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Every day between now and the end of the regular season I’ll update you on the playoff race as it pertains to the Chicago Blackhawks:

The Los Angeles Kings prevented the Hawks from clinching a playoff berth as they beat the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night, 4-1. The win vaulted the Kings back into first place in the Pacific Division knocking the Dallas Stars down to the No. 7 seed as they lost 5-2 to the Vancouver Canucks.

The Hawks have a chance to clinch on their own if they earn at least a point in Saturday night’s game against the Nashville Predators. Nashville beat Detroit 4-1 on Friday to take over the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. Nashville has 98 points, Detroit has 97 and Chicago has 95. Even if the Hawks beat Nashville and tie Detroit in the points, they’ll still wake-up on Sunday as the No. 6 seed due to tie-breakers.

The Hawks can also clinch a playoff berth if the San Jose Sharks lose, in regulation or overtime, later on Saturday when they host the Stars. If Dallas loses in regulation or Phoenix does the same against Anaheim, the Hawks also clinch. Lastly, if the Kings lose to Minnesota in regulation or overtime the Hawks can clinch.

The Hawks are 1-4 against Nashville this year while the Predators have earned points in all five games. Nashville’s win on Friday earned coach Barry Trotz his 500th career victory. The Hawks are 14-6-2 against the Central Division while the Predators are 16-4-3.

If the playoffs started to the Hawks would take on the Kings in the opening round of the postseason.

EDMONTON -- Here's a quick look at the Chicago Blackhawks' loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

How it happened: The Oilers exploded for eight goals in less than two periods after getting down 2-0. The Hawks dominated the opening 20 minutes, but only led 1-0 thanks to a Jamal Mayers score. Devan Dubnyk made several big saves early in the game to keep the Oilers in it. Patrick Sharp scored early in the second to give the Hawks that 2-0 lead but then things fell apart. Edmonton stormed back the with three straight goals, the first of which Corey Crawford should have stopped. Taylor Hall went short side on Crawford with Brent Seabrook draped all over him, giving the Oilers life. They added a Sam Gagner tally and a Ryan Whitney power play score to take the brief lead before Sharp scored shorthanded off a Jonathan Toews shot and rebound. But Edmonton owned the final period while Crawford got pulled after giving up his fifth goal. Ray Emery came in and promptly gave up Gagner’s third of the night, and he wasn't done, adding a fourth tally minutes later. Gagner's eight points on the night tied Wayne Gretzky's franchise record for most points in a game.

What it means: No team exposes the Hawks on defense like the Oilers. A lot falls on Corey Crawford who may have lost his starting job for a while. The Hawks were sailing along at 2-0 early in the second when Crawford gave up a weak one and the slide started. He gave up several more that were questionable including his final one, a point shot that went right by his glove. Nick Leddy and Niklas Hjalmarsson were on the ice for four goals against and were caught scrambling on several sequences. Andrew Shaw was minus-3 having a rough night as well. The Hawks gave up 17 goals in two games in Edmonton this year. An awful final 40 minutes doomed the Hawks after a good start.

What’s next: The Hawks get right back on the ice on Friday with a matchup against the Calgary Flames to complete the first portion of their nine game road trip.

EDMONTON -- The Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers are tied 3-3 after two periods at Rexall Place.

The Oilers stormed back into the game with three straight goals in the second period to take a 3-2 lead but the Hawks responded with a shorthanded goal, Patrick Sharp’s second tally of the night.

Corey Crawford had a rough period giving up a bad short-side goal to Taylor Hall to give Edmonton some life. Sam Gagner followed up a shot with a wrap-around goal after the Hawks were caught scrambling in their own zone. Then at the end of a power play Ryan Whitney scored from the point before Jonathan Toews and Sharp worked a 2-on-1 with Sharp scoring a rebound goal.

The Hawks played poor defense in the second and Crawford didn’t help his cause. It’s anyone’s game after 40 minutes though the Hawks dominated most of the opening period.

CHICAGO -- Two days after the incident, several veteran Chicago Blackhawks finally had an opinion on the controversial hit forward Daniel Carcillo laid on Edmonton’s Tom Gilbert as both chased the puck in the Oilers' zone in Monday’s 4-3 victory by Edmonton.

Carcillo sent Gilbert flying into the end boards and was kicked out of the game for the major boarding infraction. The NHL announced on Wednesday that he has been suspended seven games.

