“Madhouse on Madison” is a nickname that originally applied to the old Chicago Stadium. Located along Madison Street near Chicago’s West Loop, the Original Six-era barn was known for being both intimate and raucous. The nickname was transferred to the current United Center upon its completion, and that is where the Edmonton Oilers found themselves on this Monday night in mid-January, for their only away game against the Chicago Blackhawks this season.
Past games between these two teams have always been interesting. It’s like the Oilers lose their scoring ability most times they enter this rink, unless Patrick Kane is scoring into his own net on a delayed penalty call.
This should have been a Battle of the Connors; alas, the ‘Hawks have been dealing with a flu bug, just like many of us have this winter. Their Connor, Connor Bedard, would miss this game, leaving the Oilers with the two Connors of this game: Connor McDavid and Connor Ingram.
They were not given a memo that they were no longer competing against another star, Connor, and as such, they just made significant impacts on this game anyway. McDavid would inch closer to a bonkers-good 20-game points streak, hitting 19 in this contest. Ingram, for his part, held the Hawks at bay until finally (allegedly) throwing his hands up, sighing, and begrudgingly letting them have one, just to feel some sort of happiness. His heroics alone powered the Oilers to the eventual victory.
Oilers win 4-1.
That’s a convincing win following an evenly-matched game they should have won, but lost. It also sets the stage for some of the most beautiful poetry of the season later tonight. Here’s the game story.
19 for 97, the kid born in 1997 (happy birthday, Connor!)
A typical Edmonton birthday party likely involves one of a few different options. As a kid, you likely go to West Edmonton Mall, probably to Galaxyland or the World Waterpark. You expect to have as much fun as the kids in “Christmas in Wonderland” did, and you do have fun, but not that much fun. As an adult, it likely involves some sort of office party if it’s on a weekday. Or, if it’s a Friday or Saturday night, you set your sights toward Whyte Avenue.
McDavid is celebrating his 29th birthday with a two-game road trip through Chicago and Nashville, but he still made sure it had all that Edmonton flair. He tallied three assists in this game, with the first of those extending his already-personal-best points streak. It has now reached 19 games, during which he’s put up 19 goals and 26 assists, for 45 points. If that’s not wild enough for you, check out the NHL’s post from tonight:
That’s considering two of those seasons got shortened thanks to a pandemic. The 2020-21 season might be one of the most force-of-nature campaigns the modern NHL ever sees. McDavid is unstoppable right now, and he’ll have a chance to go for 20 later tonight. We’re all rooting for it.
Hyman and Bouchard provide all the (funky) goals needed
So who were the benefactors of tonight’s “McPoints”, and how did they score their goals? To answer the first question, the usual suspects. To answer the second one, not how most people envision the usual suspects finishing off his glitzy dishes.
Zach Hyman got the scoring started in the first period. Usually, when Hyman is net-front, you expect him to be parked right in front of a goalie, making their job more difficult. This time around, Hyman elected to simply engage in a back-door tie-up with Alex Vlasic and let his linemate bounce one in off of him.
McDavid got an assist on the Evan Bouchard goal less than 20 seconds into the second period as well. This one didn’t even need the sweet sauce worthy of local donair shops. This just simply, it seems, decided to go in on its own. Hey, even if the goal feels like an EA Sports NHL glitch, you take it.
Hyman appeared to score another one later in the 3rd period. Apparently, though, kicking motions apply to when you soccer one in off your pants. Your pants. This observer doesn’t think that’s what the rule was meant to prevent, but nevertheless, here’s Bouchard potting his second instead, with a distance shot that has the United Center’s other residents, the Chicago Bulls, thinking of offering him a tryout.
The Oilers won what appears on the surface to be a standard 4-1 game: A 2-1 game salted away by two last-minute tallies, one into an empty net. But none of the goals the Oilers scored were “normal” in this game, which is kind of hilarious. This is the epitome of “they don’t ask you how, they ask you how many”.
Ingram is the best player Oilers traded Future Considerations for
After a standard-fare performance against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night, Ingram was back between the pipes in this one. By and large, since his Oilers debut on December 21, Ingram has been as advertised, and then some. Given the struggles of Calvin Pickard this season, his stabilizing presence has been welcome in the absence of Tristan Jarry.
Like last night, Ingram faced 30 shots over the course of the game. Unlike last night, not only did those come in 60 minutes instead of 65, but Ingram dazzled in this game. He refused to be beaten by pretty much any shot, especially helping out big-time in penalty-kill situations.
The only goal he surrendered was to Tyler Bertuzzi, and it came well into the third period. Sure, it made things closer than one would have liked. But oddly enough, you had a sense the ‘Hawks weren’t getting any more besides that one tonight. (Also, this observer can’t be the only one who still ties ‘Hawks play-by-play man Rick Ball to the Calgary Flames. It’s still weird hearing him on Chicago broadcasts now.)
Ingram finished with 29 saves and a .967 save percentage. Given the Oilers only had two goals in the first 59 minutes of the contest, they needed his brilliance tonight. And boy, did he deliver in spades.
Not as much offence, but the cream jerseys are still magic
The final goal of the night came from an absolutely brutal turnover right to Leon Draisaitl, who made no mistake depositing the puck into the back of the Hawks’ net.
The Draisaitl-Podkolzin-Kapanen line was mostly quiet in this game, but this turnover was created by solid Podkolzin forechecking. This goal likely ensures the line stays super-glued together going into tonight’s action. Their performance last week against the Nashville Predators doesn’t hurt the case, either.
Four goals seems pretty tame for the cream alternates, but it’s still a decent amount of offence. It also means they remain the Oilers’ lucky charms, as Edmonton has donned them five times and won all five games.
Player perspective
“Those are games you gotta hold onto, and find a way to get it done, and we did; got the empty-netter, and then even not taking your foot off (the gas) there, shows a lot about the character of this team.” -Connor Ingram
May it be one big party for the Oilers in the Music City tonight
The contest tonight will be a significant game for the Oilers in more ways than one. As mentioned earlier, it is the captain’s birthday. And you do not want to lose a game on the captain’s birthday. Certainly not to a middling Nashville Predators squad, whom you beat last Tuesday handily.
Apart from that, and helping him get to a milestone for points streaks, division implications loom large. While yes, the Vegas Golden Knights do have a couple of games in hand on the Oilers, they are idle tonight (but play the Kings tomorrow night). A win over Nashville would give the Oilers sole possession of 1st place in the Pacific Division. Now that sounds more like the kind of birthday present McDavid would appreciate.
Win the game, get Connor at least a point, go out to the honky-tonks afterward and live it up. It’s a stellar plan. Make it happen. Make this one heck of a Tuesday night.
