Blackhawks 3 Oilers 1
Corey Crawford stopped 27 shots and Patrick Kane, Alex Nylander and Brandon Saad scored to give the Blackhawks their first win of the season, 3-1 over the previously undefeated Oilers on Monday.
A crowd of 21,260 —the 500th consecutive United Center sellout including playoff games —saw the Hawks improve to 1-2-1 and the Oilers drop to 5-1.
After a scoreless first period, the Hawks completely dominated the second as they took a 1-0 lead with their first even-strength goal in nearly six periods. Dylan Strome won a faceoff and got the puck to Kane, who wristed home his second goal of the season with 15 minutes, 49 seconds remaining.
The Oilers came out hot in the third period and were buzzing the Hawks’ net for the first few minutes. But Alex Nylander picked up a loose puck in the Oilers’ zone and slipped one between goalie Mike Smith’s legs to make it 2-0 for his second goal of the season.
The Oilers’ Connor McDavid appeared to score the tying goal late in the second after he blew past Olli Maatta following a Nylander turnover, but he was ruled to have bumped into Crawford before the puck went into the net.
The Hawks held McDavid, who came into the game leading the league in scoring with 12 points, to two shots on goal.
The Oilers ended Crawford’s bid for his 26th career shutout on James Neal’s power-play goal, his eighth of the season, with 2:11 left in the third.
Saad finished off the win with an empty-netter, his second goal of the season, with 33 seconds remaining.