Blackhawks vs. Oilers: 3 Things to Watch in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers

Throughout the 2019-20 NHL Season, the Chicago Blackhawks could accurately be described as an emotional roller coaster. After a few months off, the Blackhawks will be in the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

The last time the Chicago Blackhawks were in the postseason, everything seemed as if it had collapsed. The top-seeded Hawks were swept in the first round in only four games by the Nashville Predators, who had just barely squeaked their way into the postseason. The goal-scoring dried up, the defense was lackluster, and the wheels just simply came off. The series was quite frankly a disaster.

Now over three years later, the Blackhawks are ready to make their return to the playoffs with some vengeance. Prior to the global pandemic, Chicago was playing some of the best hockey that they had played all season. They had won 5 out of their last 7 games, which included three impressive victories over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Florida Panthers, and their Stanley Cup Qualifier opponent, the Edmonton Oilers.

It will be interesting to see if the Hawks can use that momentum and the four-month break from play to excel in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Oilers feature a squad of very young, but very talented forwards. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have absolutely torched the NHL this season, tallying the most points in the entire league with 95 and 110 respectively. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has also quietly had a very impressive campaign, as he crossed the 60 point plateau for the second consecutive season.

Defensively, the Oilers feature many big bodies that have a knack for shot-blocking. Their defensive core only features two players under 6’3″, so the Hawks will have to rely on their speed and skill in order to succeed. Oscar Klefbom led the league in blocked shots with 180, and Darnell Nurse was also 9th in the league, as he tallied 141 of his own. Another big body the Hawks will have to be on the lookout for is 6’3″ forward Zack Kassian. Kassian thrives on dishing out humungous hits, as he registered 157 hits this season. He has a whopping 1,101 hits in only 525 games played during his NHL career.

If the Oilers do have one potential weak spot, it comes between the pipes. Journeyman Mike Smith joined the orange and blue this season, and his numbers have not been the greatest since his arrival. He currently has a GAA of 2.95 and a SV% of only .902. Mikko Koskinen is the other option in net for Edmonton, and he currently boasts a GAA of 2.75 and a SV% of .917.

The upcoming series has many things to be on the lookout for and many what-ifs, as the Hawks make their first playoff appearance since that miserable exit in 2017. Here are three things to watch for in the upcoming series against the Oilers:

1. Blackhawks Goaltender Situation

The Blackhawks have four goaltenders currently listed on their playoff roster. The quartet includes veteran Corey Crawford, and three young guns, Malcolm Subban, Collin Delia, and Kevin Lankinen.

All the way through training camp, it seemed as if Delia or Subban would have to become the starting goaltender in the series. Crawford was deemed as “unfit to participate”, and the Blackhawks traded former netminder Robin Lehner to the Vegas Golden Knights back in February. This raised a lot of question marks, as Delia only has 18 NHL games under his belt, and Subban has been very shaky this season. Subban posted a .890 SV% and allowed an average of 3.18 goals against during his time with the Knights this season prior to being traded to Chicago.

This past Saturday, everything changed when Corey Crawford finally rejoined the team at practice. It was announced that he had tested positive for Covid-19, and that was why he had not been able to participate during the first two weeks of training camp. Now that Crawford is back healthy and traveling with the team to Edmonton, it will be very interesting to see what his role will be since he has only had one day of practice prior to flying to Alberta.

Having not played in roughly four months, and only having one day of practice? This could be a very big concern for the Blackhawks, especially knowing Corey’s injury history. Can Crawford come in and play up to expectations, or will Delia, Subban, or Lankinen have to step up big time in the national spotlight as Scott Darling did in 2015? This will be something to keep an eye on.

2. Young Guns First Playoff Appearances

Since it is the first time that the Hawks have qualified for the postseason since 2017, it means that a lot of the younger guys on the roster will receive their first experience playing in the playoffs. Guys such as Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, Kirby Dach, Adam Boqvist, Dominik Kubalik, and Alexander Nylander will all finally get a taste of the postseason.

This provides the opportunity for all of them to experience what a playoff game is like, and how much more physical and demanding the game is once the postseason gets underway. We all know DeBrincat has been a regular-season monster in the past, so it will be interesting to see if he can continue to produce effectively during the series. Coming off a down year in the goal-scoring department, he will look to build off of an impressive training camp where he scored a ton of goals.

Strome played for the Arizona Coyotes prior to the Blackhawks, so this will be his first time in the playoffs as well. Although he did not post the same numbers as he did in his debut season with Chicago, he still performed relatively well this season. Even though some injuries this season gave him a tough-time, Strome looks to rebound in a big way once the series begins. It might make it a tad bit easier if he ends up playing on the second line with Patrick Kane, as Kane knows how to singlehandedly light it up in the playoffs. Just ask the Minnesota Wild.

As for the other four, it will be very good for them to gain some valuable playoff experience during their rookie seasons. At some point this season, all four have looked to be building pieces for the long-term future. Brandon Saad and Teuvo Teravainen also made their postseason debuts during their rookie seasons, and we all know how both of them turned out as players. All signs point to great things ahead for the four, and we can only hope that they use the series as a growing opportunity for the future.