The Edmonton Oilers will look to end their five-game trip on a high note Thursday night when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Oilers alternated losses and wins over the first four games of the trek, highlighted by a convincing 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.
Superstar captain Connor McDavid collected a goal and an assist to record his sixth multi-point performance in his last eight games. The reigning Hart Trophy recipient’s NHL-leading 77 points are one more than teammate Leon Draisaitl, who also scored and set up a goal vs. the Flyers.
McDavid and Draisaitl each registered a goal and an assist in Edmonton’s 5-2 win over Chicago on Nov. 20. The former set up the latter on the Oilers’ lone goal in a 4-1 loss to the Blackhawks on Feb. 9.
Kailer Yamamoto crashed the crease on Tuesday to score in his return from a one-game absence due to lower-body soreness.
“He’s an important piece of our team. Not having him in Carolina (a 2-1 Oilers’ loss on Sunday) hurt us,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said of the 5-foot-8, 153-pound Yamamoto. “Yamo gives us energy on the forecheck, he’s relentless on the back-check, and I think he’s underrated physically. … He has a high hockey IQ and is willing to pay a price to score. You don’t go to where he went to to get that goal unless you’re brave.”
Yamamoto scored in the first meeting with Chicago before being held in check in the other.
Mikko Koskinen didn’t face the Blackhawks in either matchup this season; however, he enters Thursday’s game on a high note.
Koskinen followed his 44-save performance in Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers by turning aside all 39 shots he faced vs. the Flyers. The 33-year-old sports a 7-0-1 record with a 2.34 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in his past eight starts.
“It’s about winning,” Koskinen said after registering his sixth career shutout. “You either win or lose the game and two points or zero points. I think it’s pretty clear that I’m a team player and I don’t care about the stats anymore. I’m too old anyway. I’m here to win the games and hopefully something bigger.”
Oilers defenseman Duncan Keith won “something bigger” during 16 seasons with the Blackhawks. The three-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time Norris Trophy recipient will get his third look at his former team after returning from a nine-game absence with an upper-body injury on Tuesday.
While Edmonton recorded a shutout victory in its last contest, Chicago was blanked by St. Louis on Sunday to fall to 1-7-1 during its last nine games at home.
“(The Blues) get one and then we (take on a) here-we-go-again kind of attitude,” Blackhawks coach Derek King said. “We just stood still, stopped playing. They woke up and they were winning the battles. We weren’t.”
Alex DeBrincat, who leads the team in goals (29), tallied twice in the first encounter with the Oilers before collecting a goal and two assists in the other.
Patrick Kane notched one of his team-leading 37 assists and 53 points in last month’s meeting with Edmonton.
–Field Level Media
