Chicago Blackhawks: Game two is a must win gameVincent Pariseon August 3, 2020 at 12:00 pm

The Blackhawks are not the best defensive team of all time but they have some players who can make the Oilers feel bad about their game. They, of course, have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl but the Blackhawks should want to get in a track meet with them all day long. The Oilers will certainly score some goals but you can absolutely rely on Corey Crawford in the playoffs a whole lot more than either of their goalies.

If each team earns a crazy amount of scoring chances, the Blackhawks should like their chances of coming out on top. With that said, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t do their very best to contain their stars. McDavid and Draisaitl were largely shut down at even strength in game one. That is going to need to continue if they are going to take game two and eventually the series.

Another thing they need to worry about is staying out of the box. Edmonton has one of the league’s best power plays and you can imagine why. They did score two on the man advantage in game one so if a game was ever a bit closer, the Hawks really need to avoid penalties because Edmonton is capable of changing a game with its power play.

It isn’t must-win in terms of going home (or even trailing in the series) for the Hawks but we all know how this could shake out if Edmonton wins game two. They are the five seed opposed the Hawks’ 12 seed for a reason. For that reason, it is time to take a stand and turn this into a nice little run for a team that needs it during a retool.