The Chicago Blackhawks were in Alberta to end the pre-All-Star portion of their 2022-23 schedule. They started 1-1 on their trip through western Canada as they were defeated by the Vancouver Canucks but managed to beat the Calgary Flames.

Things wrapped up against the best team in the western part of Canada as the Edmonton Oilers hosted Chicago. It is always difficult to play them because of the fact that you have to try and contain the two National Hockey League leading scorers.

Connor McDavid is the best player on Earth and it is by a sizable margin. Leon Draisaitl, however, is in the mix for the second-best player. Together, they form the best 1-2 punch in the entire league. Playing against them is never easy.

The Hawks found it to be especially difficult as they lost to Edmonton by a final score of 7-3. Connor McDavid scored one goal and had two assists for his typical three-point game. Likewise, Draisaitl also had one goal and two assists.

The Chicago Blackhawks were not successful against the Edmonton Oilers.

You can’t stop them completely but the Hawks did a terrible job of even slightly containing them. It was just one of those games in which they looked like the worst team in the league (they are certainly one of them).

The good news for the Hawks is that Patrick Kane had two assists. There is going to be a lot of trade buzz surrounding him so seeing him play well is really important.

He hasn’t had the best year of his career and needs to get on the scoresheet as often as he can in order for the Hawks to get the most out of him before the deadline.

A cool part about the game is that the Edmonton Oilers gave an opportunity to an emergency backup goalie (EBUG). Matt Berlin of the University of Alberta got a chance to dress because of the status of Stuart Skinner. Jack Campbell made the start but allowed Berlin to finish once it was obvious that they were going to win.

Now, the Hawks are done until after the All-Star break. They will send Seth Jones to the event in Florida to compete for the Central Division and the rest of the team will get a break. Although losing has been by design, it has to be tough on the players so they deserve this break.

They will return to the ice on Tuesday night when they host the Anaheim Ducks. This will be a very interesting game between two teams that want to be in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes this upcoming spring. That should be a lot of fun to watch as each team begins the stretch run of their season.

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