The Chicago Blackhawks' prolific offense was mostly missing early this season, but a 7-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night effectively put any concerns to rest. The 'Hawks have now won five of their past six games after an underwhelming start and appear to be settling in as their usual, dominant selves.
NHL scores: Blackhawks blow out Oilers, Islanders get revenge against Penguins
The Blackhawks’ best performance of the season, an impressive showing from the Islanders and the rest of the action from Saturday night in the NHL.
Chris LaFrance-USA TODAY Sports
While Edmonton isn't exactly a daunting opponent, the home team looked totally overwhelmed by the speed and execution of Chicago. It took the Blackhawks less than five minutes to get their first two goals of the night on Ben Scrivens, and less than 25 minutes to earn a 6-0 lead.
The game's urgency understandably took a step back from there as the result was more or less settled before the midway point, with both teams scoring once apiece. Patrick Kane's score in the third period to extend his goal streak to four games was impressive, but the final 30-plus minutes were mostly an exercise in futility.
For the Blackhawks, who have routinely put up dominant possession numbers and unreasonably low shooting percentages, this was really the perfect matchup to break out. The Oilers aren’t as bad as their records indicates, but goaltending has been a major issue for the team this season, and Saturday’s performance didn’t build much confidence.
The Blackhawks entered Saturday taking over 37 shots per game, easily the highest in the league, but their shooting percentage was 7.4 percent -- 28th in the league. An offense led by guys like Kane, Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews was going to start finding the back of the net more regularly, and on Saturday, that's precisely what happened. The team only got 30 shots, but a 23.3 shooting percentage certainly swayed the results.
Chicago doesn’t one of the best records in the league yet, but it’s climbing the standings, and few teams have played better of late. Not as if you needed a reminder, but the Blackhawks are indeed for real this season.
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Three things we learned
1. Isles turn it around. A day after blowing a lead to Pittsburgh on the road, the Islanders rebounded against the Penguins to get a 4-1 win at Nassau Coliseum. There’s little doubt about which team in the Metropolitan Division is the biggest threat to Pittsburgh at this point, not after the way New York played the Pens tough on back-to-back nights while narrowly falling short of a two-game sweep. Only Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay have better goal differentials than the Isles in the East right now.
2. Turns out the Sabres aren't a completely hopeless bunch. Buffalo won its third straight game Saturday night by beating Washington, 2-1, in the nation's capital. Jhonas Enroth saved 43 of 44 shot attempts in the victory, with the only score coming midway through the third period from the Caps' highly productive power play. Otherwise, this was arguably the best performance of the season from the Sabres.
3. Maybe the Maple Leafs’ season won’t be so weird after all. Toronto did everything it needed Saturday night in a 4-1 win over the Red Wings, including saluting the Air Canada Centre fans before heading off the ice. Some of the goals were absolutely gorgeous, too, highlighting the fact that the Maple Leafs can actually be a pretty dangerous team when they’re clicking. It’s just one night, but the chaos in Toronto has simmered down for now.
Impact Moment
The Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes by just one goal on Saturday night, and they can thank their third-string goaltender for the win. Calvin Pickard took over for backup Reto Berra after a series of goals and held on while the Avs rallied, his performance highlighted by one of the best saves of the young season to rob Alexander Semin in the second:
Stat of the Night
#Blackhawks have six goals. Oilers have five shots.
— Chris Kuc (@ChrisKuc) November 23, 2014
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