Marc-Andre Fleury made 40 saves as the Chicago Blackhawks earned a 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night at Rogers Place.
“We’ve been out of sync all over,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said following the loss. “We probably haven’t battled hard enough around their net and offensively, yeah, we’ve been poor these two games.”
“We’re getting enough quantity, but we’re not getting quality shots,” Oilers coach Dave Tippett said.
The Blackhawks scored on their first two shots of the game. Alex DeBrincat ripped in a power-play one-timer. Brandon Hagel scored from the slot making it 2-0 Chicago 2:47 into the game.
The Hawks continued to pepper the Oilers’ Mike Smith in the first, but the veteran goalie came up with several big saves.
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“When you’re down two, you just don’t want to give up that third and hopefully you can keep (your team) in (the game) long enough to come back,” Smith said after the game.
“He made some great saves in the first period,” Tippett said of his goaltender.
“There were three or four chances that would have put us down big time early, and he made some great saves, so it’s too bad we couldn’t get some goals for him.”
With just over a minute left in the first, Oilers defenceman Duncan Keith crashed hard into the boards behind his own net. After lying on the ice for a few moments, Keith was able to slowly make his way off the ice. He didn’t return to the game.
“I didn’t really see how he hit, I just saw what kind of shape he was in after he was down,” Smith said. “You never want to see a teammate — or anybody — go into the boards that hard and not get up right away.”
Oilers forward Zack Kassian also left the game in the second period after a shot hit him in the face. After the game, Tippett said both players will be evaluated Thursday morning.
The Oilers came out firing in the second period and finally beat Fleury on a power-play goal by Leon Draisaitl. Edmonton outshot Chicago 20-6 in the second.
Dylan Strome knifed in a power-play goal to make it 3-1 Blackhawks early in the third.
“We’ve got to find a way to get a kill. We lost the special teams battle again tonight and that’s a big part of our game,” McDavid said.
Blackhawks forward Kirby Dach scored from in tight to add to the lead halfway through the frame.
The Oilers (23-18-3) will host the New York Islanders on Friday.
–With files from Brenden Escott, 630 CHED
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