5 Takeaways From Hawks' 6-5 Loss to the Oilers (P.S. Peep the 5th Takeaway).
The Blackhawks lost to the Oilers 6-5 on Thursday night in a heartbreaking fashion following Edmonton's last-minute goal.
The loss doesn't say enough for how the Hawks played, so here are 5 takeaways from the game:
1. Unfamiliar faces are making their mark in Chicago. It is easy to point out positives of every new face in Chicago, but Domi, Anthanasiou, and Stalock stood out the most tonight, and most of the season to this point. Stalock is a fun guy to watch in net and gives it his all every game. The Hawks have had a chance in every game he has been between the pipes. Domi and Anthanasiou are a 1-2 punch of power and speed as Domi is becoming the team's enforcer quickly. Anthanasiou is extremely quick and great with the puck in his hands. These are two guys playing on short contracts to prove themselves to earn more money in the future, much like a lot of the new guys.
2. Don't let the PK stats fool you. The Blackhawks went 4-for-7 on the PK in this one, but if it weren't for a lucky Oilers bounce off Stalock's head, they could have been 5-for-7. Edmonton has a great PP unit as they were 4th in the league heading into the game. It is just extremely hard to defend McDavid and Draisaitl in two different places on the ice at once. The PK was pretty good against a top PP unit.
Sidenote: If you think the Hawks' 7 penalties were a lot, just know that the Oilers took 10 penalties in the game.
3. McDavid and Kane showed out for this one. McDavid and Kane were a part of 7 of the 11 goals scored in this one. McDavid's skating and stick handling was on full display as Kaner was his usual self by always being in the right spot and making the right pass. It was fun to watch these two.
4. The Oilers can easily find their way deep into the Stanley Cup finals. They have arguably the best offense in the game with McDavid and Draisaitl leading the charge. Their defense and goaltending are good enough to win games. This was evident tonight as the defense and goaltending did just enough to help the offense lead the way to the 5-4 win. This was a VERY GOOD loss in heartbreaking fashion for the Hawks. Oilers vs Avalanche is my pick for the Western Conference Finals matchup.
5. Finally, the Blackhawks are simply just not the team we expected them to be. We thought that this would be a dreadful year in the standings for the Hawks, but we were completely wrong. The Blackhawks were 37 seconds away from securing a point to even them with the Avalanche at 4-2-1 seven games into the season. An OT winner would've put the Hawks ahead with a 5-2-0 record. The team is full of a bunch of gritty guys who just want to compete, but it is their PP and PK units, as well as their speed, that are allowing them to score at a high rate. They have some of the best speed in the league. Pair that with Richardson's PP and PK coaching styles, and they are going to make a push for the playoffs. If they don't make the playoffs then you can bet that they will be playing spoiler for teams making a playoff push. They have played well against enough solid teams for playoffs to be a realistic reach. They may not get there, but I think it is safe to say we are no longer in the Bedard sweepstakes.
| POLL | ||
Are the Blackhawks good enough to make a playoff push? | ||
| Yes | 43 | 51.2 % |
| No | 41 | 48.8 % |
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