Tired Blackhawks Drop Forgettable Game To The Oilers

photo from blackhawkup.com

Last night the Blackhawks looked like what they were: a tired group who had played the night before, and didn't get into the hotel until 2.30am. They didn't really get outplayed by the Oilers. They just looked exhausted.


Brandon Saad was the best player on the ice for the Blackhawks. His first multigoal game gave the Blackhawks the 1-0 lead, and then tied the game in the second period. He, Marian Hossa and Teuvo Teravainen (back in the line up after being a healthy scratch on Thursday) were the only players for Chicago that looked like they were giving any sort of effort.

They got outshot for the second game in a row. For a team that regularly outshoots opponents, this is worrying, especially considering they were playing a struggling Wild team, and an Oilers team that just got a new coach and a ton of new players. It should have been an easy four points. Instead, Crawford gave them a chance to win on Thursday, and they lost in Edmonton for the first time since February 2012. They also allowed a power play goal for the second straight game, dropping their percentage for the season down to 89% even.

Antti Raanta had been solid in net so far for Chicago. Last night he looked like the Raanta of last spring, not the Raanta of earlier this season. He was shaky, off-balance, and out of practice, not having played since before the Christmas break. If Quenneville wants to get something out of Raanta, he needs to play him more often than on the second game of a back to back every couple of weeks. Unfortunately, that game has probably sent him back into the bad books of Coach Q, and he'll likely not play again until he's forced to, possibly during the next back to back in a week and a half (Arizona and Pittsburgh, Raanta will likely play Arizona).

It was a bad game from almost everyone involved, one that the Blackhawks will probably just like to forget and move on from, hopefully bouncing back on Sunday against the Wild; being back at home for a short stretch will probably help them get some of their momentum and confidence back.

My Three Stars of the Game

3. Brandon Saad. Saad has four goals in his last five games, and last night was his 100th NHL point. He's currently on pace to hit the twenty goal mark for the first time in his career. For a long time last night, he was the only player playing like he wanted to be there. If even a couple more guys had put in the effort that he did, maybe they wouldn't have lost so embarrassingly.

2. Nail Yakupov. Yakupov scored the backbreaking 4-2 goal with only three minutes left in regulation, forcing Quenneville to pull Raanta and surrender the empty netter shortly after. It was his first goal since December seventh. He also picked up an assist for his first multipoint game of the season.

1. Derek Roy. Since coming over from Nashville, Roy has had five points in six games. He's been excellent for them, and if he can keep that pace up and jump start Yakupov's offence, the Oilers might finally have a decent second or third line to build around them.

Next game: January 11th, vs. Wild