Oilers rally for 2-1 win in Chicago

Taylor Hall and Shawn Horcoff hunt for the puck during Sunday's game in Chicago. The Oilers rallied for a 2-1 win. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

 

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PRE-GAME

Preview Game Notes Head-to-Head Stats Comparison Video interviews Audio Interviews

PHOTOS

Click here for the photo gallery

VIDEO

Oilers Post-Game: Comments from Hemsky, Gagner, Foster, Khabibulin & Renney following the win THE OTHER SIDE: Blackhawks post-game comments from Pisani, Campbell, Hossa & head coach Joel Quenneville. Full Video Highlights Khabibulin's amazing third period saves Vandermeer's hit on Kopecky Two goals in 14 seconds

POST-GAME AUDIO

Audio Highlights Head Coach Renney Nikolai Khabibulin Ales Hemsky Sam Gagner Kurtis Foster

THREE STARS

Sam Gagner, EDM Nikolai Khabibulin, EDM Fernando Pisani, CHI

UPDATE

With the win, the Oilers improve to 4-6-2.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Oilers leave Chicago Sunday night and fly to Raleigh, North Carolina. The team's next game is vs. the Hurricanes on Tuesday, November 9 at 5pm MT. The game will be broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet Oilers.

Former Oiler Fernando Pisani landed the first blow Sunday night in Chicago, but former Blackhawk Nikolai Khabibulin got the last laugh after backstopping the Oil to a 2-1 victory. With third-period goals 14-seconds apart, Kurtis Foster and Sam Gagner led the offensive charge for Edmonton, ensuring a positive start to the club's five-game road trip.

FIRST PERIOD

Edmonton had some strong shifts early Sunday evening, tallying five shots on Chicago's Corey Crawford in the game's first seven minutes. The Blackhawks narrowed the gap near the midway point of the frame, but Nikolai Khabibulin came up with some big stops, including a flashy glove save on Brent Seabrook.

But moments later, a former Oiler broke the scoreless stalemate. After receiving the puck from Jack Skille, Fernando Pisani cut in from the wing and directed the puck under Khabibulin's glove to open the scoring for the Blackhawks.

Chicago assumed a 10-9 shot lead later in the period and, with only six seconds left on the clock, benefited from the game's first power-play when Shawn Horcoff was called for slashing John Scott. As such, the visitors would start the second period on the penalty-kill.

SECOND PERIOD

Edmonton limited Chicago to only one attempt on the man-advantage, but Horcoff's spot in the box didn't stay vacant for long as Jim Vandermeer was called for holding less than a minute later. The Oilers repeated their penalty-killing performance and kept the puck away from Khabibulin all but once.

With five minutes left in the frame, fans got a break from back-and-forth play when Zack Stortini and Scott dropped their gloves for a fast and furious brawl in the Blackhawks zone. Both players landed a pair of punches before linesmen interferred and referees assigned fighting majors.

At 16:09, Patrick Kane took a seat beside Scott, but he was able to serve his full hooking minor without an Oilers goal.

In a mirror image of the first period, the Blackhawks finished the second with a one-goal, one-shot lead.

THIRD PERIOD

Early in the third, it was announced that Horcoff suffered a left leg injury and would not return to the game. Things didn't get easier for the Oilers after that, thanks to a second penalty to Vandermeer, but the club made a third successful kill to stay within one.

The power-play tables soon turned, however, and Edmonton benefited from back-to-back man-advantages. Only eight seconds into the second power-play, Kurtis Foster skated in and fired past Crawford to tie the game at one. 14 seconds after that, Gagner made it 2-1 by tipping in Dustin Penner's shot.

A third consecutive Hawks infraction helped renew the Oilers shot lead, but the club couldn't add a second power-play goal.

Moments after Tomas Kopecky was freed from the penalty box, Chicago's snipers descended on Khabibulin. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane thrilled fans with two excellent scoring chances, but the Oilers netminder quieted the crowd by robbing his former teammates.

With Crawford out of his net, Andrew Cogliano narrowly missed an empty netter in the final minute, but turns out the extra goal wasn't required. Facing a desperate and dangerous Blackhawks push, the Oilers held strong and took a come-from-behind 2-1 win.