Blackhawks vs Oilers Game 4 NHL 2020: Score, recap, stats, highlights

Excuses me for one second.

(runs away)

(returns with megaphone)

(works throat)

THE BLACKHAWKS ARE IN THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS.

Thanks to another spectacular performance by the perennial underappreciated Corey Crawford, the Blackhawks beat the Oilers 3-2 on Friday night at Rogers Place in Edmonton, eliminating the hub-town hosts of the qualifying game.

Crawford made 43 saves for Chicago, which for the first time since 2017 advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Dominik Kubalik scored the goal goal with 11:30 left in the third period to become the fifth Blackhawks rookie to score the series scoring goal in team history and the first since Jeremy Roenick in 1990. Jonathan Toews had two assists.

Like so many games in this series, Edmonton scored alarmingly fast in the first period, with Josh Archibald at once a Connor McDavid pass from Crawford for a 1-0 lead, 45 seconds into the game.

Chicago, however, shot back, tying the game 1-1 on a foul wraparound goal from Brandon Saad to an Oscar Klefbom turnover.

The Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead in the first intermission after Matthew Highmore converted a Duncan Keith point past Edmonton goalkeeper Mikko Koskinen.

Starting in the second, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tied the game at two just 2:02 into the second period, the advantage of several golden chances for the Oilers as his power play expired.

And then came, perhaps, the most important moment of the game. With Edmonton controlling momentum toward that RNH goal, Alex DeBrincat rode Ethan Bear well away from the puck, drawing a deserved five-minute major – and DeBrincat was probably lucky not to be out – giving the potent Oilers -make an opportunity to break the game open.

But it did not happen.

Assisted by a Darnell Nurse penalty that resulted in the cancellation of two of those five minutes, Chicago prevented Edmonton from taking the lead.

Of course, Crawford was the biggest reason for the success of the penalty kill, making save after save after save after save. And Crawford continued that strong performance for the remainder of the second period, as the Oilers outscored the Blackhawks 15-9 in the middle period.

Edmonton continued to dominate play early in the third, leading only to Crawford’s more brilliant work.

At the 8:30 mark of the third, Chicago took the lead for good when Toews Bear muscle out behind the Edmonton net and shot a quick pass to Kubalik, who struck a one-timer over Koskinen’s shoulder. thanks for a 3-2 lead that Chicago would not give up.

The 11:30 final was not without its drama, including this brilliant save from Crawford on Zack Kassian, but a few feet from the finish line:

Crawford was by far the biggest reason for Chicago securing the win and securing the series in a game where the Blackhawks were outshot 45-29 and out-chanced 31-20 at five-on-five play, according to Natural Stat Trick.

But none of that is important at the moment, as the Blackhawks are officially in the playoffs.

A few more bullet points for your Friday night:

• Crawford’s name deserves to be in the pantheon of greatest goalies from the last decade and his continued exclusion from that discussion remains one of the sport’s greatest crimes. What else does he have to prove?
• It’s an absolute embarrassment that the Oilers have other world talents like McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, yet are accustomed to hoping the draft lottery ends up in their favor. Those two are too good to be true to a franchise that is so comically inept.
• The Blackhawk with the best possession numbers? That would be 19-year-old Kirby Dach with a 52.0 Corsi For percentage, which was 14.9 above the team. His growth this series has been a fascinating subplot.

• Slater Koekkoek still looks like a defender who would be well suited for a role in the third pair at a relatively affordable cap hit. Wouldn’t recommend him for four minutes, but an NHL team could do much less than put him in No. 5 or no. 6 role to have.

• It’s been three years since the Blackhawks were in the official playoffs. The last playoff series they won was the 2015 Stanley Cup Final. Drink and enjoy it, people. It’s far too damn.

Game Charts

Three stars

Corey Crawford (CHI) – 43 saves on 45 shots (.956 SA%)

2. Duncan Keith (CHI) – 5:43 PK TOI, part of a unit that kept Edmonton’s top-ranked power play scoreless on five chances

Dominik Kubalik (CHI) – Game-winning goal

What comes next

Chicago will host the top seed in the Western Conference, which will go through a round-robin game between the Avalanche and Golden Knights at 2 p.m. Central time Saturday.