GAME RECAP: Oilers 6, Blackhawks 5

CHICAGO, IL - The Madhouse on Madison lived up to its name on Thursday in a hockey game that had a combined 11 goals, 74 shots, 40 penalty minutes and 17 powerplays.
"It seemed like every period was a different game," Evander Kane, who was central to the game's defining moments, said post-game. "It was a unique night."
Connor McDavid had one of the most quiet hat tricks and four-point games you'll ever see in a contest that was filled with plenty of drama, including a second period where the Oilers were assessed seven minor infractions and one double minor while having a video review go against them.
The Oilers came out of the chaotic second frame resolute, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scoring on the powerplay 28 seconds into the third period before McDavid finished off his three-goal night with a sublime dangle and five-hole finish halfway through the final frame.
With the game tied at five in the final minute, Leon Draisaitl notched the game-winner on his 27th birthday with 37.6 seconds remaining to put the final touch on his own three-point effort and a 6-5 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks that pushed the Oilers win streak to three games. The Oilers improve their overall record to 5-3-0 on the season.
"There was a lot of adversity tonight," Evander Kane said. "Credit to all the guys for sticking together, battling to the very end, and I think we can feel pretty good about the win tonight."

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FIRST BLOOD

How about that Hyman? Zach Hyman extended his scoring streak to three games by showing that he's just as adept shooting the puck from the circles as he is burying it from around the net.
Captain Connor McDavid cut around the right circle towards the middle of the offensive zone before firing a pass across to the opposite dot, where Hyman was waiting a the one-timer that he ripped short side over the right pad of former Oilers netminder Alex Stalock just under ten-and-a-half minutes into the opening period.
Hyman has looked strong offensively to start the season, operating at over a point-per-game pace with four goals and five assists in the first eight games.

ATHANA-SEE-YOU LATER

After Hyman had the opportunity to cut inside and try for his second goal of the game, the puck kicked wide of Stalock's net for Max Domi to pick up and float a deep pass to Andreas Athanasiou, who found the space behind the Oilers defence for a wide-open breakway that the former Oilers forward converted to level the score at 1-1 at 13:20 of the first period.
Just 2:18 later, a point shot from defenceman Seth Jones struck a body infront to leave Reese Johnson with a routine tap-in to put the Blackhawks up 2-1 that would stand as the scoreline through 20 minutes.

SECOND-PERIOD SHAKEDOWN

How do we even begin to descibe the second period that we saw in Chicago? Let's go with 'eventful'.
After Connor McDavid scored his first of two goals in the middle frame just 18 seconds out of the intermission, things started to devolve into an on-ice form of chaos with a parade of penalties the way of the Blue & Orange. In total, the Oilers were pegged with eight penalties in the period -- one being a double-minor for cross-checking to Kane -- while also having a goal overturned by the officials before a coaches' challenge was unsuccessful.

Evander Kane was heavily involved in front of the net with defenceman Seth Jones on more than one occasion, including his double minor, but the forward had a goal of his own overturned after he was pushed into the net by Jones before getting up and finding a loose puck that he easily tapped into the empty net.
"I think there was a point shot and I was in front of the net out of the crease," Kane said. "I kind of got pitchforked into the goalie and I was trying to avoid him. I got up with the help of their defenceman pulling me up, then I went around the outside of the defenceman. There was another shot that came in, I saw the rebound, and I think he made the initial save before I got the rebound. He tried to stick his pad out and I put it in the net. All I can do is play until I hear a whistle."
There was no penalty or 'no goal' call on the play, but after the referees consulted one another at the scorekeeper's booth, the call was reversed. Head Coach Jay Woodcroft then challenged the ruling and Edmonton was given a bench minor after it failed.

"The way I saw it was, it was called a goal on the ice," Woodcroft said. "Then the scrum came together, and then it was called no goal. We thought that the goaltender had time after our player was pushed into the goaltender. We thought the goaltender had time to reset, and it was my call to make whether to challenge. I thought it was worth the risk and I thought it was a good goal, but it didn't go our way and that's the way it goes."
Edmonton then soon found themselves on an extended 5-on-3 penalty kill when Kane made his displeasure known from the bench to the referee, who'd apparently heard enough and deemed it unsportsmanlike conduct. Max Domi scored 30 seconds into the two-man advantage, making it a 4-3 score before the book was closed on a crazy second period.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Jack Campbell had a lot of penalty-killing to do on Thursday night and made a monstrous save with the Blackhawks up 3-2 in the early minutes of the second period on one of Edmonton's eight penalty kills in the frame.
"Just trying to make the next save," he said. "You can't get too high and low. It's kind of going both ends back and forth, and thankfully the guys played great, scored a lot of goals, so it was great. It feels even better to get the win."
Philipp Kurashev was in the right spot for a one-timer to Campbell's right at 14:17 of the second period, but the Oilers netminder flashed across and stabbed out with the right pad before stopping the immediate rebound to completely rob the Blackhawks forward twice at a critical moment with his team shorthanded.
Campbell had to be resilient in the crease, making 31 saves on 36 shots for his fourth win in six starts this season.

TURNING POINT

Kane had his challenges in the game, but he rose above themwith the backing of his teammates and coaching staff to deliver the game-winning assist late in the third after taking six minutes in penalties during the middle frame.
In the final minute, Kailer Yamamoto had the puck up top where he kicked it to the left circle to the waiting Kane, who threw it across to Draisaitl to quickly clap past the sliding Stalock to seal Edmonton the incredible victory with the game-winning goal on his 27th birthday.
"It's the best present I've got," he said. "It's all I needed."
The Oilers saw out the final 37.6 seconds to secure their third win in a row heading into a Battle of Alberta on Saturday night in Calgary, representing a key Pacific Division rivalry matchup early in the campaign.

PARTING WORDS

Woodcroft on keeping Kane involved after the second-period incident and his assist on the game-winner:
"The big thing I want Evander to realize is that his coaching staff has his back. His teammates have his back. I didn't know what happened there on the bench call or why that happened, but I knew that we needed to get him back up and running in the game and that he's an important piece to our team. I brought our team together, and eventually, he made the play on the winning goal."
"I wanted to show trust in our player. Like I said, I don't know what happened on that bench call, and for me, I wanted him to feel the belief that the staff has in him, that his teammates have in him, but I also knew that we weren't going to win the game from the penalty box. So in between the second and third period, the group had a good chat about what it was going to win the game and bank the two points."

Draisaitl on Edmonton's route to victory against Chicago:
"Not the way you draw it up obviously, but big two points. Honestly, I'll just leave it at that. There's nothing else that needs to be said."
"It's hard for everyone because there's no rhythm, right? You've got guys sitting on the bench for almost a full period; guys probably playing a little too much. There's no rhythm in our system, in our game for either team, so they're tough games to play. I don't know what else to say. It was a crazy game."
"Some of these were just blatant penalties. There's no doubt about it. I think just after the second period, we just kind of talked within the group and just got back to our game a little bit. We're a little yappy there on the bench for a little bit, and that doesn't help. Just staying off the reps sometimes is a good play too."
Campbell on the team's reslience utilized to earn the win:
"It's just a battle for everybody and I'm proud of the boys. We stuck with it and came away with (the win). Chicago is playing really well right now and it was tough game, but great to get two points."
"It's impressive. We just never get down. We might get down on the scoreboard, but we're still high spirits and guys just kind of pull each other along and find a way to grind out a really solid two points."