Blackhawks: 3 Takeaways from Game 3 against Oilers

Coming off of an absolutely horrendous performance in the third period of Monday night’s Game 2 defeat, the Blackhawks were looking bounce back in a big way on Wednesday.

After an impressive 6-4 victory in Game 1 and the constant uphill battle that Game 2’s defeat presented, Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers was sure to be a doozy for the Blackhawks. It certainly didn’t disappoint. Because of the best-of-five series format, the winner of Game 3 would only need to win one more matchup in order to advance to the next round of the playoffs.

Even though Edmonton is the host of the entire Western Conference portion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Blackhawks finally got to have the opportunity to be the “home” team tonight. After suiting back up into the red sweaters and hearing another wonderful performance of the National Anthem by Jim Cornelison, Chicago was fired up and ready to roll for Game 3.

It ended up proving to be another closely fought battle. After having leads of 1-0 and 2-1, the Hawks ended up trailing 3-2 at the start of the final period. Rookie Matthew Highmore picked a great time to score his first-ever playoff goal to knot up the score with five minutes remaining. Then Captain Clutch delivered, as he has done many times in the past. Jonathan Toews was able to get enough of a piece of Slater Koekkoek‘s shot from the point to deflect the puck into the net with only 1:16 remaining. Chicago was then able to fend off the Oilers for the last minute to take a 2-1 series lead.

Here are three takeaways from tonight’s thrilling come-from-behind victory:

Takeaway #2: Simplicity is Key

Throughout the entire series, a lot of gritty goals have been scored by the Blackhawks. If the Hawks are able to get traffic in front of the goal and get pucks on the net, then good things are bound to happen. This was a big reason that Chicago was able to walk away victorious in tonight’s matchup.

As I mentioned earlier, Olli Maatta scored for the second consecutive game. Dach had a brilliant screen, and Matthew Highmore was also in the vicinity of the goaltender. With two bodies in front, it gave Koskinen a very difficult task to track the shot from the point.

The second goal for Chicago was also scored in a scrappy fashion. Jonathan Toews was able to redirect the puck into the net after a net mouth scramble. What caused the net mouth scramble? A strong net-front presence by Dominik Kubalik and a passing play that originated from the point.

Matthew Highmore’s first career playoff goal knotted the score up at 3 with only five minutes left in the game. It was nice to see the fourth line get involved on a tally. And how did this goal happen? Maatta was able to swing the puck over to Slater Koekkoek, who unloaded a shot from the point. Highmore was in the high slot area and had a very pretty redirect to elevate the puck over Koskinen’s left shoulder and into the back of the net.

The game-winning goal was a deflection goal as well. After Toews was able to win an offensive zone draw and drop it back to Duncan Keith, Connor Murphy fired a weak wrister at the net. Captain Serious was standing in front of Koskinen and got a deflection on the puck that caused it to allude to the goaltender. It was another great example of how to perfectly screen a goaltender.

I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but it just goes to show that this strategy and game plan has been very effective at generating offense in the series.

Takeaway #3: How bad can the Blackhawks Powerplay get?

Coming into the opening round, it was no shock that the Blackhawks powerplay had much to be desired this season. Ranked 28th in the league during the regular season, it was something the Hawks needed to improve in order to succeed in the postseason.

In the last two games, Chicago has been even worse than they were in the regular season with the man advantage. They have gone a combined 1-10 on the PP in the past two games. Tonight, they also only registered 7 shots in over 12 minutes with the man advantage. That stat alone is just awful. We all know that Edmonton is a very physical team that thrives on laying the body. If the Blackhawks want to seal the deal on Saturday, they need to take advantage of these golden opportunities.

Instead of trying to pass around and find an open look, maybe the Windy City should just simplify things like they were very successful doing during 5 on 5 play tonight. Also, so many shot attempts have been blocked by the Oilers 2nd ranked penalty kill. The Hawks need to find a way to get these chances all the way through to the net, as Koskinen and Smith have both not looked that solid in net during times of this series. If the Blackhawks can get some all the way through, some puck luck might finally be on Chicago’s side for once.

I will admit that the addition of Kirby Dach on the 1st powerplay unit has helped out a lot, but something still needs to be changed. Clearly, it hasn’t been working and if something doesn’t change it will come back to bite the Hawks later on.

Will the Blackhawks be able to close out the series in Game 4 over a very desperate Edmonton? We’ll find the answer to that question on Friday. Game time is tentatively scheduled for 5:45 PM CT.