Oilers Gameday: March 3rd at Blackhawks

Edmonton (30-21-3) at Chicago (19-27-8)

March got off to a strong start, a 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Oilers will look to continue those results tonight in the Windy City.

Dating back to their play in series during the 2020 bubble there has been some recent history between these clubs. The Keith trade, the Fleury rumours, no doubt players on both sides will have this game circled.

The Blackhawks have stabilized after a brutal start to the season, leading to the firing of their coach Jeremy Colliton. Things around the organization have been much worse than subpar on-ice performances though. The Blackhawks handling of the Aldrich/Beach Sexual Assault, the decades plus spent covering it up, the toxic culture that festered not only in the Hawks organization but across the hockey microverse. There are so many chapters to get through how the situation was or was not handled, and I’m not equipped to get through all of that story here.

In some ways there’s hope that the Hawks are at least taking steps forward. The relationship with Bobby Hull has been severed, some nice statements were made about moving forward and how to do that. Despite the superficial niceties, the truth reared its ugly head with owner Rocky Wirtz’s outburst at a town hall meeting. From the top down, this organization is not equipped to deal with the tough issues or sensitive topics, including changing the team’s logo, something that hockey fans in Chicago have been actively demonstrating for over the years.

Getting back to the game at hand, we’re expecting to see Koskinen and Fleury get the start in goal for their teams.

KEYS TO THE GAME

Edmonton:

1. Defensive structure. The Hawks do not generate much offence, but do have some talent that can capitalize on opportunities. If the Oilers can play a tight and stingy game it will likely be enough to keep the Hawks at bay.

Chicago:

1. Goaltending. The Hawks are a subpar defensive team at even strength and in the penalty kill, as is the case most nights the onus will be on Fleury to make up for those shortcomings. Their record without Fleury is just 3-8-4.

EXPECTED LINEUPS

Edmonton:

Foegele — McDavid — Hyman

Kane — Draisaitl — Yamamoto

Shore — McLeod — Ryan

Benson — Malone – xxxxx

Nurse — Barrie

Keith — Bouchard

Niemelainen — Ceci

Lagesson — xxxxx

Koskinen

Smith

Chicago:

Kubalik — Strome — Kane

DeBrincat — Toews — Johnson

Hagel — Dach — Entwistle

Kurashev — Carpenter — Lafferty

de Haan — S. Jones

C. Jones — Murphy

Stillman — McCabe

Fleury

Lankinen

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Edmonton:

For the most part, the show rolls on as Woodcroft has helped the Oilers stabilize their erratic and mercurial play. Foegele is capable of pinching up into the top 6.

As much as Ryan might have under performed during the Tippett era, he has more than made up for it on the wing under the new regime. McLeod has gone from relative unknown to unquestionable and versatile top 9 forward over the first 54 games of the season.

The 7 defenders deployment has worked wonders, and the entire aura of the group has improved. Players seem to be building confidence as they are put in positions to succeed. The defence group has a number of members that excel in certain aspects of the game while struggling in others, but the group has come together quite symbiotically.

Koskinen has been the Oilers best goalie this season. Yes, Skinner’s numbers have been better, but a lot of goaltending evaluation has to weigh minutes played heavily. Under that pretence it is also important for the Oilers to keep Koskinen fresh and give him nights off, even and especially when he is playing well. Even now, with Koskinen coming off a shutout and Smith struggling, I think it’s a recipe for disaster to start playing Koskinen in much more than 50% of the games.

Chicago:

The Hawks roster is lacking in many areas, but it is not without its bright spots, in particular the LW position with Kubalik, DeBrincat, Hagel, and Kurashev. Kubalik and DeBrincat are goal scorers with good shots, while Hagel has gone from relatively unknown to significant minutes.

At centre, Toews is nowhere close to the player he once was, really it’s been a few seasons since that’s been the case. There’s been some medical complications along the way, but nothing good lasts forever. Meanwhile, Dylan Strome still might even have some room to grow, for now he’s been a threat at both ends of the ice, similar to his linemate Kane. Dach hasn’t quite lived up to the lofty standards of projection of his rookie year, but there’s time yet for the young centre’s career to bloom.

The blueline is probably missing 2 top 4 defenders, which is significant. de Haan and S. Jones are serviceable, but hardly elite. Murphy and McCabe are physical. I have some positive thoughts on both C. Jones and Stillman as depth defenders.

Regardless of how one evaluates the Keith trade to Edmonton a lot of former GM Bowman’s moves from the summer seem counterproductive. In particular trading the likes of Adam Boqvist, a young, highly skilled, right shooting defender, for older, “win-now” types like Seth Jones.

It’s exactly this type of holding onto the past to the bitter end, and the refusal to self evaluate with any accountability, that echoes throughout so much of the Blackhawks organization. In a great many ways the Hawks are keeping themselves in this sad, toxic, and altogether unbecoming state.

Perhaps Mr. R. Wirtz did a lot to lift the long beleaguered franchise from the depths it may have been deeper into when he took over, as did Kane and Toews. But the path forward, and upwards, can only be taken by the next generation.