Chicago Blackhawks @ Edmonton Oilers
11-17-10
Final Score: 5-0 Hawks
Scoring Summary
1st Period
14:24-CHI-Jonathan Toews [6] (Brent Seabrook [9], Patrick Kane [11])
19:14-CHI-PPG-Jonathan Toews [7] (Marian Hossa [6], Patrick Sharp [10])
2nd Period
1:12-CHI-Jonathan Toews [8] (Kane [12])
18:57-CHI-SHG-Patrick Sharp [11] (Jake Dowell [4])
3rd Period
1:58-CHI-Bryan Bickell [4] (Jack Skille [5])
The Hawks started their annual Circus Trip on Wednesday in Edmonton, and not only were they looking to keep the momentum they had earned from their 3-2 win in overtime on Sunday at the United Center against the Ducks, but they were looking for redemption against the Oilers.
The two previous meetings between these two teams ended in 2 Oiler victories on the Hawks' home ice, so the Hawks had something to prove against this young team.
They got off on the right foot 14:24 in with the Captain getting on the board first.
Patrick Kane had the puck behind the net and he spotted defenseman Brent Seabrook pinching into the slot. He dished one over to him and Seabrook wristed a shot on net. Jonathan Toews was lurking to Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin's right and somehow Toews found the loose puck and managed to stuff it five-hole on the former Hawk goaltender.
The Hawks got on the power play with a minute left in the first period after Patrick Sharp drew a cross-checking penalty.
From the right circle, Marian Hossa found Toews below the goal line and passed it over to him. Toews was then looking for Hossa, who had creeped into the lower slot, but the puck bounced off of Oilers defenseman Tom Gilbert and past Khabibulin.
"I think we had around 20 shots in the first and a lot of chances we could've scored on, too." Kane said after the game.
Toews wasn't finished on the night though.
At 1:12 of the second period, Toews completed the natural hat trick as he sent a wicked wrister from the slot over Khabibulin's glove.
Toews' last regular season hat trick came on February 27, 2009 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at home and his last [and first] post season hat trick came on May 7th in the second round in Game 4 against the Vancouver Canucks.
The last Hawk to tally a hat trick in the regular season was current Thrasher Captain Andrew Ladd on March 7th at home against Detroit.
"It's nice when you get that production," Kane also said, "I think even more important, we got three goals right away. That kind of gave us a three-nothing lead and we were feeling good about ourselves, kind of just took over the game from the start."
With just over a minute left in the period, Jake Dowell managed to strip the puck away from Kurtis Foster in the neutral zone, shorthanded, and sent Sharp into the offensive zone on a breakaway. He walked in to Khabibulin's doorstep, stopped on a dime, and with Khabibulin sliding to his right, Sharp slipped it right past his left pad and into the net for his 11th goal of the season.
Early in the third, Oilers rookie Jordan Eberle turned the puck over at center ice to 6'4" Bryan Bickell. Bickell turned around and entered Edmonton's zone and bombed one from the top of the left circle that beat Devan Dubnyk, who had come in to replace Khabibulin after Sharp's goal, high glove side.
"It wasn't the fastest pace out there, but we didn't start thinking about goals and start trying to do too much," Toews said postgame, "We were smart. We did a great job of helping Marty out there.
All in all, I think we played solid and it's a game we can really build off [of]."
"We feel that we're getting there as a team," Kane stated, "Tonight was a big step, I think, for us. I thought all the lines played really good. All the lines had a lot of chances, too, so hopefully we can keep that up."
Notes
•The Hawks outshot the Oilers 47-18.
-The Hawks went 1-3 on the power play while Edmonton went 0-2.
•This win was Marty Turco's first career shutout as a Blackhawk.
•The Hawks' centermen's faceoff percentages were:
-Jonathan Toews: 55.6%
-Dave Bolland: 55.6%
-Fernando Pisani: 28%
-Jake Dowell: 20%
•Viktor Stalberg and Troy Brouwer each had 3 hits.
•Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp each had 8 shots on goal.
•Patrick Kane had two takeaways.
•Duncan Keith led the Hawks in ice time with 24:14 of it.
-Nick Boynton and Duncan Keith led the Hawks with 24 shifts.
•Brian Campbell, Nick Boynton, and Duncan Keith each had 3 blocked shots.
•Niklas Hjalmarsson was +3.
•This game was Fernando Pisani's first ever game back at Rexall Place since he signed with the Hawks in the summer. Pisani is Edmonton born-and-raised and he played his whole career there up until this year.
•Jonathan Toews is 8th in the league with 4 power play goals.
-Patrick Kane is also 8th in the league with 4 power play goals.
-Patrick Sharp is also 8th with 4 power play goals. His 2 shorthanded goals are 2nd, his 3 game winning goals are tied for first and his 89 shots on goal lead the league.
•The Hawks' healthy scratches were John Scott and Jordan Hendry.
•The Hawks' record is now 10-9-2 with 22 points and are 5th in the Western Conference.
•The Hawks' next game is tomorrow in Calgary as they take on the Flames at 8:30 pm on Comcast Sportsnet and TSN for Canadian viewers.
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| Jonathan Toews celebrates his second career regular season hat trick with the Chicago bench. |
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| Jonathan Toews looks at the puck in the back of the net after he scored his first goal of the night. |
