAGO — So the Edmonton Oilers do have some push back, after all.
After losing five straight games, including back-to-back shutouts in resounding defeats to the Detroit Red Wings and the Nashville Predators, the Oilers walked into the United Center and handed the Chicago Blackhawks their first regulation loss on home ice this season.
Their 6-5 victory was far from perfect, but it made for a heck of a hockey game between the best team in the Western Conference and the 15th-place Oilers.
“Each of us challenged ourselves to respond tonight. We talked about a lot (Saturday) and I thought the guys did a great job,” said captain Shawn Horcoff, who had held a players meeting with his assistants on Saturday, then returned to the lineup for his first game since Feb. 4 (fractured knuckle).
“They really peppered us for a bit, (but) it’s not like we sat back and let them come. They made plays. There’s instances where we can be a little more patient with the puck and make a little play under certain circumstances that alleviates pressure, but we’ll talk about that.
“We’ll be better in that area moving forward.”
The Oilers will close out their nine-game road trip on Tuesday in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche.
Only once this season have the Oilers won back-to-back games and that was back when the season was still young and the playoffs were still in sight.
The Oilers are now 9-11-5. The Blackhawks, who racked up an NHL record with their start, a steak that didn’t end until a 6-2 loss Friday against the Colorado Avalanche, are now 21-2-3. They have had their troubles with Edmonton in the past, however, coming out of the 2011-12 season series with just one win over the Oilers. “Definitely disappointed with the way we began the game. We’ve seen that movie before from them,” Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville said. “We liked the response though after that.
“It was just a tough ending. Certainly looked like we had a chance to get the equalizer. Give them credit because we faced a dangerous opponent and they attacked well,” he said.
The Oilers had a 4-0 lead by the time the game was 12 minutes old, a tally that included their first power play goal since Feb. 28, which, coincidentally, was the last time they won a game. In the 3-0 loss to the Red Wings and the 6-0 thumping in Nashville, they didn’t even draw a penalty.
They left Chicago with three power-play markers.
“We had to get that sense of urgency, that sense of compete, that will to win,” veteran winger Ryan Smyth said after a game that saw the Oilers chase Ray Emery from the game, then scored another three goals on Corey Crawford.
“We feel good after this one. We worked hard for it. They clawed their way back, but we hung in there.”
The Oilers even managed to hang on after losing starting goaltender Devan Dubnyk to a neck injury.
Dubnyk, who had just stopped Marian Hossa on a short-handed breakaway, was bowled over by teammate Teemu Hartikainen, wrenching his neck in the process. He sustained a stinger that isn’t expected to keep him out of Tuesday’s game.
Horcoff deflected a powerplay pass from Ryan NugentHopkins to give Yann Danis some breathing room in the Oilers net.
“I just went out there and tried not to think about the score. I didn’t want to get too carried away with the situation,” said Danis, who was on the hook for a Sheldon Brookbank short-handed goal, an even-strength goal from Brent Seabrook and a power-play marker from Patrick Kane, who scored the only goal of the third period — despite the Blackhawks pressing with the extra attacker in the final minute.
Danis also took a stick to the throat in the third, but managed to shake it off.
“For us to come out and have a 4-0 lead against the Blackhawks, the best team in the league, is great for us and it’s pretty much what won us the game,” said Taylor Hall, who finished with a goal and an assist. “They weren’t just going to roll over and we knew that.
“There are times when you just have to hold the fort and play a simple game and just hold on for the win. When we had a lead going into the third we wanted to do that and it’s great to get two points in this building.”
The Blackhawks hadn’t given up more than three goals in 23 of their games. They’ve now given up 12 in their last two.
“Going in, we knew this was a huge rebound game for us,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “This is huge for our confidence to get a win against these guys.”