NHL: Blackhawks burst Oilers’ post-season bubble

EDMONTON— The Chicago Blackhawks bounced the hubcity host Edmonton Oilers out of the NHL’s post-season tournament Friday, beating them 3-2 at Rogers Place.

The Blackhawks won the best-of-five qualifying series 3-1 and now move on to the round of 16.

Brandon Saad, Matthew Highmore and Dominik Kubalik scored for Chicago.

Josh Archibald and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins replied for Edmonton.

The Oilers were expected to beat Chicago, given they were the fifth-seeded team in the Western Conference tournament and the Hawks were the bottom seed at 12.

Edmonton was also led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the top two scorers in the league during the abbreviated regular season.

Chicago had goals from nine different players in the series. Nine of the 16 goals came off blue-line point shots.

The Oilers suffered from a lack of scoring other than from McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nugent-Hopkins. First line winger Zack Kassian was punted to the fourth line after an ineffective Game 1. Rookie Kailer Yamamoto, a point a game player after being called up in January, was kept off the scoresheet in all four games.

McDavid finished with five goals and nine points. Draisaitl had three goals and three assists. Nugent-Hopkins recorded two goals and eight points.

The Blackhawks were by all rights done for the year, spiralling out of the playoff picture when COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to shut down the regular season.