“I want to say the Edmonton guy kind of initiated contact by kind of stopping,” defenseman Sean O’Donnell said Wednesday after practice. “It was unfortunate he was right in that area, right by the boards. I think he kind of tried to do a reverse hit, and I don’t know if he lost his balance or Danny was coming with more speed. He went in [to the board] pretty awkwardly. I think it was a hockey play. I don’t think it was that bad.”

O’Donnell has been around a long time, which is good and bad. He knows a dirty hit when he sees it, but he also has been conditioned to be a good teammate. But is he being a good teammate by somewhat absolving Carcillo? If players talk about policing themselves -- and they have -- it has to start in their own locker rooms.

It was evident captain Jonathan Toews was uncomfortable with trying to defend Carcillo while also trying not to condone the illegal hit.

“It’s tough to tell because you know the guy,” Toews said. “He’s your friend, he’s your teammate. It is a dangerous spot, and we’ve been talking about suspensions and head shots and different places that we have to be careful. Obviously, he has a bit of a reputation so that may play into it, but again, you stand behind him. He’s a physical player, he’s going out there trying to create energy for our team. It’s unfortunate both players kind of came out of it with an injury so we’ll see what happens here.”

The Hawks have been the victim of some recent dirty head shots -- see Marcus Kruger for evidence -- so it’s incumbent upon them to be critical of their own as much as they are of an opponent. It’s not easy, but the change to the game might be worth it.

“I don’t know what he could have done differently,” O’Donnell said. “You always want to be playing the puck, but it’s still a physical game. It’s a tough spot for D-men. We can’t hold guys up, you can’t do anything. And they're coming full speed for you, and I think he wanted to give Danny a bump and go in together. I think there is a lot of gray area, and it was one of those worst-case scenarios where the guy went in hard and kind of awkwardly. I just hope the NHL sees it the same way.”

O’Donnell made those comments before the league suspended Carcilllo for seven games. But the Hawks defenseman is right about one thing he said: “You always want to be playing the puck.”

Why Carcillo didn’t try to go around Gilbert to get to the puck as undoubtedly Toews or another forward would have done is a question only he can answer.

The Hawks didn’t exactly come down on the hit as much as they should have, but at least they admitted it’s a dangerous play. Working dangerous hits out of the game has to start within each locker room. The Hawks have been on the receiving end enough to know that when one of their own -- already with a bad reputation -- commits a heinous act, there is no defense for it.

CHICAGO -- The good and bad of Chicago Blackhawks forward Dan Carcillo was on display in the Hawks' 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Carcillo, playing his second consecutive game with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa, made a beautiful steal and setup of a Toews goal to open the scoring in the first period. But in the second, he was kicked out for boarding and the Oilers scored twice on the ensuing five-minute power play. It changed the game.

“They get two goals off it,” coach Joel Quenneville said afterward. “It’s still 2-2 there. I wasn’t crazy about the third one we gave up.”

The Hawks steadily played worse, giving up that third goal with their third defense pair on the ice. Later, Corey Crawford allowed a soft Ben Eager score to be the eventual game-winner. But no one knows how the night ends if not for Carcillo’s hit.

“We don’t want to take anything away from his game,” Jamal Mayers said. “He plays a nasty game, he plays a hard game. Things like that are going happen. Quite frankly it’s a questionable call as well. He was finishing his check.”

It’s probably not the way the league will see it. As Carcillo and Gilbert were chasing down a dump-in, Carcillo went for contact instead of playing the puck. He extended his arms and sent the defenseman flying into the boards. Both players left the game with apparent knee injuries. Quenneville said he wasn’t going to “argue the call,” though he tried to soften the blow somewhat.

“It wasn’t even a hit,” he said. “It was a counter hit.”

Technically, Quenneville might be right. But the league will undoubtedly look at slow-motion replays as well as Carcillo’s history. With that, it probably will be determined he could have played the puck, instead of the man who was in a vulnerable position near the boards.

Oilers coach Tom Renney expects action from the league.

“I think the hit speaks for itself, and the penalty does as well,” Renney said. “I think at least to this point it’s been addressed and I’m hoping that it’ll be looked into even further.”

Though Carcillo will face supplemental discipline as well as the wrath of Hawks’ fans, the hit isn’t on par with others that have caused some bad head injuries. Gilbert hurt his knee and only after hitting the boards, not from the actual hit itself. There is a distinction. A direct head shot, for example, is more cut and dry with league officials. Plus, Gilbert wasn’t up against the boards where a direct hit from behind is an obvious violation and possibly an intent to injure. Gilbert will miss Tuesday’s game in Buffalo but the injury isn’t considered serious. That will help Carcillo’s cause.

