FIRST PERIOD
If not for a pair of shots from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ty Emberson striking iron early in regulation, the Oilers would’ve likely been looking at a lead through 20 minutes, but the Blackhawks were able to hold on until the intermission and even challenge late on the power play to provide the Oilers a scare.
The Oilers outshot the Blackhawks by a 12-5 margin in the first period, with former Chicago centre Jason Dickinson nearly combining with Kasperi Kapanen on the first shift with a cross-crease pass that the Finnish forward couldn’t elevate over the right skate of goalie Spencer Knight.
Nugent-Hopkins hit the crossbar with a wicked snapshot off the rush before it was Ty Emberson who caught the post cleanly on an open look from the right circle just minutes later, as the Blackhawks were lucky not to be trailing early thanks to the iron.
The Oilers kept up the pressure on their first power play soon after with five shots, but ultimately couldn’t break the deadlock as they searched for their first power-play goal since before they started their four-game win streak.
But Chicago still had their chances by forcing Tristan Jarry into making some tricky saves, with Ilya Mikheyev getting loose on a breakaway that luckily was flashed over the crossbar by the Russian forward.
The Blackhawks hit a post of their own when McDavid was penalized late for hooking, seeing NHL newcomer Anton Frondell wire a one-timer off the crossbar from the top of the circle before Tyler Bertuzzi couldn’t put away the loose puck in the crease.
