There was a lot that Western Conference’s No. 12 seeded Blackhawks did right to endure the Western’s No. 5 seeded home ice oilers in the Stanley Cup qualifier.
Here are some observations:
Fat goals
There was a common theme for many of the goals the Hawks scored against the Oilers, they were hard earned and many of them were not deflated into the Oilers’. Five of the Blackhawks’ 16 goals in the series came from deflections.
Just like when he tied Game 3 in the third, Highmore puts the #Blackhawks forward 2-1 with a forward referral.pic.twitter.com/8wclEZGeBA
– Scott King (@ScottKingMedia) August 7, 2020
Matthew Highmore had a tip-in late in Game 3 to set the table for the 4-3 comeback victory, and then scored the same way to put the Hawks up 2-1 in the first period of Game 4. Blackhawks- captain Jonathan Toews had a Connor Murphy shot off his glass path for the winning goal in Game 3 with 1:16 left in regulation.
Throughout the series, the attackers got the puck to the D-men in the offensive zone and came to the front of the net to make a screen when attempting a tip-in. The formula worked constantly for the Hawks and they need to keep up with it as long as they are in the offseason.
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Keep an eye on McDavid and Draisaitl
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid had the first and second most points in the NHL, respectively.
Against the Blackhawks in qualifying, they had a combination of 15 points (five goals, four assists for McDavid; and three goals, three assists for Draisaitl), which may not have read as an achievement, but saw the unusual offensive talent that the two have, the Hawks managed to seriously limit their chances and keep them from reaching their full level of production as potential in the series.
Related: More hard-earned goals and a killer PK advancing Blackhawks to Round One
Coach Jeremy Colliton and his Hawks definitely got the best of McDavid and Draisaitl when they were the home team and had the final change in games 3 and 4. Colliton often put Toews ‘line against McDavid’s – like the Blackhawks’ fourth line with center David Kamp sometimes.
Toews and his line were able to play solid defense against McDavid and the other Edmonton combos they faced. The Blackhawks captain was also able to help the Hawks hang on to the puck, winning 55.34% of the faceoffs he took in the series. McDavid won 43.1% of his draws in qualifying.
The PK
The Hawks went 12-for-17 over the penalty kill, including 5-for-5 in Game 4, in the play-in series against the Oilers. Chicago only allowing Edmonton five power-play goals in the entire series is pretty impressive, as the Oilers touted the best power-play in the league in the regular season.
Maintaining a strong PK would benefit the Hawks in Round One, but so it would stay out to prevent an unfavorable momentum change.
Captain seriously well
Toews had a monster series, and resembles his previous winning Conn Conny 2010 in 2010 in the way he was able to take over some of the games in the qualifying game against top players like McDavid and Draisaitl.
In addition to limiting McDavid and winning a majority of his draws, Toews had seven points (four goals, three assists) in the series.
The captain after the rookie. This was an enormous goal. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/NRf70rKc3U
– Scott King (@ScottKingMedia) August 8, 2020
The three-time Stanley Cup champion had two two-goal goals (Game 1 and Game 3) in the series and won a battle behind the net to get rookie Dominik Kubalik the puck in front for the series-clinching goal in Game 4.
The Crow
After missing the first 12 days of the Hawks’ Phase 3 training camp after recovering from COVID-19, Crawford went out of his way to look like the two-time Stanley Cup champion goalkeeper he is and appears to be to have a lot of quality hockey in the tank.
After conceding 13 total goals in the first three games of the series, Crawford played his best game on Friday, saving 43 of 45 Oilers shots for the win. It certainly looks like he’s in postseason form now.
Young guns
The Blackhawks younger players really stepped up in the qualifying game. After Jonathan Toews, Kirby Dach was probably the most consistently good Hawk.
Dach, 19, was only kept off the scoresheet in Game 4 after signing a three-game winning streak with four assists to start the series. He became the first Blackhawks rookie to score a point in his first three playoff games since Eddie Olczyk in 1985.
Kubalik, 24, set a new Blackhawks record for rookie points in a playoff game with his five-point performance in Game 1, scoring two power-play goals and grabbing three assists. Steve Larmer held the previous record. Larmer had four points (one goal, three assists) in Game 2 of the Division I Finals 1983. Larmer won the Calder Trophy in 1983.
Kubalik also became the first player to score five points in his post-season debut in NHL history.
Highmore, 24, put the Hawks ahead 2-1 at 7:56 of the first period of Game 4 after tipping a Duncan Keith shot from the net. It was the second straight game that Highmore scored a deflection. In Game 3, he tied the game 3-3 at 14:13 of the third period, defeating a shot from defender Slater Koekkoek past Oilers goalkeeper Mikko Koskinen and setting the table for Toews to complete the 4-3 comeback victory .