Either way, when it comes to the controversial Hawks’ forward, defending his actions is a risky proposition. It’s unclear if he’ll be out due to injury or suspension but one thing is known: his illegal hit helped cost the Hawks a potential win.

CHICAGO -- Here's a quick look at the Blackhawks' 4-3 loss to Edmonton on Monday night.

How it Happened: The Hawks were sailing along with a 1-0 lead on Jonathan Toews' 22nd goal of the season but the whole night changed when Dan Carcillo nailed Tom Gilbert hard into the end boards behind the Oilers' net as both were chasing the puck in the second period. He was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for boarding and limped off the ice favoring his left leg or knee as well. Gilbert also left the game with a knee injury. Edmonton promptly scored two goals on the ensuing power play, by Ryan Smyth and Taylor Hall, and took control of the game. The referees did miss a high sticking infraction on Edmonton as Niklas Hjalmarsson was hit high, losing his stick. In recovery Hall was able to score. The Hawks briefly tied it on an Andrew Brunette tip-in of a Hjalmarsson shot but Andy Sutton gave the lead back to Edmonton with the Hawks third defense pair on the ice. Ben Eager padded the lead with a back-hand shot that got by Corey Crawford, a goal he should have saved. Jimmy Hayes closed the gap with his first NHL goal but the Hawks power play failed them missing on several chances in the third period and going scoreless for the night.

What it means: The loss itself doesn’t have that much meaning except the lowly Oilers won just their sixth road game against 14 defeats. Carcillo will be heavily punished when the league reviews the play but his injury could hurt his season worse. He limped off, putting little weight on his left leg. The Hawks power play has taken center stage as its struggles from early in the season have returned. The Hawks closed the gap with a third period tally just after a four minute power play expired but another man-advantage try just after that goal produced nothing. It’s hard to know the outcome of the game if Carcillo doesn’t deliver his illegal hit. It changed the momentum and feel for the night.

Carcillo suspension?: The league will undoubtedly review his hit on Gilbert and act accordingly. He didn’t play the puck, extended his arms, caused injury and has a history of suspensions so Carcillo could be facing lengthy time away from the ice.

What’s next: The Hawks take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday in their first game in Philadelphia since Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup finals, won by the Hawks.

CHICAGO -- Blackhawks forward Dan Carcillo was ejected from Monday's game against the Edmonton Oilers after being called for boarding at 7:23 of the second period.

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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks trail the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 after two periods at the United Center.

The Oilers took control thanks to two power-play goals scored after Dan Carcillo was kicked out of the game for boarding defenseman Tom Gilbert while the Oilers were given a five minute power play on the infraction.

The Hawks responded, tying the game briefly on a Andrew Brunette tip of a Nikals Hjalmarsson score but Edmonton took the lead back with a late tally by Andy Sutton.

Carcillo and Gilbert both limped off the ice with knee injuries. Jonathan Toews has the Hawks other score off a feed by Carcillo who faces supplemental discipline for his hit.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks lead the Edmonton Oilers 1-0 after the first period at the United Center.

The Hawks scored after a Dan Carcillo steal at the Edmonton blue line. He quickly found Jonathan Toews in the middle of the ice, who tallied using a defenseman as a screen while goalie Devan Dubnyk let a soft shot get by him. It was Toews 22nd goal of the season.

On the other end of the ice, Corey Crawford made a huge save on a Ryan Jones break-away chance with just over a minute left in the period. Jones bodied Duncan Keith to gain possession at center ice and was in alone but Crawford stayed with him the whole way as Jones faked to Crawford’s right and tried to come back to his left.

Each team had 10 shots on net. Edmonton’s star rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins left the game in the first period for undisclosed reasons after taking five shifts.

A roller coaster of a Circus Trip is behind the Chicago Blackhawks as they return home with a 3-3 mark. As the elephants leave the United Center and the pucks return, here’s what the Hawks (and the rest of us) learned -- some of it in their own words -- on the annual sojourn to western Canada and California.

“We learned that if we play good defense, it’s only going to help us.” -- Corey Crawford

“We know how good we can be if we go out there and work.”-Jonathan Toews

Did the Hawks actually need to learn these things? In reality they just needed a little reminder. They’re human. It happens.

