Blackhawks defeat Oilers in Game 1 of Cup Qualifiers

Rookie Dominik Kubalik had two goals and three assists for the Chicago Blackhawks in a 6-4 win against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Saturday.

The forward, a finalist for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year, became the first player in NHL history to score five points in his postseason debut.

"We were ready to go and I think the game was pretty good," Kubalik said. "I felt pretty good and everything went my way, so it's nice, but it's just the first game, so we've got to keep going."

WATCH: [All Blackhawks vs. Oilers highlights]

Jonathan Toews scored twice, Brandon Saad and Dylan Strome scored, and Corey Crawford made 25 saves for the Blackhawks, seeded 12th in the Western Conference.

"I think [Kubalik] has shown right from the get-go he's really smart in finding open spots, slipping behind guys," Toews said. "He's great at sending it at the net and, with the speed of the game nowadays, when he gets in those dangerous areas with how quick he gets the shot off, he's going to put a lot of pucks home.

"I think he's going to get better and better as we go along; you saw today he was more of a playmaker than a goal-scorer. He's been fun to watch and fun to play on a line with for sure."

Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a goal and two assists, and James Neal scored for the Oilers, the No. 5 seed in the West. Mike Smith allowed five goals on 23 shots in 26:32 of ice time, and Mikko Koskinen made 18 saves in relief.

Game 2 of the best-of-5 series is in Edmonton, the Western Conference hub city, on Monday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, NBCSCH). The series winner advances to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Blackhawks were 3-for-6 on the power play; the Oilers were 3-for-4.

The Oilers led the NHL on the power play at 29.5 percent and was second on the penalty kill at 84.4 percent. The Blackhawks were 28th on the power play (15.2 percent) and ninth on the penalty kill (82.1 percent).

"[Our game] just was not good enough, all around," McDavid said. "Game 1 is important, we lost it. Nothing we can do about it now. All we can do is focus on Game 2.

"I thought we did a better job as the game went on of keeping it simple. That's what our team needs to do, ultimately, is be simpler."

There hasn't been a best-of-5 series in the NHL since 1986. The League used them for the preliminary round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs from 1980-86, and the team that won Game 1 went on to win the series 87.5 percent of the time (49 of 56).

McDavid scored a power-play goal 2:34 into the first period to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead before the Blackhawks scored four goals in a span of 7:06.

Strome made it 1-1 on a shot that deflected off the back of Smith at 5:51 of the first. Toews scored a power-play goal at 7:56; Saad scored on a deflection at 9:17, and Toews scored from the slot at 12:57 to make it 4-1.

"We know they have a good power play and can capitalize 5-on-5," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We had a good penalty kill all year. We know we can get back to it. We have to sharpen up a little bit, better clears."

Draisaitl pulled the Oilers within 4-2 on a power-play goal at 4:13 of the second period.

Kubalik's power-play goal at 6:32 of the second period gave the Blackhawks a 5-2 lead. He scored his second power-play goal at 17:35 of the second for a 6-2 advantage. He broke the postseason debut record held by Los Angeles Kings forward Daryl Evans (four points, two goals), set in a 10-8 win against the Oilers in Game 1 of the Smythe Division Semifinals on April 7, 1982.

"We did a pretty good job of sticking with it even when we got the lead," Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. "We've shown some immaturity at times as far as getting away from what's given us success and just continuing to play a hard, simple and direct game. It's playoff time and momentum can change quickly, so you don't want to give the other team hope they can get back into it."

Neal made it 6-3 when he scored a power-play goal at 16:07 into the third period. Nugent-Hopkins scored with Koskinen pulled for an extra attacker at 16:43 to make it 6-4.

"We know they've got a good team and dangerous players in Draisaitl and McDavid," Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith said. "It's one game. At the end of the day, there are some things we were definitely happy about, but we've got to keep working on it and build off it."

NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report