17 power plays. 74 shots on net. 11 goals.
To put it mildly, it was a wild Thursday night in the Windy City for the Edmonton Oilers.
“Big two points, I’ll leave it at that,” Leon Draisaitl moments after the final buzzer went.
“I don’t what else to say, it was a crazy game.”
In the end, it was Draisaitl who scored a dramatic game-winner on his 27th birthday to give the Oilers a 6-5 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.
Penalties played a significant role in the game. The Blackhawks were 2 for 10 on the power play while the Oilers were 3 for 7.
The Edmonton offence was buoyed by captain Connor McDavid, who potted his second hat trick of the season and added an assist. As for Draisaitl, in addition to scoring the game-winner, he added two assists.
Zach Hyman opened the scoring halfway through the first, firing a pass from McDavid past Hawks netminder Alex Stalock.
The Blackhawks replied with two goals in 2:18. Andreas Athanasiou went in alone and tucked the puck under Oilers goaltender Jack Campbell. Chicago forward Reese Johnson found a loose puck in front and tucked home his first of the season.
A sloppy, penalty-filled second period started with McDavid zinging a wrist shot behind Stalock just 18 seconds into the frame.
Jonathan Toews tied on a Chicago power play less than two minutes later.
On a four-on-three power play, McDavid’s shot hit Stalock in the head, vaulted up in the air, landed in the crease and flopped over the goal line to make it 3-3.
Evander Kane thought he gave the Oilers the lead with 4:07 left in the second. He was jostling in front with Chicago defender Seth Jones and fell onto Stalock. Kane got up and put a rebound into the net. After discussion, the officials waved the goal off for goalie interference. The Oilers were penalized for unsuccessfully challenging the play.
It wasn’t a call Kane agreed with.
“All I can do is play until I hear a whistle,” the Oilers winger said.
While shorthanded, Kane was sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct for yapping at the refs. On the subsequent five-on-three, Max Domi put the Hawks up 4-3.
In the first minute of the third, Draisaitl set up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for a power-play goal.
McDavid completed the hat trick with 9:44 left, snapping a shot five-hole on the man advantage. Chicago responded with Patrick Kane making it 5-5 with 3:11 on the clock.
In the final minute, Kailer Yamamoto held the puck in, passed to Evander Kane, who found Draisaitl for the winner with 37.6 seconds to go.
Campbell made 31 saves for the win. Stalock made 32 stops.
“We might get down on the scoreboard, but we’re still in high spirits,” Campbell said after the game.
“We’re finding a way to win right now.”
Despite the parade to the box throughout the night, Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft still found some positives in this game.
“It wasn’t exactly our script. But in the end, we got our result,” said Woodcroft.
“Our players dug in when it mattered.”
The Oilers (5-3) will visit the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. You can listen to the game live on 630 CHED, beginning with The Faceoff Show at 6:30 p.m. The actual game starts at 8 p.m.
–With files from David Boles, 630 CHED
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