After winning four straight -- all by three goals or more -- the Hawks were puffing their chests heading into Calgary and then Edmonton for Games 2 and 3 of the road trip. Beating arch-rival Vancouver, in Game 1, in the fashion that they did (5-1), may have been the highlight of the season to that point. But then came two low-lights, and the Hawks were all of a sudden reeling.

Is it possible the trip to Las Vegas in between Canada and California did them good? Considering how they played afterward, it would be hard to argue the opposite.

“We went into Vegas on the worst possible note you want to enter a couple, three days [off],” Joel Quenneville said Saturday night after the trip finale. “It turned out that maybe that was a productive time when the guys got together, rallied, got focused going into San Jose and it was a good finish to the trip.”

It probably wasn’t so much Vegas as much as getting embarrassed in Edmonton 9-2 that woke up the Hawks. Losing to Calgary the night before 5-2 was acceptable until it was combined with the following night embarrassment.

Quenneville was asked the most important question of this whole issue: Was losing 9-2 better, in hindsight, then a close defeat? Did it wake up a few players?

“You don’t want to go through that again but certainly you learn from that,” Quenneville responded. “There are certain ways to get guys attention, none better than that way, but I don’t recommend it.”

He chuckled at that last thought. Who would recommend such a butt-kicking?

In the short term, coming off the defeats in Canada and the trip to Las Vegas, the game against the San Jose Sharks on Thanksgiving eve was the most important contest of the season.

Did the Hawks need major personnel changes? Forget about depth on defense, was there enough front line talent to keep a good year going? And did lowly Calgary and Edmonton find some new holes?

Sharks coach Todd McLellan was hoping for as much before his team took on the Hawks. He made no bones about “looking at the tape” to find some weaknesses the Hawks’ Canadian opponents may have exposed.

What he saw on tape and what he saw on the ice Wednesday night were two totally different things. Only in hockey can teams look so good in defeat.
Maybe the best way to describe how the Hawks played against San Jose is to relate it to basketball: They played as if they were in a zone defense and as soon as the ball (or puck) moved towards the middle of the ice in their end, they collapsed on it.

The Sharks were always a split second away from a scoring chance but were thwarted by sticks being lifted, bodies being chipped and just an overall urgency to stop the offensive opportunity. Even they knew they won a game they were outplayed in, held 13 shots below their per game average. It was a near-defensive masterpiece by the Hawks, but they lost 1-0.

“What we learned about ourselves is we have a good team here. It’s a fight every night but we’re a confident team when we play a good team game. When we play the right way where everyone is on the same page. When we play that way it’s a lot easier to have success.” -- Duncan Keith

Some might interpret Keith’s words as cliché but juxtaposed against what we saw in San Jose, he couldn’t be more correct. Defensive hockey -- and hockey in general -- is about support. Players are going to get beat but when support is there the scoring chances become minimized. The Hawks learned that the hard way in Calgary and Edmonton, but they learned it quickly, and benefitted for the rest of the trip.

“We know that teams will raise their games against us and we have to be ready for that. There won’t be any easy ones for us out there.” -- Toews

“We learned every team is good no matter what position you are in the standings. The parity in this league is unbelievable. I think it showed in western Canada. Edmonton is not the team they were last year or the year before.” -- Keith

Again, did the Hawks need to learn this or just remember it? It’s splitting hairs but short memories sometimes aren’t a good thing. Edmonton took the Hawks down twice last season at the United Center and Calgary whipped up on them in Canada a year ago, but maybe those memories weren’t as fresh as the November wins the Hawks earned over those teams in Chicago this season. Even so, taking any opponent lightly is a mistake in any professional sport.

There is good and bad in the above statements by the players. In the short term it probably doesn’t sit well with fans, let alone Joel Quenneville, that the Hawks aren’t prepared for some of the less sexy teams in the league. But in the long run, the effort and subsequent results on the second half of the trip in California prove this is a good team and can play dominant hockey when they put their minds to it.

“[We] should never give up. We’re never out of games. Say it so many times. [Our] offense is so good, we just can’t give up in games.” -- Crawford

Obviously, Crawford is talking about the 6-5 win in Anaheim but maybe he’s referring to Edmonton as well. He’s right, the Hawks have an explosive offense and once in a while it should carry the day. Maybe if they had gotten their act together in Edmonton they would have made a game of it even after getting down 5-1 after the first period.
They didn’t do it there but they did in Anaheim, reminding the hockey world they have firepower few teams possess. But the lesson learned against the Ducks was for the fans and not the players.

