Oilers, routed in opener, flip consideration to Blackhawks

The Edmonton Oilers will look to rebound from their lopsided opening-night loss when they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.

The Oilers were thumped 6-0 by the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday. Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner allowed five goals on 13 shots before Calvin Pickard replaced him.

“We got punched pretty good, but we’ve always been able to respond,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Last year, I was happy with our guys, when we did have a bad game we usually responded really well. We’ll see this weekend. It’s one game. After this weekend, definitely that will be a tell of where we are at.”

The Oilers will seek a better performance when they continue their four-game homestand against the Blackhawks. Edmonton won all three meetings between the clubs last season. The Oilers picked up a 4-1 victory on home ice on Dec. 12, edged the Blackhawks 2-1 on Jan. 9 in Chicago and then earned a 3-0 victory in Edmonton on Jan. 25.

Forward Leon Draisaitl recorded goals in eight straight contests against the Blackhawks dating back to Nov. 20, 2021, until he didn’t find the net in the Jan. 25 game. However, he had three assists in the latter contest.

Saturday is the first of three meetings between the Oilers and Blackhawks. The teams will meet in Chicago on both Jan. 11 and Feb. 5.

Chicago arrives in Edmonton for the second game of a back-to-back set in search of its first win of the season.

The Blackhawks, on a four-game road trip to start the season, lost 2-1 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday after dropping their season opener 5-2 to the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday.

Ryan Donato had the lone Chicago goal in Winnipeg, and the Blackhawks were 1:04 from picking up their first victory of the season before Jets forward Mark Scheifele tied it and then won it in overtime.

“We played a solid game,” Donato said. “(Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom) played great, but you’ve got to play 60 minutes of good hockey, not 59. At the end of the day, we did some good things, but it’s just not good enough.

“We’re kind of sick of (looking for positives). We’re at a point now where we have a lot of veteran guys who have been around the league — these moral victories can only last for so long, and I think guys are getting sick of it, and it’s just not good enough. We’ve got to play 60 minutes of good hockey and come out with a win.”

Captain Nick Foligno and forward Teuvo Teravainen scored the Blackhawks’ goals in Salt Lake City.

Connor Bedard, the NHL’s Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year last season, has two assists through two games. The 19-year-old center scored a goal in his lone game against the Oilers last season.

Chicago goalie Petr Mrazek, who could be in line Saturday after Soderblom played Friday, stopped 22 of the 26 shots he faced at Utah. He is 3-6-0 with an .895 save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average in 10 career appearances against Edmonton.

Soderblom lost his only career start against the Oilers 5-4 on Nov. 30, 2022, when he made 36 saves.

–Field Level Media