THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON — Taylor Hall had a hat trick and Jordan Eberle had a goal and three assists as the Edmonton Oilers snapped a four-game losing skid in a big way with a 9-2 victory over the NHL-leading Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
Rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had five assists, while the other goals for the Oilers (10-7-2) came from Ales Hemsky, Ryan Jones, Ryan Smyth, Tom Gilbert and Shawn Horcoff.
Nikolai Khabibulin captured the win in the net to move into a tie for 19th in all-time wins with Sean Burke.
Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland replied for the Blackhawks (12-6-3) who have lost two in a row on the heels of a four-game winning streak.
Edmonton got on the board early when Hemsky was a one-man show, walking past a pair of defenders and scoring his first of the season glove-side on Blackhawks starter Ray Emery just 48 seconds in. It was Hemsky’s 400th career NHL point.
Chicago evened the score two minutes later on the power play when Sharp banked a rebound off of Khabibulin and in after a scramble in front of the Edmonton net.
The Oilers regained the advantage six minutes into the first when Jones threw a hopeful backhand on net that somehow snuck past Emery.
Less than two minutes later it was 3-1 Edmonton when Eberle made a beautiful backhand pass to Smyth at the side of the net for an easy tap-in and his 11th goal of the year. It was Edmonton’s third goal in nine shots, prompting the Hawks to pull Emery in favour of Corey Crawford, the first time this season a Chicago goalie has been pulled in a game.
Edmonton kept it coming with a power-play goal just under 13 minutes. Crawford made a stop on a Nugent-Hopkins shot but couldn’t prevent Hall from chipping in the rebound from the doorstep.
The Oilers blitzed for a 5-1 lead with just over four minutes to play when Nugent-Hopkins made a nice feed on a two-on-one to Eberle, who deposited his fifth goal of the year.
Emery returned to the Chicago net to start the second.
The Oilers went up by five goals five minutes into the second when Gilbert pinched in to score on a Nugent-Hopkins feed from behind the goal-line with Edmonton enjoying a two-man advantage.
The Oiler onslaught continued when they made it 7-1 on another power play with Hall sending home his second of the game on a rebound off the boards following a Gilbert shot.
Chicago got one back two minutes later on a power-play goal when a Bolland shot from the top of the circle caught a piece of Khabibulin and caromed into the net.
Edmonton made it an impressive 8-2 with one minute left in the second, scoring their fourth power-play goal when Horcoff fought to slide the puck under a diving Emery.
The Oilers capped it at 9-2 midway through the third when Hall used Steve Montador as a screen before rifling home his third of the game, leading to a cascade of hats from the Edmonton faithful and even a shoe.
.The Oilers begin a four-game road trip in Dallas on Monday. The Blackhawks will spend some time in Las Vegas before resuming their road trip in San Jose on Wednesday.
Notes: It was the second game of the season between the two teams. The Hawks won 6-3 in their previous tilt last Sunday in Chicago. … The Blackhawks were playing the third game of an annual six-game road trip as the circus does its annual stint in Chicago. The Hawks were playing their third game in four nights, coming off a 5-2 loss in Calgary on Friday. … The Oilers learned on Saturday that defenceman Corey Potter is likely out for a month with an ankle injury and that Andy Sutton will miss up to 10 days with a groin injury. The Oilers were also missing Ryan Whitney and Cam Barker to be down four of its six seasonal starters on the blueline. … Forward Sam Gagner returned to Edmonton’s lineup after a back injury. … Absent from the Chicago lineup were forward Michael Frolik (shoulder) and defenceman Brent Seabrook, who missed his third game with a lower-body injury. … Chicago came into the game with six consecutive wins at Rexall Place in Edmonton, outscoring the Oilers 30-8 in that span.
