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Chicago Blackhawks: Connor McDavid’s hat trick sinks team

By Vincent Parise

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 03: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers scores his second goal against Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period in Game Two of the Western Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 03, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 03: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers scores his second goal against Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period in Game Two of the Western Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 03, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /
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Connor McDavid’s hat trick led the way for the Edmonton Oilers against the Chicago Blackhawks.

I tried to warn everyone that game two was a must-win game for the Chicago Blackhawks. Teams that go up 2-0 in the NHL’s all-time five-game series are 55-1. The only team that came back from it was the 1985 New York Islanders who won four Stanley Cups to start the 80s. If the Blackhawks were to win the game, it would have been really hard to come back for the Oilers. Now it feels like Edmonton, who is a better team, has all of the momenta.

Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid is the best hockey player in the world and everybody knows it. Well, he had a hat trick to lead the way to victory for the Oilers. He used his incredible speed and skill to create three goals. His third goal for the hat trick put the Oilers ahead in the game for good. This was also the second game in a row where the Blackhawks relinquished a goal to McDavid within the first few minutes of the game.

The Blackhawks have already shown that they can score goals. They have nine goals in their two games combined but they have given up ten. This was always going to be a high scoring series so the hope is that they can do a better job in game three. They are getting the scoring they need but it would be nice to see them defend just a little bit better.

The good thing that both games have shown us is that the Blackhawks don’t give up. In the first game, McDavid scored within the first three minutes and the Hawks could have easily mailed it in. They eventually went on to dominate that game. Then in this game, he did it again and they also had a 3-1 lead before the Hawks came back and tied. They were never able to take the lead on the Oilers before they broke the tie but they showed a fight until the Oilers really broke it open. It would be nice to see this trend continue.

There were some players that need to come out with more in the next game. Alex Nylander is easy to point to as someone who needs to have a better game because he does. Dylan Strome was also awful in this game. The Hawks were out-chanced 10-0 when Strome was on the ice and he was -4 on the night. That needs to improve if this team wants to win.

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Now, the Blackhawks need to regroup and come out strong in their next game. They will have the matchup advantage so Jeremy Colliton needs to come up with a plan for stopping number 97. It isn’t going to happen as he can’t be truly stopped but he can be contained just enough to win. It is going to be a fun Wednesday night game to decide who takes a 2-1 series lead.

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