PLAY-IN GAME 4: Edmonton Oilers vs. Chicago Blackhawks

Edmonton Oilers vs

Chicago Blackhawks

07 August 2020

Rogers Place

4:45 PM MST

TV: Sportsnet

Radio: 630 CHED

SB Nation Opponent: Second City Hockey

IT’S DO-OR-DIE TIME

Leon Draisaitl had a pair of goals, Connor McDavid had one on the power play. Edmonton took a couple of undisciplined penalties, Chicago benefitted from some...”creative” calls along the way. The Blackhawks scored two goals in five minutes of the third period (including the go-ahead goal with just 76 seconds remaining in regulation) to slink on out of game 3 with a 4-3 victory.

The Oilers need to win two games in order to advance to the Western Conference quarter finals. They’ll need to do it twice in two days, and it all begins tonight. Can the Oilers pick up a win and take this series to five games?

Let’s go to the tape.

THE OILERS ARES SAYING

“We didn’t get off to the start we wanted...I thought we took over the first period after we got one (penalty), and then just far too many penalties. The refs are calling a lot of stuff, we know that, and just have to be more disciplined”

Source

That’s Oilers captain Connor McDavid after Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the Blackhawks.

The Oilers took a couple of undisciplined penalties, but the officiating crew didn’t help make matters much better. Chicago went 1/6 on the powerplay.

THE BLACKHAWKS ARE SAYING

“We just believe in ourselves and knew that if you get enough chances, eventually they’re going to go in for us...We just kind of kept digging and playing our game.”

Source

That’s Blackhawks rookie Matthew Highmore.

Highmore scored the game tying goal with under six minutes in the third to make it 3-3.

PROJECTED LINES

EDMONTON

RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS - CONNOR MCDAVID - JOSH ARCHIBALD

ANDREAS ATHANASIOU - LEON DRAISAITL - KAILER YAMAMOTO

JAMES NEAL - RILEY SHEAHAN - ZACK KASSIAN

GAETAN HAAS - JUJHAR KHAIRA - ALEX CHIASSON

OSCAR KLEFBOM - ADAM LARSSON

DARNELL NURSE - ETHAN BEAR

KRIS RUSSELL - MATTHEW BENNING

MIKKO KOSKINEN

MIKE SMITH

CHICAGO

DOMINIK KUBALIK - JONATHAN TOEWS - BRANDON SAAD

ALEX DEBRINCAT - KIRBY DACH - PATRICK KANE

ALEX NYLANDER - DYLAN STROME - JOHN QUENNEVILLE

MATTHEW HIGHMORE - RYAN CARPENTER - DAVE KAMPF

DUNCAN KEITH - ADAM BOQVIST

CALVIN DE HAAN - CONNOR MURPHY

OLLI MAATTA - SLATER KOEKKOEK

COREY CRAWFORD

MALCOLM SUBBAN

HAVE SOME OF THIS

• HAAS TO BE: Tyler Ennis is out for the foreseeable future with a leg injury. I think this causes a bump for Andreas Athansiou, and it should activate Gaetan Haas for tonight’s game. Through parts of three games, Ennis had a point and an assist (1-1-2).
• CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS: Is Zack Kassian in line for a healthy scratch? Just 6:20 in ice time on Wednesday night, down from 10:56 on Monday. When Ennis got injured, Andreas Athanasiou’s ice time went up, while Kassian’s became non-existent.
• NOW MIGHT BE THE BEST TIME TO GET THE BAND BACK TOGETHER: I hope tonight’s game isn’t the last of the season, but if you go out without reuniting the 93/29/56 line for at least a few shifts, there’ll always be that nagging feeling in the back of your mind. Will this push Andreas Athanasiou up top? Maybe. Are we ready for that? i’m more ready for that than I am for James Neal to take that spot. Not really particular about how the goals get scored in an elimination game, but if the 93/29/56 line pops off for a four goals tonight, no one will really mind.
• NET GAINS: Corey Crawford will likely get the nod for Chicago again tonight (2-1-0, .859 SV% / 4.33 GAA). The Oilers ought to go with Mikko Koskinen once again (1-1-0, .886 SV% / 3.21 GAA). We’ll talk about game 5 when we get there, but tonight has got to be Koskinen’s start. Why Koskinen? I trust him not to let in several goals in clusters. If the club goes down 3-0 in the first four minutes, I’ll see you at the draft.
• ONE TO WATCH: Kirby Dach has made noise all series. He’s got 4 points (0-4-4) in three games so far. Dach had the primary assist on Jonathan Toews’ power play goal, which brought the Blackhawks to a 2-1 lead in the dying seconds in Wednesday’s first period.

• 50/50: The 50/50 ballooned up to nearly 5.5 million on Wednesday before sales were capped out. That number could double tonight. If you hit it and need someone to pick you up in a limousine, call me.
• It’s do or die time for the Oilers tonight. Take game 4, then we’ll see you tomorrow night.