GAME RECAP: Blackhawks 4, Oilers 1

EDMONTON, AB - Alex DeBrincat had a goal and two assists, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 40 saves for the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night to condemn the Edmonton Oilers to their second-straight loss on back-to-back nights with a 4-1 defeat at Rogers Place.
DeBrincat buried the opening goal on the powerplay before setting up another with the man advantage 1:08 into the second frame that was buried by Dylan Strome, who posted a two-point night along with Brandon Hagel and Fort Saskatchewan, AB product Kirby Dach.
Leon Draisaitl scored his 33rd goal of the season on the power play, and Mike Smith made 25 saves on 29 shots in his second-straight start on consecutive nights in the Oilers crease since returning from a thumb injury.
The Blackhawks end a three-game losing streak with the victory, while the Oilers fall to 23-18-3 on the season heading into Friday's conclusion of a three-game homestand against the New York Islanders.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS

GAME DAY
Photo Gallery
Highlights
Look Back at the In-Game Blog
POST-GAME VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Post-Game vs. CHI
POST-RAW | Coach Tippett
POST-RAW | McDavid & Smith
POST-GAME UPDATES
Inside The Oilers Blog

FIRST BLOOD

With Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the box for an early tripping call, the Blackhawks made the forward pay for his infraction by dropping the Oilers to a 1-0 deficit inside the first two minutes.
Patrick Kane sent a circle-to-circle, cross-zone feed to DeBrincat, who squeezed a one-timer under the right arm of Smith on the 'Hawks first shot of the game just 1:44 after the opening puck drop. The man-advantage marker snapped a streak of three games for Chicago without a power-play goal.

PLAY OF THE GAME

It was a pretty passing play that nearly ended without a goal, but the Oilers power play found a way. Nugent-Hopkins slid it across the slot to Connor McDavid, who quickly kicked it across to a wide-open Evander Kane eyeing up the open cage. The newest Oiler didn't get all of it, scraping it towards goal before Fleury scrambled to clear it off the goal line, but Leon Draisaitl was in the right place to clean up the chance and bury his 33rd goal of the season to make it 2-1 just over six minutes into the second period.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Strome had a point-blank opportunity to make it a three-goal game from just outside the crease when he received a one-touch pass from Kane to the right of the Oilers net, but Smith reacted quickly to kick out the left pad and rob the Chicago centre in close when the Oilers needed the save down 2-0 midway through the second period.

TOP PERFORMER

DeBrincat showed just why he's been one of the League's deadliest goalscorers this season by notching two helpers and his 27th goal of the season, placing him fifth in the NHL. The forward was one of four Blackhawks to register multi-point nights on Wednesday.

PARTING WORDS

McDavid on the team's struggles over two-straight losses after going 5-0-1 in their previous six games:
"I just think we've been out of sync all over. Passes aren't clean, we probably haven't battled hard enough around their net. Offensively, we've been poor these last two games."
"I think we've all played with each other enough. The lines kind of change here and there, but we've played enough with each other to know what's going to happen. I think we're just out of sync and we've got to clean it up."

Smith on how he felt playing back-to-back nights after missing over a month with a thumb injury:
"Obviously, I don't like the result. But on a personal level, [I was] way better tonight. Last game from the start, everything seemed like it was going 1,000 miles an hour out there, but as the game went on I felt better and better. In the third, I felt more comfortable. Tonight, I started like how I finished last game when I felt good right from the start. But saying that, just letting in too many goals. Obviously, that's frustrating, you want to do everything you can to help, and the last two games weren't good enough."
Smith on the importance of getting back to game speed after missing time with injury:
"I wanted to play. I think it's been terrible timing, to be honest. Every time I've come back, we've had a COVID break or All-Star break right before I'm kind of getting ready. It's not been ideal for timing, but it was nice to get back in some games and get in a rhythm. I wasn't basing the whole season on these two games, there are a lot of games left, and I feel like I've got a lot to give still. Tonight was a good stepping stone in the right direction as far as how I feel. The results will come, but obviously, it stings when you lose two coming out of the break."
Head Coach Dave Tippett on the status of Duncan Keith & Zack Kassian after suffering injuries during the game:
"[Keith] was kept out due to precautionary reasons. He's going to get some tests done tomorrow. Same with Kassian."
"We'll take to Ken about [calling up players from Bakersfield] later tonight and see what's available."

Tippett on the team's struggles to generate offence in the two games out of the All-Star break:
"We're getting quantity of shots, but not quality. That was the difference in the game -- we gave up some really good chances. We get the good chance early and hit the post, and then we take a penalty and make a bad read on some coverage and give up a rush that we don't play very well. Then, we're chasing the game. We got a lot of quantity, but not the quality we want. We're just not getting enough pucks at the net and capitalizing when we do get chances."