Chicago Blackhawks: Not escaping Connor McDavid this time

The Chicago Blackhawks are hosting the Edmonton Oilers at United Center. They are not going to avoid playing Connor McDavid this time.

The last time the Chicago Blackhawks played the Edmonton Oilers, they were lucky enough to not have to go up against Connor McDavid. The league’s best player was missing due to a minor injury but now he is back. McDavid has 32 goals and 63 assists for 95 points in 61 games played so far this season. It has been a remarkable year for him so far. The thing is, they still lost that game. It was a missed opportunity for sure.

The thing that has been good for McDavid and the Oilers is that he has a running mate. Leon Draisaitl is making the argument for the second-best player in the league. He has 43 goals and 65 assists for 108 points in 67 games played. He was a monster during McDavid’s absence and continues to play well now that he is back. They play on separate lines which gives the Oilers tremendous depth at forward. With the level these two are at right now, Oilers games have become appointment television for sports fans.

In order for the Blackhawks to win this game, they are going to need to hone in on these two players. The defense needs to be aggressive against them and the forwards need to be hard on the forecheck and backcheck. They also need to activate their defense so they can counter their attack. The Blackhawks like to play a game where they trade chance for chance and that is not a recipe for defeating Edmonton.

It isn’t like the Oilers are done beyond McDavid and Draisaitl either. There are some other really good players there like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, James Neal, and Kailer Yamamoto. Whether it is Corey Crawford or Malcolm Subban in net, they need to be on their game. It isn’t easy to shut down the Oilers so the Hawks will need their best effort.

Special teams might play a big role in this game. It would be wise to stay out of the box because their power play leads the league at 29.9 percent. They also have the second-best penalty kill at 84.4 percent so breaking through on the power play might be tough. If they get themselves into a special teams battle with them, it is going to be a long night.

In addition to trying to contain their offense, the Blackhawks will need to bring some offense of their own. The Oilers aren’t a perfect team defensively so if they are willing to go chance for chance, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Dominik Kubalik, and Brandon Saad amongst others need to step up.