SSAC Triplets Draw In vs. Cratering Blackhawks as Edmonton Seeks a Third Win on the Trot

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GAME 23 2022-23: OILERS AT BLACKHAWKS

If the Oilers can make it through tonight with a victory, I think the organization has a right to sing a redemption song. Many things have gone awry and finishing 7-7-0 in a month of tough opponents might feel like victory in the morning. The Jack Campbell struggles, the Darnell Nurse five-on-five goal differential, the lack of outscoring from the top two lines, there’s a lot of sideways in an over under world.

BLH’s Thoughts: I have not heard one peep from any of the blogs and local journos on Darnell Nurse’s epic failure of a month he’s had. Why is that?… We heard tons about the lack of scoring from the $3M men, lots on Campbell, Bouchard’s name came up but nobody was brave enough to say anything about Nurse and I’m wondering if they’re afraid to for whatever reason.

Lastly on Nurse, if you’re going to criticize Zack Kassian and use his salary as one of your supporting points, it has to be the same with Darnell. You can’t have it one way and not the other. At the same time, that contract is Holland’s Koskinen deal. It’ll be unmovable and it will cripple future moves especially if he can get Leon and Connor re-signed to twin 8yr deals. It’s possible that he might have close to $40M tied up in three players in a few seasons.

GM23: Oilers @ Blackhawks

Who’s Hot for Chicago

#88 Patrick Kane – 21 shots in his last five games but only one goal to show for it. Kane’s on showcase now and with the way the Boston Bruins are lighting up the league, I wonder if he’d go to Beantown instead of the Big Apple considering the Rangers aren’t really living up to expectations.
#23 Philip Kurashev – He’s leading the Hawks in scoring since the 19th of the month with a goal and four assists. He’s a sneaky winger that finds a way to get the job done.
#13 Max Domi – Seven points in his last dozen minus two. Gotta wonder if this is the kind of depth player that might interest the Oilers down the stretch because he’s the type that will drag his team into the battle as well as take care of his teammates.

Who’s Hot for Edmonton

#16 Tyler Benson – Didn’t draw in against Florida for whatever reason but should be in tonight seeing as Klim Kostin is out. Benson’s changed his style of play, he’s become quicker, and his hockey IQ is right up there. He “could” be a dangerous player on their bottom six depending on the shift whether he’s a shit disturber or a playmaker. I’m looking forward to seeing him in action.
#55 Dylan Holloway – He’s got one now. Has the dam burst now? If there’s a team that’s ripe for a lickin’, it’s the Hawks and I like Hollywood’s speed vs. anybody on Chicago’s 3rd line if Luke Richardson line matches.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Six points in his last half dozen minus one. On the whole of the year so far, he’s having a good campaign. I’d like to see him shoot some more and turn it up 5v5, but if those are my only complaints, I can live with that.

BLH’s Thoughts: Over Chicago’s last five games they’re not scoring much more than two goals per game. So this one’s going to go one way or the other. Either the offense is going to wake up or it’s going to stay ice cold. Max Dome, Pat Kane, and Andreas Athanasiou are the only forwards shooting more than twice per game… I dunno. They’ve hit some hard times and logic would dictate that this is Edmonton’s to lose but as we know, the Oilers can give a gimme back to their opponents on occasion.

Oilersnation

Game Notes

Over their next 13 games Edmonton plays 11 opponents who currently have a lower points percentage than the Oilers: Chicago, Minnesota, Montreal, Washington, Arizona, Minnesota, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Anaheim, Nashville, Dallas and Vancouver.
They (Chicago) are 1-7-2 in their last 10 games and have been outscored 42-18.
Edmonton’s bottom six was very strong on Monday, with each player posting very good shot-for-shot against metrics: Kostin (7-1), Brad Malone (6-1), Derek Ryan (8-2), Dylan Holloway (4-1), Devin Shore (9-3) and James Hamblin (5-2). All of them were on for more scoring chances for than against…

#LetsGoOilers vs #Blackhawks

Draisaitl-McDavid-Hyman
Janmark RNH-Puljujarvi
Benson-Shore-Ryan
Holloway-Malone-Hamblin

Nurse-Ceci
Kulak-Barrie
Broberg-Bouchard

Skinner
Campbell

Scratched: Murray, Kostin, Foegele

— x – Oilers Access (@oilersaccess) November 30, 2022

This is likely the last time the Oilers will visit Chicago with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews in the lineup. Both are pending UFAs, and with the Blackhawks in the middle of a rebuild, I don’t see either re-signing. Chicago comes to Edmonton on January 28th, so the Oilers could face them again, but it won’t be in Chicago.

BLH’s Thoughts: That last point might be something to keep an eye one. After the game on the 28th, it’s the all-star break and the NHL won’t resume regular gaming again until Feb. 7th. Do you think that Ken Holland would pull the trigger during that week?