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GDB 13.0: Can the Oilers play a full 60 minutes against the Blackhawks? (8 PM MT, CBC)

6 1
03.11.2025
Tonight, the Oilers are back at Rogers Place for a matchup with a Chicago Blackhawks team that looks a whole lot different than the version we saw last season. Edmonton won both meetings in 2024–25 — one in overtime and one by a 3–0 shutout — but picking up a series sweep against this Blackhawks team is likely to be a much bigger challenge this time around. The Hawks look like they’re taking a step forward, while the Oilers are still spinning their wheels, which makes this one a sneaky-big test even if it doesn’t look like it on paper.

Chicago’s 5-4-2 start might not sound all that impressive, but for a team that was so bad a year ago, that’s progress worth noting. They’ve got Connor Bedard doing his thing (14 points in 11 games), Frank Nazar taking a leap forward, and their goaltending has been solid enough to keep them in games they probably would’ve lost a year ago. The point is that this isn’t the same team that will gift you a win even if you don’t bring your best. They’re still young, still make mistakes, but they’re starting to figure it out. And if the Oilers sleep their way through one-third of the game again, they’re going to find themselves in trouble.

I don’t think I’m talking out of school when I say that the Oilers should’ve had two points in their pocket on Thursday night against the Rangers. Instead, they decided to call game midway through the third period, coughed up a 3–1 lead, and somehow lost 4–3 in overtime despite starting the bonus period on the power play. The giveaways were brutal, the goaltending couldn’t paper over them, and once again, the Oilers found a way to make life harder than it needed to be. Even though I’m still not worried about what’s going on around here yet, that doesn’t mean we all don’t have plenty of reasons to be........

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