Bedard wins battle of Connor's vs Oilers McDavid: highlights, 5 observations and more Saturday
The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2.
Beating Edmonton - Chicago, coming on the backend of a back-to-back, traveling to Oiler Country, marched their way into Edmonton and beat the Western Conference team who made the Stanley Cup Finals last year. Between the power play going 100%, the successful coaches challenge on goaltender interference when Arvidson ran Brodie into Mrazek, and all the players doing their job, it was a great, well-rounded game. This game was a breath of fresh air to watch, and should tell you after these first three games against Utah, Winnipeg, and Edmonton, that this is going to be a fun, watchable season.
The Power Play - The power play worked well for the Blackhawks tonight instead of against them. They went 3/3 on the night with the first goal coming from Seth Jones on a nice setup from Connor Bedard. The second one came from Teuvo Teravainen, when he attempted to either center or cross the puck, but the puck took a funny bounce off a stick and found the back of the net. The third one came late in the third when the Hawks were just passing it around. Teravainen then took a ripper from the wing and it went in. After last year, it's nice to see the power play finally clicking, even if it's just for tonight.
A Birthday Gift - Yesterday was Philipp Kurashev's birthday. For his birthday, he scored himself a goal. Kurashev was hanging out in front of the net when a shot came in. Philipp managed to get a stick on it and deflected it in. Kurashev, at 25 years old, is really establishing himself to be a cornerstone of this rebuild and a major puzzle piece.
The End of the Game - The end of the game was rough, except for the final minute when the Hawks went on the power play and scored. They iced the puck a lot and took two penalties, one of which the Oilers scored on. They were tired, as it was the end of game #2 of a back-to-back, however, they have to clean that up, as both games now, including the Jets game, they've looked a little rough in the final moments.
Two Three-Point Nights - The Blackhawks had two three-point nights last night. First, Connor Bedard. Bedard had his best game of the season, having two assists and a beautiful goal. The Oilers defense gave Bedard too much space, and he made them pay by sniping the puck glove side. Secondly, Teuvo Teravainen. Teravainen had two goals on the power play, including the assist on the Bedard goal. They both nearly had a point on a beautiful play where Bedard was down on the ice waving his stick around and somehow swiped the puck and passed it to Teravainen, who rang the shot off the post. Overall, it was a great night for them both.
