Patrick Kane, Alex Nylander and Brandon Saad each scored, Corey Crawford made 27 saves, and the Chicago Blackhawks held on for a 3-1 win over the visiting Edmonton Oilers on Monday night.
Saad’s empty-net goal with 32.7 seconds remaining in the third period sealed the outcome for Chicago which notched its first victory of the season through four games. The Blackhawks bounced back from an overtime loss against the Winnipeg Jets two nights earlier. James Neal scored the lone goal for Edmonton whose loss followed five straight wins to start the season. The Oilers entered the contest with an NHL-record five consecutive comeback wins to begin the season.
Crawford provided an array of impressive saves to prevent another Oilers comeback. He stuffed top-line forward Leon Draisaitl on a breakaway in the early going and fended off eight shots in the third period as Edmonton furiously tried to rally. Oilers goaltender Mike Smith took the hard-luck loss despite stopping 32 of 34 shots.
The game remained scoreless until 4:11 into the second period, when Kane put Chicago on top 1-0. Dylan Strome won a faceoff in the left circle and fed the puck to Kane, who unleashed a wrist shot for his second goal of the season. The 30-year-old Kane has tallied at least one point in three of his first four games.
He led Chicago with 110 points last season. Chicago increased its lead to 2-0 with 13:40 remaining in the third period. Nylander sprinted past Oilers defenseman Joel Persson to track down a loose puck in the offensive zone and then punched it between Smith’s leg pads for his second goal of the season.
Edmonton snapped the shutout with 2:11 left in the third period. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins slid a pass across the front of the crease for Neal, who poked it above Crawford’s outstretched leg for his eighth goal in six games.
The play marked the only flub for Crawford, who fell just short of notching his first shutout of the season and the 26th of his career. The Oilers pulled Smith for an extra attacker in an attempt to force overtime, but Saad capped the scoring when he tapped in his second goal of the season in the final minute.
Sabres’ Olofsson sets power play mark in win over Stars. Victor Olofsson had a goal and an assist and Carter Hutton stopped 25 shots for the 12th shutout of his career to lead the Atlantic Division-leading Buffalo Sabres to a 4-0 victory over the visiting Dallas Stars on Monday afternoon.
Sam Reinhart, Jeff Skinner and Marcus Johansson also scored goals and Jack Eichel had two assists for the Sabres, who have opened the season with points in each of its first six games (5-0-1) for the first time since the 2008-09 season. Olofsson’s goal was his fifth of the season and seventh of his career, all coming on the power play. He is the first player in NHL history to score his first seven goals on the power play.
Ben Bishop finished with 18 saves while seeing a personal 12-game winning streak against Buffalo snapped. The loss also snapped a five-game win streak against the Sabres for Dallas, which has won just once in its first seven games.
Following a tight-checking first period that saw the two teams combine for just 11 shots, Buffalo took a 1-0 lead at the 6:27 mark of the second when Olofsson one-timed a pass from Rasmus Dahlin from the right dot into the top-right corner.
Chicago Blackhawks left wing Brandon Saad scores a goal against Edmonton Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins during the third period. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports
