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Blackhawks fall to Oilers, 2-1, in overtime

Oilers 2 Blackhawks 1 (OT)
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Edmonton Oilers’ Mark Letestu (55) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017, in Chicago. The Oilers own 2-1. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Oilers 2 Blackhawks 1 (OT)

CHICAGO — Normally the Blackhawks don’t hold a skate the morning in which they play the second of back-to-back games, especially if they travel the night before.

But after the Hawks put on what coach Joel Quenneville called a “brutal” effort in a loss to the Blues on Wednesday, he called an optional morning skate at the United Center on Thursday morning for the bleary-eyed Hawks. Sixteen of the 23 Hawks showed up, and though Quenneville denied he was sending a message with the skate, it was clear he was expecting something, anything better than Wednesday’s performance.

The Hawks had a slumping opponent in the Oilers, who had lost four of their first five games, so the circumstances were lined up for the Hawks to rebound.

The Hawks played better Thursday night and earned a point though they fell to the Oilers 2-1 in overtime.

Mark Letestu scored the winning goal with 15.8 seconds remaining on a power play for the Oilers after Connor McDavid drew a penalty on Patrick Kane to earn the man advantage.

The Hawks came out with more energy than they had Wednesday. Then again, it couldn’t get much worse than the first 40 minutes against the Blues when the Hawks managed just eight shots on goal. The Hawks got an early power play and though they failed to capitalize on it, they scored just after it expired.

Kane took a feed from Jan Rutta and as Kane was drifting behind the net, he threw the puck on Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot. The puck rattled around the crease for Kane’s third goal of the season 7 minutes, 33 seconds into the game.

Kane and his linemates of Nick Schmaltz and Ryan Hartman kept the pressure on the Oilers after the goal and had one shift in which they held the puck in the offensive zone for over a minute before the Oilers iced the puck. It drew a standing ovation from the Hawks crowd.

But despite the strong start, the Oilers knotted the score before the end of the period. McDavid, the reigning Hart Trophy winner, flashed his abundant skill setting up the Oilers’ first goal. He made a Kane-esque spin-o-rama pass around Duncan Keith to set up Patrick Maroon for a tap-in goal at the doorstep of Hawks backup Anton Forsberg, who was making his second start of the season.

The Hawks had a number of chances to start the second period, including 56 seconds of a 5-on-3 power play, but despite getting shots to the net against Talbot, Talbot was able to make the saves or the Oilers were able to block them in front of the net.

After looking sluggish for most of the last week, however, the Hawks power play carried over the momentum it picked up late in the Blues game. They didn’t score any goals but were generating more chances than they have been.

Quenneville made a change to his lines as he put the slumping Artem Anisimov on the fourth line with John Hayden and Lance Bouma and reinserted Tanner Kero on the third line with Patrick Sharp and Alex DeBrincat. Anisimov had a particularly bad game against the Blues on Wednesday as one of his turnovers in the defensive zone led directly to a goal from Vladimir Tarasenko.