Michael Arcuri 9y

Hossa, Hawks find 'killer instinct' in 7-1 drubbing of Oilers

EDMONTON, Alberta — Meetings between the Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers have seen plenty of fireworks in recent seasons. In eight of the past 11 games, the winning team has scored at least five goals. Luckily for Chicago, the past four have gone in its favor.

“Those games were an awful feeling,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Saturday night of blowouts at the Oilers' hands. “But every game’s different. We had a great start tonight, and I think that was the difference.”

“Tonight, it was fun at the beginning, when we got the offense going,” Marian Hossa said after Chicago finished off a 7-1 drubbing. “Especially against this team, because they had our number a couple years ago.”

Hossa, who discussed his recent on-ice frustrations at practice Saturday morning, broke out of his nine-game goalless skid in a big way. The 35-year-old showed slick hands on the power play and waited out a sprawling Ben Scrivens for the tally. The goal wasn’t enough for Hossa, who added three assists.

“It definitely feels nice to score," Hossa added. "To get that feeling back when you celebrate."

Chicago’s three-game win streak coincides with the reunion of the team’s top line of Hossa, Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad. The trio combined for three goals and five assists Saturday, while setting the pace for the rest of the team.

“I think the line in the three games since they’ve been reunited have been solid. The team game has been feeding off of them," Quenneville said. "It was just a matter of time before Hoss gets hot. It’s a pretty dangerous line in a lot of ways. All three guys bring something different to the table, and there’s a lot of potential there."

Chicago pounced early. Toews showed excellent poise and silky hands in collecting an errant pass on the backhand before opening up Scrivens for the 5-hole goal just 3 minutes, 48 seconds into the game. It took Marcus Kruger just 55 seconds to add on by ripping a shot glove-side past the Edmonton keeper.

“We just want to get that killer instinct," Hossa said. "We tried to jump on them and score a couple, then you’re playing the right way."

An early lead took the pressure off Corey Crawford, a surprise starter in goal. Antti Raanta was expected to man the pipes but fell ill during morning practice.

“We called an audible there," Quenneville said. "[Raanta] was sick and unable to go tonight, and Crow did a good job for us tonight."

Crawford stopped 24 of 25 shots, much to the angst of the Oilers fans, who booed their team off the ice.

“I don’t think we really care about the other team," Crawford said. "It’s more about continuing to play the right way and not getting complacent.

“You have got to be ready. With the more experience you have, you learn that throughout the years, anything can happen, and you have to stay ready. They had some chances late. I don’t want to start getting into bad habits, either, I just want to stick to my game. There’s always the next shot.”

Quenneville was coy when asked if Raanta would be able to start Sunday night's tilt at Vancouver.

“We’ll talk about the goalie later on, and we’ll see how he’s feeling," he said. "[Raanta] said after the game he is starting to feel a little bit better.”

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