Chicago Blackhawks score late, retake series lead over Edmonton Oilers

The Chicago Blackhawks shocked the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 with two late goals to retake the series lead at 2-1.

In what has already been a high intensity, back and forth Stanley Cup Playoffs play-in series, Game 3 between the Edmonton Oilers and the Chicago Blackhawks was the most exciting yet. It looked like it was the Oilers game for the taking after the Blackhawks squandered a 1-0 and 2-1 lead, and saw Edmonton go up 3-2 with just eight seconds remaining in the second period.

However, the Blackhawks showed great resiliency, tying the game up with just over five minutes to go and taking the lead with 1:16 remaining. The Oilers made it interesting with their goalie pulled but were unable to put a fourth goal past Corey Crawford.

What once looked like an easy series win for the Oilers has suddenly become a daunting task, as they are now just one loss away from elimination. Here are the reasons why the Blackhawks defeated them Wednesday night.

Net Front Traffic

All game long, the Blackhawks were attempting to throw pucks on net from the point with traffic in front, and it worked quite well as three of their four goals were shots from the blueline that redirected off bodies and into the net. Their forwards did a terrific job getting body position on the Oilers defenceman in front of the net all night, and their blueline did a fantastic job of getting point shots through traffic, making Mikko Koskinen’s job extremely difficult.

This is something the Oilers will have to work on if they hope to come back in this series. While they outshot the Blackhawks, the majority of their shots were low scoring percentages, which made things fairly easy for Crawford.

Penalties

All series, Edmonton has been spending way too much time in the penalty box. Sure, they had one of the league’s best penalty kills this year, but this limits the amount of time players such as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl can get on the ice. While a few calls made against them last night were quite questionable, they also took many undisciplined ones, which cannot happen if they want to even the series up.

Last night, they found themselves shorthanded six different times, including a 5 on 3 in the first in which Chicago scored their first and only powerplay goal of the game. As for the powerplay, Chicago continues to struggle, while Edmonton’s was fairly successful once again, going 1 for 3 on the night.

However, as mentioned above, even if Chicago isn’t scoring on their powerplay chances, it takes minutes off the clock for the Oilers. Head coach Dave Tippett needs to find a way to keep them more disciplined.

Secondary Scoring

The secondary scoring was the complete opposite of Game 2. In Game 2, Edmonton had guys such as James Neal and Alex Chiasson contributing to the offence. However, in Game 3, the only goal scorers were Draisaitl and McDavid.

They are two of the game’s best players, but even they need support from their teammates in order to win games. Of course, this won’t get any easier for them, as Tyler Ennis, who is one of their better secondary scorers, left the game with what appeared to be a serious injury in the second period.

As for the Blackhawks, Jonathan Toews led the way with two goals, but they were also able to get offensive contributions from Olli Maatta and Matthew Highmore, who each had a goal and an assist. If they are able to get the secondary scoring on Friday night, they have a very good chance at eliminating the Oilers from the playoffs.

What Comes Next?

While this series isn’t over, the Oilers have played very erratic through the first three games, which makes it hard to be confident in them. Perhaps it is just rust from the long layoff, however the Blackhawks went through the exact same break and have been playing a significantly better team game.

If the Oilers want to win this series, they are going to have to battle harder than they have to this point. Given how it has looked to this point, all signs point towards the Blackhawks advancing.

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