Two goals in 14 seconds lift the Edmonton Oilers past the Chicago Blackhawks
The Edmonton Oilers defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks for the second time this season with two quick goals in the third period to get the 2-1 win on Sunday 7, November.
How it happened
The Blackhawks opened the scoring with a first period goal from Fernando Pisani, who fired a strong wrist shot into the top of the net after Jack Skille had worked hard down low in the Oilers zone to win
the puck back for the Blackhawks and get the puck to Pisani.
With the Blackhawks winning 1-0 after the first, it stayed that way until the third period. When Niklas Hjalmarsson took a penalty for tripping it opened the door for the Oilers to equalize as Kurtis Foster
got his second of the season.
Only 14 seconds later and Sam Gagner had his third of the season when Dustin Penner found him at the side of the net with a nice pass.
Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin had a couple of spectacular saves late in the game to help preserve the victory for his team.
What they're saying
Blackhawks defenceman Brian Campbell was incensed at his team's performance, and losing twice at home to the Oilers, who were last year's worst team and who have just two wins in 10 games against other
NHL opponents this year.
"Losing two games to these guys in our own building is not a good thing," he said. "Losing two games to any team in our own building in a matter of two weeks … it's unacceptable. We've got to get a little
mad in this locker room and go out there and win some more battles."
The Blackhawks have been particularly poor on home ice this season, losing six of ten games, and it's beginning to bug head coach Joel Quenneville.
"That's a sore spot this year, the inability of closing teams out and winning at home," he said. "We've got to reestablish home-ice advantage and take advantage of the surroundings and the atmosphere of
the building."
Every win is important for the Oilers as they continue to try and claw their way out of the Western Conference basement. They continue their five-game road swing by taking on the Carolina Hurricanes on
Tuesday, 9 November.
With the loss, Chicago now fall to 8-8-1 on the season and have now lost three of their last four games. They remain in the top eight in the Western Conference but have played at least two more games than
everyone else in the NHL so expect other teams to begin to catch them. They host the Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday.
Tags: