CHICAGO- Ahead of Monday night's matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers, news came out that Connor Bedard would not be playing. This has nothing to do with an injury. He came down with the "stomach bug" that the whole team has been dealing with over the last week.
Colton Dach, who was initially scheduled to be a healthy scratch, ended up drawing into the lineup in Bedard's spot. While Connor Bedard was out with his shoulder trouble, the team started to learn how to play as a team without him. His absence was never going to be an excuse in this matchup.
In the first period, Connor McDavid ended his career-high point streak to 19 games on a goal that put Edmonton up 1-0. He sent a pass to Evan Bouchard, who centered the puck into the net off of Zach Hyman. That 1-0 score would hold to the end of the first.
16 seconds into the second period, Evan Bouchard slid one behind Spencer Knight to make it 2-0. Connor McDavid also collected an assist on this goal. That would be the end of scoring in the middle frame.
In the final frame, it looked like the Oilers were on their way to skating out of Chicago with a shutout victory. However, Tyler Bertuzzi brought some life back into the United Center by scoring his 24th of the season off a Wyatt Kaiser rebound.
The Blackhawks were unable to do anything with this momentum. Eventually, Bouchard scored his second of the game into the empty net to make it 3-1. That wasn't enough for Edmonton, however, as Leon Draisaitl took advantage of a Wyatt Kaiser turnover in front of the net and made it 4-1 twelve seconds after the empty netter.
It is difficult enough to beat the Oilers when they have forwards like McDavid and Draisaitl leading the way, but you can't give them easy chances like that and expect good results.
The score was not indicative of how close the Blackhawks made it in the end, but they don't feel like they played well either. A lot of passes made their way through seams without sticks being properly placed by defenders.
There were also long stretches of time during which Edmonton controlled play and kept Chicago from getting any zone time. Their neutral zone work was a big key to their win.
Both goaltenders were magnificent in this one. Connor Ingram made 29 saves on 30 shots, while Spencer Knight made 33 saves on 36 shots.
One positive note about the Blackhawks is their penalty kill. For one, they only gave the Oilers two power plays. Secondly, they didn't give up a goal to the power play that is atop the NHL by a lot. Chicago's penalty kill remains in the top three.
Teuvo Teravainen left the game after the first period and didn't return. It was thought that he may have gotten the illness as well, but Jeff Blashill confirmed it was an upper-body injury. He did not say he will miss any time beyond this game and that he'll know more on Wednesday.
With everyone who was sick last week back to start this week at morning skate, it looked like they were going to have a healthy group for this match against the Oilers. Then, Connor Bedard fell ill to throw a wrench in that. Only time will tell if anyone else gets hit before their next practice, which will be on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
Watch Every Chicago Goal
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What’s Next For The Blackhawks?
The Blackhawks are back in action on Thursday night at the United Center. The other team from Alberta, the Calgary Flames, will be in town.
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