Blackhawks Beat Oilers as Stanley Cup Playoffs Get Underway

The Stanley Cup Playoffs began August 1st, in the return to the ice for the NHL. The season had been suspended in mid March as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. While that hasn’t ended, of course, the NHL has moved operations to two bubble locations, Toronto and Edmonton, with an expanded playoff field of 24 teams. The top four teams in each conference are determining their seeding with round robin competition, while everyone else opens with a best of five series.

One of these best of fives involves the Edmonton Oilers, the #5 seed in the Western Conference, versus the #12 Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks made it in because of the expanded playoffs, and with Edmonton playing at home (although with no fans present) this appeared to be a sure fire elimination for Chicago.

Well, maybe not. The Oilers took an early 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Connor McDavid, but the Hawks came back with four goals to take a 4-1 lead after one period. Chicago extended the lead to 6-2 after two periods. The Oilers began a comeback of sorts, scoring twice in the third, but Chicago held on for a surprising 6-4 win.

Blackhawks rookie sensation Dominik Kubalik scored two goals and had three assists, while Jonathan Toews scored twice and had one assist. Edmonton will try to even the series at one game apiece on August 3rd. Chicago will be without forward Drake Caggiula, who has been suspended one game for an illegal check on Edmonton’s Tyler Ennis in Game 1.