The Chicago Blackhawks got off to a great start against the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 11, at one point holding 2-0 and 3-1 leads, but three unanswered Oilers goals gave Edmonton a 4-3 win over the Blackhawks.
Here are three takeaways from Chicago’s latest defeat, their eighth in their last 10 games.
Blackhawks’ Hot Start
As we’ve seen throughout the 2024-25 regular season, the Blackhawks got out to a quick start, with lots of early chances and traffic in front of the Oilers’ net. Teuvo Teravainen scored his 10th of the season and now has seven points in his last five games, finding chemistry with the likes of Jason Dickinson and captain Nick Foligno.
Foligno went on to score his 11th of the season, with Teravainen recording his 20th assist, the ninth time he’s achieved the feat in his career. Teravainen also has four goals and 13 assists for 17 points in his last 13 games.
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There were chunks of the first period where it felt like the Blackhawks were playing the best possible version of their game that they could: relentless forecheck, quick turnarounds from their own zone to the opponent’s, and an effort you couldn’t mistake for just good luck.
Despite the Oilers getting a few good looks, Arvid Soderblom held his own and stopped all nine shots he faced in the first period, and it felt the 19,387 fans in attendance would see the Blackhawks earn their 15th win of the season. However…
Blackhawks’ Second-Period Collapse
Just 22 seconds into the second period, Vasily Podkolzin cut the deficit to one with his fifth of the season. Ryan Donato regained the two-goal lead with his 13th of the season, but it wasn’t enough to stop the impending momentum shift.
Forward Adam Henrique scored his sixth to make it 3-2, and former Blackhawk Corey Perry, who since joining the Oilers has turned into one of the more reliable fourth-line wingers in the game, netted his seventh of the season to tie the game at three with 2:30 to go in the second.
Corey Perry knots this game up at three apiece! 🪢
📺: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/bKYTQryrCD
— NHL (@NHL) January 12, 2025
“They pushed us back,” Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen told reporters after the game. “We were on our heels a little bit. They’re a good team, so they’re coming at us in waves, and we had a hard time kind of stopping that. We got out of it.”
Once the Oilers woke up in the second half of the second period, they generated a ton of traffic in front of Soderblom and continued peppering Chicago with shots, finishing the second frame with a 15-7 advantage. The third period was a different type of domination, with the Blackhawks seemingly unable to generate any sort of scoring chance or any type of sustained breakout. Eventually, Nolan Allan took a bad tripping penalty in the third period and Zach Hyman capitalized, scoring his 14th of the season, as well as the game-winning goal.
The thing with really, really good teams like Edmonton is that you can’t stop what’s coming, you can only try to contain it. Even on a night when the Oilers started horribly and the game’s best player in Connor McDavid is having an “off night,” there’s too much talent in their lineup that can make up for it. Edmonton is too experienced of a group to not know how to come back, but also, the Blackhawks are not a good enough team to match up with the big dogs in the NHL.
Bedard’s Point Streak Comes to an End
Another takeaway from the game was Connor Bedard‘s nine-game point streak coming to an end, finishing the game with no shots. Lasting between Dec. 21 and Jan. 10, Bedard scored four goals and added eight assists for 12 points in nine contests. After the game against Edmonton, Bedard now has 11 goals and 27 assists for 38 points in 43 games, putting him on pace for a 72-point campaign.
While Bedard has received some criticism for a perceived lack of production and a bit of a stutter in his development, his game has developed at both ends of the rink and he also continues to go up against the other team’s best players every single night. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that Bedard is still 19, and will likely end up finishing with career-highs in all offensive categories this season. Also, it doesn’t help that this season’s roster is somehow worse than last season’s, and there has been almost no individual improvement from anyone beyond a few players.
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Rebuilds take time, and superstars aren’t just rendered overnight like a computer download. While there were flashes of really good hockey against the Oilers, the end result and overall game were indicative of a club that’s not only trying to learn how to win, but learn how to provide a full 60-minute effort. Veteran defenseman Alec Martinez echoed the sentiment in his post-game scrum with reporters.
“We’ve got to learn you’ve got to put together a full 60 minutes, and that’s about details and habits,” Martinez said. “That’s . . . not consistent in our game. When you’re not doing that, you’re allowing teams opportunities to get back in (the game). And the longer you play with bad habits, the more opportunities you give up.”
Chicago hosts the NHL’s other Alberta-based team on Jan. 13 when they take on the Calgary Flames. The Flames have had their own struggles as of late, but they’ve won two straight and are in the hunt for a wildcard spot in the Western Conference. The Blackhawks hope that, one day, they’ll reach a point where they’re fighting for a spot in the new year.
