(SportsNetwork.com) – Forward Patrick Kane helped the Chicago Blackhawks get
their annual circus road trip off to a winning start and he’ll look to lead
his club to another win on Saturday night in a matchup with the Edmonton
Oilers.
Kane scored the lone goal of the third period in Thursday’s 4-3 triumph over
the Calgary Flames, his seventh goal of the season. He also added an assist to
a victory that gave Chicago a win in four of its past five and it came in the
opener of a six-game swing.
“He was great tonight — a lot of puck time, a lot of zone time, dangerous,”
said Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. “And obviously he scored a big goal
for us.”
Brent Seabrook, Adam Clendening and Daniel Carcillo also scored for Chicago
and Corey Crawford had 24 saves.
Forward Andrew Shaw missed the game due to an upper-body injury and won’t play
tonight.
The Blackhawks are away from the United Center through the rest of November as
the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus makes a stop in Chicago. The
‘Hawks went 6-0-1 on their circus road trip last season.
Chicago will visit Vancouver on Sunday so Antti Raanta will get the start in
net versus the Oilers. He has faced them once before and got the win, stopping
18-of-20 shots in a 5-3 home victory on Jan. 12.
Kane put on his own show in that game, but for the wrong reasons. The forward
accidentally scored into his own empty net during a delayed penalty call that
tied the game at 2-2, but Marian Hossa responded just 29 seconds later with a
goal to put Chicago back in front.
“(I) just thought a point man was there and it seemed to just keep catching
speed and went in the net, but it was good that we got it right back,” said
Kane after that game.
The Blackhawks won all three meetings with the Oilers last season and have
taken four straight and eight of the last 12 encounters. They have won two in
a row and eight of 10 in Edmonton.
The Oilers have matched a season high with five straight losses — all in
regulation — and were shut out last night 2-0 by the New Jersey Devils, who
got 29 saves from goaltender Cory Schneider.
Viktor Fasth made 24 saves for the Oilers, who have dropped nine of 11
overall.
“We made a few mistakes in the second and they capitalized,” Oilers forward
Jordan Eberle said. “That’s the type of team that they are.”
The Oilers also lost forward Benoit Pouliot indefinitely as he suffered a
broken foot while blocking a shot in the second period. Pouliot signed a five-
year deal with Edmonton over the summer and had three goals with eight points
in 20 games.
“I don’t know how long he’ll be out for, but usually that is sidelined for
awhile,” head coach Dallas Eakins said on Edmonton’s website after the game.
Eakins is likely to start Ben Scrivens tonight and the netminder gave up three
goals on 40 shots in a loss the only other time he faced Chicago.
