Blackhawks Fall 8-4 To Edmonton, Lose 4th Straight
EDMONTON, Alberta (CBS) -- It was a thoroughly forgettable night Thursday for the Blackhawks in Edmonton, as they lost to the Oilers 8-4.
Patrick Sharp had a pair of goals while Jamal Mayers and Dave Bolland also scored for the Blackhawks (29-16-7), who have now lost four straight.
"We really got away from our game plan and opened it up a little and they really made us pay," Sharp said. "We need to be better in a lot of areas and we're obviously not happy at all. We've gotten away from what makes us a good team.
"We got caught up in scoring goals and playing on the wrong side of the puck. It wasn't good enough as a team. We need to play defense first and we'll get out chances from there."
Early in the game, the Blackhawks took a 2-0 lead. First, six minutes in, Mayers fluttered a long shot from above the circle that fooled Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk.
The Blackhawks kept pouring it on but hit a pair of posts -- a long blast from the point by Brent Seabrook and another from in close by Andrew Shaw.
Just 40 seconds into the second period, the Hawks made it 2-0 when Patrick Kane fed it to Sharp, who found a clear lane to beat Dubnyk.
The Oilers responded less than two minutes later as Sam Gagner earned his first point of the night. With a long pass Gagner sprung Taylor Hall, who chipped in his 18th of the year past Hawks goalie Corey Crawford. Hall has scored in three straight games.
Gagner then tied it just over seven minutes later when he picked up his own rebound, circled behind the net, and scored on the wraparound.
The Oilers took a 3-2 lead with seven minutes remaining in the second as Ryan Whitney ripped a shot from the point while on the power play for just his first of the season. Gagner earned the assist.
The Hawks tied it two minutes later on a short-handed 2-on-1 as Dubnyk gave up a rebound to Sharp who buried his second of the night.
Gagner made it 4-3 two minutes into the third with his second goal of the night. Whitney's shot sailed over the net but bounced in front for Gagner to put past Crawford.
The Oilers chased the Hawks goalie two minutes later when Cam Barker fluttered a shot from the point that Crawford waved at as it went into the top corner. Gagner earned his third assist and Ray Emery replaced Crawford.
The Blackhawks got a goal back six minutes into the third as Bolland made a no-look backhand swat at a puck that squirted past Dubnyk.
Gagner completed the hat trick 30 seconds later to make it 6-4, as Hall spun around and found Gagner streaking for his sixth point of the game.
But he wasn't done yet.
Hall and Jordan Eberle did terrific tic-tac-toe passing to get Gagner the puck, and he slapped his fourth of the game into a wide-open net as Emery slid to keep up with the play.
With their hats already thrown on to the ice earlier in the period, one fan resorted to throwing a shoe after the goal.
Gagner then added his eighth point of the game by making a prefect feed to Eberle, who scored his 20th of the season with four minutes left.
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