Chicago Blackhawks: Game two is a must win game
The Chicago Blackhawks are in must-win mode for game two of their series.
The Chicago Blackhawks shocked the hockey world when they won game one of their play-in series against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday afternoon. They allowed a power-play goal to Connor McDavid right away and it seemed like it was going to be a long series. Then, with ice in their veins, Jonathan Toews and Dominik Kubalik led the team to victory. It was awesome to see a legendary veteran and one of the NHL’s finest rookies take matters into their own hands.
Well, now they have a chance to take a stranglehold on the series. If they win game two and go up 2-0 in the series, that would certainly put a big seed of doubt in the heads of the Edmonton Oilers. That is exactly what you need if you are the Blackhawks, make Edmonton think they don’t have a chance anymore. If they start to look at it through a negative light, they will take themselves out of the series.
The Blackhawks are not the best defensive team of all time but they have some players who can make the Oilers feel bad about their game. They, of course, have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl but the Blackhawks should want to get in a track meet with them all day long. The Oilers will certainly score some goals but you can absolutely rely on Corey Crawford in the playoffs a whole lot more than either of their goalies.
If each team earns a crazy amount of scoring chances, the Blackhawks should like their chances of coming out on top. With that said, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t do their very best to contain their stars. McDavid and Draisaitl were largely shut down at even strength in game one. That is going to need to continue if they are going to take game two and eventually the series.
Another thing they need to worry about is staying out of the box. Edmonton has one of the league’s best power plays and you can imagine why. They did score two on the man advantage in game one so if a game was ever a bit closer, the Hawks really need to avoid penalties because Edmonton is capable of changing a game with its power play.
Hot. Looking at the Blackhawks potential first-round opponents. light
It isn’t must-win in terms of going home (or even trailing in the series) for the Hawks but we all know how this could shake out if Edmonton wins game two. They are the five seed opposed the Hawks’ 12 seed for a reason. For that reason, it is time to take a stand and turn this into a nice little run for a team that needs it during a retool.