The Chicago Blackhawks were defeated on Thursday by the Edmonton Oilers.
The Chicago Blackhawks traveled up to Alberta, Canada, to take on the Edmonton Oilers. With under two weeks remaining in the regular season, Jeff Blashill’s team is about developing habits that they can bring with them to training camp in September.
This is also a chance for roster bubble players to prove their worth heading into the summer. As the two-time defending Western Conference champions, the Oilers are playing meaningful hockey as they attempt to win the Pacific Division late in the year.
The last stretch of games has not been good for the Blackhawks. It continued with a 3-1 loss to the Oilers on Thursday night. They are now 2-5-3 in their last 10 games, and are officially eliminated from postseason contention.
The Blackhawks were outshot 38-18 in the game and were severely dominated in puck possession metrics throughout. Spencer Knight (and Arvid Soderblom) kept the score much closer than it should have been.
Soderblom had to come into the game because of Knight's equipment malfunction. During that time, he played well, but he did allow a breakaway goal to Adam Henrique, who buried his own rebound.
That goal was more of a fault on the team rather than Soderblom, as the defense failed him on the play. He also made a breakaway save on Connor McDavid during his stint in the game.
Knight came back in once the trainers got his gear right, and he only allowed 1 goal on 32 total shots faced. Overall, goaltending was more positive than negative.
Chicago's one goal was scored by Nick Lardis, who had a bounce go his way as he hit it into the net after Connor Bedard sent one on net. That is the 9th goal of the season for Lardis, who is slowly racking up goals to prove his abilities at the NHL level.
Late in the game, Lardis took a puck off his left hand. Clearly in pain, he left and didn't return. Jeff Blashill did not have an update, but it seems like he is going to be okay.
Whenever you play the Oilers, the top challenge is slowing down Connor McDavid. You don't stop him; you can only hope to contain him. In this game, the Hawks kept him to one assist, despite him having tons of grade-A chances.
This was the first time that the Blackhawks faced Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy since the trade. They each assisted on Vasily Podkolzin's empty net goal, and they look extremely happy to be on a team with Stanley Cup aspirations going into the postseason.
For Chicago, no matter how the remaining six games of the season go, they are going to be focused on certain players playing well. They are a lock for top-five draft lottery odds, so it is more of a worry for them to have a strong finish on the ice.
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What’s Next For The Blackhawks?
The Chicago Blackhawks will be back in action again on Saturday night when they will be in Washington state to take on the Seattle Kraken.
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