THREE THINGS: Playing Behind, Extra Showtime and Costly Turnovers

The Blackhawks knew they were going to see a different Oilers team on Monday night in Game 2. Trailing 1-0 in the series and desperately needing to avoid the near dagger of a 2-0 hole, Edmonton took a page out of Chicago's Game 1 book, scoring early and often and winning with six goal on the board when all was said and done.

CHI 3, EDM 6

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**GAMECENTER**: Blackhawks vs. Oilers, Game 2

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**GAMECENTER**: Blackhawks vs. Oilers, Game 2

**GALLERY**: Blackhawks vs. Oilers - Game 2

**GAMECENTER**: Blackhawks vs. Oilers, Game 2

"We knew they were going to come out with a lot of desperation and something to prove," head coach Jeremy Colliton said following his team's 6-3 loss in Game 2. "We just didn't had enough guys going to match it. I thought we did some good things in the first couple periods to stay in the game, give ourselves a chance, but ultimately we didn't play to the level we need to to beat this team. We knew going into the series it was going to be a challenge and we'll take tomorrow to prepare and prepare better."

Patrick Kane, Slater Koekkoek and Olli Maatta all tallied in the loss, with Kane (1G, 1A), Koekkoek (1G, 1A), Kirby Dach (2A) and Alex DeBrincat (2A) all recoring multi-point nights.

PLAYING FROM BEHIND

For the second straight game, the Blackhawks were trailing right out of the gate as Connor McDavid scored the first of his three on the night just 19 seconds into the game. The counterman added a second less than four minutes later and Chicago was trailing 2-0 before they could get through two full rotations of the lines in Game 2.

"I think it's tough against any team, but especially against them," Dach said of chasing in two straight games. "They've got so much talent up front, it's hard to come back from. They do a good job of shutting it down defensively and obviously we weren't ready to go and let up a couple goals in the first few minutes and those are things that we've got to tighten up for next game or it's going to be a short series."

"Not the start we wanted, without question," Colliton said. "They have a chance to maybe continue the frustration that they may have been feeling going into the game, and right away they're feeling good and feeling they're turning it around and their top player's feeling confident and then it's an uphill battle."

Like in Game 1, the Blackhawks were able to respond, and by late in the second period, thanks to goals from Kane, Koekkoek and Maatta, had tied things up, 3-3. Less than two minutes later, however, McDavid put home his third of the night to take a 4-3 lead into the second intermission before Edmonton added another two in the opening half of the third to put the game away.

"I thought we did a good job tonight. We were in the hole 2-0 early and we came back to tie it 3-3 at one point," Kane said. "We did a good job of that, but then when you give up another one... I think the confidence in the room was still there that we were going to come back, especially in the second period. I thought we had a good attitude and then once they got the fifth and sixth one, that kind of put the game out of reach."

EXTRA SHOWTIME

Because Chicago was behind early, Colliton was forced to shake up the forward lines from the get-go to try and front-load the offense in the opening minutes.

John Quenneville, making his playoff debut in place of the suspended Drake Caggiula, was the odd-man out as Kane was double-shifted for much of the night, playing with Dylan Strome and Alex Nylander on one line and taking Quenneville's spot alongside Dach and DeBrincat on another.

"I think early on it looked like Kirby and 'Cat' were going, so we put Kane with them, started double-shifting them and then just seemed like that was the three that we should play together to get the most out of those guys," Colliton said. "We had it tight for awhile. At some point you're not always going to play your best and you try to find a way to win anyway and we just didn't have enough in the end to close the gap and tie it off. "

"I think we're always a better team when we're rolling four lines," Kane said. "As a player, you want to play as much as possible but I think we're a team that needs everyone going."

The line of DeBrincat, Dach and Kane showed was undoubtedly Chicago's most successful of the night, factoring in all three goals scored by the visitors. By game's end Kane had logged nearly 23 minutes of ice time. Quenneville, on the other hand, totaled just six minutes.

"It's unfortunate for him because we didn't have everyone going to play a four-line game," Colliton said of Quenneville's limited impact. "I think that's where he would've been able to have more of an impact. We had to shorten up right away because we just didn't have enough guys ready to play. It was through no fault of his own, really, that he all of the sudden starts missing shifts pretty early on."

"I thought Quenneville did a good job in the limited role he had tonight," Kane added. "He was skating hard, he was finishing his checks and came in and did a good job for us when he was out there."

COSTLY TURNOVERS

The key to the Blackhawks' Game 1 victory was their success at 5-on-5 keeping the puck on their own sticks and, in turn, off those of the NHL's two leading scorers, McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. On Saturday, the Blackhawks had just eight turnovers all game long. In Game 2, however, they had reached that total by the early second period and posted 14 on the night overall.

It wasn't just the total that hurt Chicago on Monday, though, as much as the quality of chances they gave up directly off of them. Edmonton's opening three goals all came from giveaways -- first in the defensive zone, then the offensive zone and finally the neutral zone.

"Turned it over in our end, turned it over in the neutral zone," Colliton said of the costly mishaps. "We weren't able to protect the puck in the offensive zone, so we're not able to sustain zone time and it's tough to win (that way). I also thought our reaction when we did turn it over to defend was too slow, especially early on and they were able to take advantage."