Blackhawks Drop Second Straight in a Wild One
We can’t really call it a skid, but with the way the Chicago Blackhawks played through the first 24 games of the season, it looked like they may never lose, so a second consecutive loss was even more surprising.
The streak had to end at some point, but Chicago hoped to bounce back against the Edmonton Oilers at home. The Oilers didn’t cooperate and instead scored four goals in the first period, withstood an impressive Blackhawks comeback and prevailed 6-5 in regulation.
“The explosion we had in the first period, you could see they were a little back on their heels coming off their loss in Colorado,” Oilers coach Ralph Krueger said, according to ESPN.com. “They were slightly flat and we really took the opportunity. I thought all of our goals tonight, all six, were excellent goals.”
After getting in an early 4-0 hole, the Blackhawks finally got on the board in the second period, courtesy of a Patrick Kane goal, his 13th of the season. They scored again just two minutes later, but after the teams traded goals to finish out the second period, the Oilers had a 6-4 advantage.
It was a tough night overall for the Blackhawks, but they showed the kind of resilience that helped them win so many games during the streak. And for that, they had some positives to take away.
“I think in the room we knew we were going to give it a play, especially after the first period,” Kane said. “It was an exciting end. When you’re down 4-0 and can come back to make it 6-5 you gotta have a little bit of a good feeling about that, just not a great start.”
“Definitely disappointed with the way we began the game,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. “We’ve seen that movie before from them. I like the response though after that.”
After playing seven games in just 11 days, the Hawks will finally get a three-day rest before they begin their four-game road trip against a surging Columbus Blue Jackets squad. With re-charged batteries, Chicago will look to get back on its skates with another win.
“We’ve got to take advantage, take care of our bodies and get ready for Thursday,” captain Jonathan Toews said. “It’ll be nice.”
And in reality, a couple of losses might have been the best thing to happen to the Blackhawks. You certainly want to be the hottest team at the end of the season, not at the beginning. So, now that the slate is clean, the Hawks can begin again as we roll into the second half of the NHL regular season schedule. Keep your eye on them and continue to take the Hawks on the spread almost any night they are on the ice.
