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Connor McDavid’s first hat trick in the playoffs led the Edmonton Oilers to a 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in the game of their Western Conference qualifying series on Monday.
The five-series is tied 1-1. The third game will be Wednesday at Edmonton, with the Blackhawks as the designated home team.
After collecting one purpose and two assists in the first game, McDavid recorded three-point functionality with his first multi-purpose game in the playoffs.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins contributed McDavid’s 3 purposes, while Edmonton, ahead of Alex Chiasson, had a purpose and an assist. James Neal and Tyler Ennis also scored for the Oilers.
Patrick Kane and Slater Koekkoek had a purpose and helped the Blackhawks. Olli Maatta had a purpose, and Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach made two hands.
McDavid scored 19 moments in the game, the moment in the back-to-back game Edmonton took the lead.
At 4:05 of the first period, McDavid made an impressive solo effort for his next goal. The former Hart Trophy winner picked up a pass near the center of the track and ran to the net, taunting Maatta and defending himself from Corey Crawford.
The Blackhawks followed McDavid’s purpose with an impressive effort five minutes later. DeBrincat sent a well-placed backhand pass to the net on Kane’s stick, who buried the 51st goal of his playoffs.
Ennis scored 1:44 of the era of the time to increase the Oilers’ lead to 3-1, but the Blackhawks tied the game with the goals of two scorers, the koekkoek and Maatta defenders.
A lucky rebound helped McDavid put Edmonton in front at 5:10 p.m. at the time. During a numerical advantage of the Oilers, McDavid’s pass through the area diverted Duncan Keith from Chicago at 5:10 p.m. to the net.
A tackle ahead of the Oilers deep in the Blackhawks volley led to Neal and Chiasson’s goals with 40 seconds to play in the third period.
Oilers goalkeeper Mikko Koskinen stopped 23 of 26 to win in his first playoff start.
Crawford stopped 29 of 35 in the Blackhawks network.
: Field-level support
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