“We knew if we stuck with it we’d be rewarded,” Viktor Stalberg said at the time.

No one in the immediate-response world of twitter wanted to hear it, but the Hawks were dominating the Ducks after getting down 2-0, especially in the second period. They outshot Anaheim 17-5 but lost the middle 20 minutes one goal to none. Down 4-2 after two, it seemed only the Hawks were confident of a comeback.

“We talked going into the third period it was going to feel good battling back and clawing to get back in the game,” Patrick Sharp said. “Good teams don’t change the way they play whether it's 4-0, for or against, and we did that.”

The attack they generated in the third was devastating and set the tone for the final game: The Hawks were confident again. Quenneville went right back to Crawford and the urgency to even up the trip at .500 was apparent from puck-drop. The Hawks played a solid road game after a 13-day journey. They never trailed, didn’t take too many chances and relied on Crawford for some timely stops in the 2-1 win over the Kings.

In doing so, they return to Chicago with their pride (somewhat) intact and their record, 14-7-3, still gaudy. As long as the lessons were really learned and the mistakes aren’t repeated -- at least not too often -- the Hawks will be OK.

CHICAGO -- It’s often said the start of a long road trip begins with the final home game. Add two nice road wins this week to a 6-3 home victory over Edmonton on Sunday and the Chicago Blackhawks are--all of a sudden--rolling.

“You want to respond well,” defenseman Steve Montador said after the game. “There are going to be bumps in the road. That’s just part of a long season. I sound like a typical hockey player saying that but at the same time it shows some character and strength we have in this dressing room that we can come home and bear down when we need to. I think it’s a good setting to go on the road.”

Montador is pumped because he’s been on fire. He scored two goals on Sunday -- as did Jonathan Toews -- after scoring his first as a Hawk on Thursday. In fact the entire defense is on fire, igniting the current three-game win streak. The blue-line has accounted for six goals in the past three games after netting two in the first 15.

“Great response to two really tough games,” Joel Quenneville said of recent losses to Vancouver and St. Louis. “The D [defense] are a big part of the attack, and the offense, and the results have been showing. Whether they do it [on the scoresheet] or not we need that for the overall team game.”

Make no mistake the defense providing the transition offense has transformed this team in a matter of days. Two bad losses -- and three overall --are a distant memory.

“It’s good to come back [from losing streak] but obviously you don’t want to lose a string of games like we did but we were able to battle back and now we just have to run with this momentum and bring it into the next game,” goalie Corey Crawford said.

The Hawks played it perfect on Sunday, and it wasn’t against an also-ran of the league. The Oilers may or may not be there come playoff time, but they were off to a hot start, especially goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. That came to an abrupt halt on Sunday. The Hawks scored early, forcing the Oilers to play from behind and that’s the formula any team wants.

“We can get offensive chances off of them trying to try things out there,” Toews said of playing with a lead. “We got that. Whereas we have a lead going into the third period whether it’s at home or on the road, our style of play doesn’t change.”

Toews said it’s the big difference between last year and this one. The style doesn’t change in the third period and there is no panic in a close affair.

“It’s great for everyone’s confidence,” Toews continued. “It’s great for our team’s confidence to see different guys score. It really doesn’t matter to anybody who scores the goals on any given night as long as we find a way.”

From a sluggish three-game skid to a dominant three game winning streak during one of the busiest stretches of the season. Impressive is the word that comes to mind. And now the circus comes to town.

“We’re going on the road for two weeks so you want to win the last game at home to gain some momentum to go into the road trip,” Crawford said.

Mission accomplished.

Here's a quick look at the Blackhawks' win over Edmonton Sunday.

How it happened: The offense was hot from the start, scoring two goals 34 seconds apart before the first television timeout. It forced Oilers’ coach Tom Renney to use his timeout instead. Jonathan Toews tallied on nice setup by Viktor Stalberg then Steve Montador pinched after getting a pass from Patrick Kane, schooling a defenseman and then goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. Later, both those players scored again, this time Montador redirecting a shot from the slot on the power play and Toews stuffing one in that was lying at Khabibulin's feet. Edmonton’s Ryan Smith also stuffed one in tight to cut a 2-0 lead in half but that’s as close as the Oilers came despite getting a late second period power-play goal by Shawn Horcoff to stay close. Dan Carcillo added an empty-netter to conclude the scoring.

