Kubalik leads Chicago to upset
Rookie continues to pile up points
Rookie winger Dominik Kubalik scored two goals and added three assists, leading the Chicago Blackhawks to a 6-4 win over the host Edmonton Oilers in the opener of their best-of-five Western Conference qualifying round series on Saturday.
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews added two goals and one assist.
Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists for Edmonton.
It was a continuation of the torrid scoring pace set by Kubalik, a 24-year-old Czech forward and a Calder Trophy finalist as the league’s rookie of the year.
He had 30 goals and 16 assists before regular-season play was halted in mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kubalik and the Blackhawks took control early in the matchup, the first in Edmonton as part of the NHL’s restart.
He had three assists as the Blackhawks blitzed the Oilers with four goals in the first 13 minutes of the game to take a 4-1 lead.
Kubalik then scored twice in the second period, his first goal chasing starter Mike Smith from the Oilers net (five goals on 23 shots), and his second getting past Smith’s replacement, Mikko Koskinen, to make it 6-2.
Other games: Hurricanes 3, Rangers 2:
Sebastian Aho scored a goal and set up another in the NHL’s opening playoff game following a 4½-month pause. Jaccob Slavin scored 61 seconds in on Carolina’s first shot on goal in helping the Hurricanes gain the edge in the best-of-five Eastern Conference preliminary round series. Game 2 is Monday.
Islanders 2, Panthers 1:
Semyon Varlamov stopped 27 shots and the Islanders opened their best-of-five Eastern Conference playoff series with a win. Anthony Beauvillier had the decisive goal by scoring on the power play 3:39 into the second period. The goal was scored a little over a minute after Florida’s Mike Matheson was penalized for a hit to the head on defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who did not return. Islanders trade deadline addition Jean-Gabriel Pageau opened the scoring re-directing in Derick Brassard’s centering pass 12 minutes into the game.