Blackhawks Fall 3-1 To Oilers, Losing Streak Reaches Five Games
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For the third time in as many meetings this season, the Chicago Blackhawks went toe-to-toe with the Edmonton Oilers, only to come up short, falling 3-1 at Rogers Place on Thursday. With that, the Blackhawks have now dropped five consecutive games and have officially been eliminated from playoff contention for the sixth straight season.
It’s been known for a while now that there wouldn’t be postseason hockey in the Windy City once again this year, but Thursday’s defeat in Edmonton officially put the nail in the coffin. On the flip side, the Oilers vaulted back into the first place in the Pacific Division with the victory and have won seven of their last nine games.
When the Blackhawks look back at this loss, they’ll be kicking themselves over the amount of opportunities in which they failed to convert upon. Despite getting outshot 38-18, they had plenty of chances to play spoiler and steal a key two points from the Oilers, but couldn’t capitalize on a majority of their best looks. Scoring chances were only 42-32 in favor of the home squad.
Landon Slaggert and Ilya Mikheyev both missed the net on breakaway opportunities to open the scoring in the first period. Then, Ryan Donato fired a shot wide from point blank on a 3-on-1 rush early in the third period, which would have tied the game and sucked the soul out of Rogers Place. Tristan Jarry, making his first start in over one week for Edmonton, came up with a few clutch saves throughout the game, but the Blackhawks bailed him out too often by simply failing to hit the target.
To make matters worse, the Hawks’ lone goal scorer in the game, Nick Lardis, suffered a left-hand injury in the final moments. Lardis was standing in front of Jarry and took some friendly fire from Teuvo Teravainen, who blasted a one-timer from the point. Lardis immediately dropped his stick his pain and skated to the bench, then exited to the dressing room moments later.
Oddly enough, left-hand injuries are going around right now, with Artyom Levshunov dealing with a fracture in his left hand, while Matt Grzelcyk also injured his left hand back on Mar. 22. Both Levshunov and Grzelcyk are expected to miss the remainder of the regular season. The Blackhawks are now hoping Lardis won’t suffer the same fate, as he’s found the back of the net in four of the last seven games since earning a top-six promotion.
Here are the highlights from the Blackhawks’ 3-1 loss to the Oilers, dropping their record to 27-35-14 through 76 games. Only six more to go.
SECOND PERIOD
After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, Edmonton potted the game’s first goal early in the second period to grab a 1-0 lead. Andre Burakovsky was stripped at the Oilers’ blue line, giving Adam Henrique a breakaway opportunity going the other direction. Arvid Soderblom, who entered the game briefly while Spencer Knight was dealing with an equipment issue, made the initial stop, but Henrique followed up on his own rebound for his first goal in 51 games.
After Louis Crevier was whistled for holding, the Oilers’ top-ranked power play hit the ice for the second time and converted to extend the lead. Matthew Savoie’s stuff shot from down low banked in off Alex Vlasic’s skate, putting Edmonton ahead 2-0 at 12:13.
The Blackhawks had their chances to get on the board in the first two periods, but a lack of finishing prevented them from doing so. The Oilers led 2-0 through 40 minutes and were ahead 27-12 in shots on goal.
THIRD PERIOD
In the early stages of the third period, the Blackhawks finally got the puck past Tristan Jarry and cut their deficit in half. Lardis followed up on Connor Bedard’s shot from the point at 5:06 for his ninth goal of the season and fourth in the last seven games. 2-1.
The Blackhawks pulled Knight for the extra attacker with just under three minutes remaining, but never could get set up in the offensive zone. Vasily Podkolzin hit the empty net at 18:59 to put the Oilers ahead 3-1 and seal the deal.
The final horn sounded at Rogers Place, sending the Blackhawks to a fifth consecutive defeat. They’ll look to snap the skid on Saturday as the road trip rolls into Seattle.
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