What it means: It’s a meaningful win against a team off to a hot start. Edmonton, behind Khabibulin, hasn’t given up much defensively, but the Hawks took advantage of an off-night by the former Hawks’ netminder. For the third straight game, Hawks’ blue-liners added offense as they may have found their answer in the slot on the power play with Montador. Montador’s better play was his rush toward the net on his first goal. He made a big-time move on the best goaltender in the league in the early portion of this season. The Hawks are rolling at 11-4-3 heading into a long road trip.

Seabrook out: Brent Seabrook left the game in second period after hitting the boards hard behind the Oilers net. The Hawks declared him out for the rest of the night due to a lower-body injury. It appeared Seabrook hurt his left leg on the fall.

What’s next: It’s time for the annual Circus Trip where the Hawks leave town as the circus takes over the United Center. The Hawks will embark on a six-game roadie after practicing in Chicago on Monday. Their first stop is Vancouver for a game against the Canucks on Wednesday.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks lead the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 after two periods at the United Center.

The Hawks have dominated the game, taking advantage of a rare off night by Oilers’ goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin.
The Hawks held onto a two-goal first intermission lead with two more in the second as Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith added tallies. Toews scored his second of the game 22 seconds into the period as he stuffed home a puck lying at Khabibulin’s feet. Later, Duncan Keith’s soft point shot made it through several screens, and then past Khabibulin, for his second goal in as many games.

But the Oilers scored two for themselves as Jordan Eberle got around the Hawks defense using his speed and made a nice move on Corey Crawford for a tally. Late in the period, Shawn Horcoff scored a power play goal to bring the Oilers back within two while Viktor Stalberg was in the penalty box for using a broken stick.

Defenseman Brent Seabrook left the game in the second period after hitting the boards hard behind the Oilers’ net. He limped off the ice favoring his left leg before heading to the Hawks dressing room. There is no word from the team if he’ll return to the game.

Steve Montador scored twice for the Hawks in the first period.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks lead the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 after the first period at the United Center.

The Hawks came out strong against Edmonton, owning the early portion of the game as they scored two goals 34 seconds apart causing Oilers coach Tom Renney to call a timeout.

Jonathan Toews scored the first one from a set-up by Viktor Stalberg. Toews walked out in front of Nikolai Khabibulin and found an opening abover Khabibulin's glove for his eighth of the year. A few seconds later Patrick Kane fed a pinching Steve Montador who made a nice move on Khabibulin to tally his second of the year. Moments earlier Montador helped save a goal during a scramble in front of the Hawks' net.

Montador scored a second goal on a power play as he re-directed a Nick Leddy point shot. Montador has three goals in the last three games for the Hawks, two coming from the slot on the power play.

Edmonton's goal came from a Ryan Smith stuff attempt but Corey Crawford redeemed himself with two beauty glove saves—on Shawn Horcoff and Taylor Hall.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan -- Here is a quick look at the Hawks' 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday:

How it happened: Jordan Eberle beat Steve Montador and then Alexander Salak late in the third period for the winning goal after the Hawks' power play failed to score at the other end moments earlier. The Hawks got down 2-0 in the second period after playing a solid opening 20 minutes but they stormed back with two goals, one by Rostislav Olesz and the other by Jamal Mayers, to tie the game after two periods. But despite an edge in play in the first and third periods the Hawks were unable to score more than those two goals.

What it means: This game wasn’t about results but evaluations. Mark McNeil, the Hawks' 2011 first-round pick, continues to show promise while making the play of the night for the Hawks. He kicked the puck to his stick and then found a streaking Mayers for the tying goal in the second. Olesz also impressed playing mostly with Jonathan Toews and Viktor Stalberg. Stalberg, trying to solidify his roster spot, had several good chances and was around the puck most of the night but couldn’t finish some good looks. That line was easily the best for the Hawks on the night, dominating in a third-period shift for over a minute in the offensive zone. On defense, Nick Leddy fought the puck some but no one stood out or embarrassed themselves other than a moment or two when he and John Scott had troubles clearing the zone.

Goalie battle: Ray Emery looked sharp in the opening period, especially late when the Oilers were on a power play. But he gave up two goals in the second as the Hawks were on their heels. At least one was saveable. Alexander Salak didn’t face as much pressure in his half of the game but looked calm and made the stops he had to until Eberle’s winner.

What’s next: The Hawks return to Chicago immediately for two practice sessions on Wednesday before heading back on the road Thursday to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins.