Some might see a bat lurking above the United Center ice during Wednesday’s pregame warmups as an ominous omen.
The creature buzzed by Teuvo Teräväinen and created a buzz in the stands. Ice crew staffer Lucas Heatherington finally caught the bat, scooping it off the ice in a net.
But it was the Chicago Blackhawks who couldn’t catch a break.
They rallied twice – once from a two-goal deficit – but committed a penalty in overtime, and lost 4-3 to the Edmonton Oilers on Zach Hyman’s power play game-winner.
But the bigger loss?
Hawks forward Jason Dickinson suffered a left leg injury and may be looking at a long layoff.
About 4 1/2 minutes into the second period, Oilers forward Vasily Podkolzin came up behind Dickinson while going for a puck, but Podkolzin’s skate appeared to catch Dickinson’s right skate and pulled his leg forward.
As Dickinson tried to maintain his balance, his left leg doubled awkwardly underneath him and he collapsed. He was helped off the ice and didn’t put any pressure on his left leg.
“It doesn’t look good,” said Hawks interim coach Anders Sorensen, adding that Dickinson will be reevaluated Thursday.
The loss of Dickinson – a top penalty killer, faceoff man and locker room leader – for a potentially prolonged period would be a devastating blow to the Hawks.
“That’s a guy you can’t just replace,” Alec Martinez said. “He’s reliable, he’s good in the circles, reliable defensively, can contribute at both ends of the rink.”
It’s a “very” tough loss, added Ryan Donato.
“He’s the ultimate teammate, ultimate guy,” he said. “He’s such a great person off the ice and such a great leader on the ice. … Hopefully everything’s OK with him.”
Dickinson walked from the Hawks training room postgame wearing a walking boot.
“He’s valuable for us,” Sorensen said. “He does a lot of PK, lot of faceoffs, tough matchups. I thought a lot of guys stepped up after his absence when he got hurt.”
Meanwhile, Craig Smith returned to action for the Hawks after missing 11 games with a back injury.
After a scoreless first period, Edmonton’s Viktor Arvidsson scored midway through the second, but Lukas Reichel tipped in Teräväinen’s shot with 6 seconds left before intermission.
Jeff Skinner scored 1 minute, 11 seconds into the third, and Leon Draisaitl beat goalie Arvid Söderblom five-hole.
But Ryan Donato cashed in on the Hawks’ only power play of the game. And Alec Martinez tied it 3-3 on a backdoor snapper with 3:44 left.
“Marty puts himself in a great spot,” Donato said. “He’s a guy that you can trust that he’s going to shoot it when he gets a chance, and he’s got a great shot, and he did a good job of putting it away.”
However, in overtime, the Hawks had too many men on the ice. And then 17 seconds later, Hyman poked in Connor McDavid’s feed to ice the game.
“They’re going to put the puck away when you give them one little chance,” Donato said.
“It just happens quick,” Martinez said of the penalty. “Just trying to be quick on a change and hits a skate. That’s hockey.”
Despite the loss, the Hawks actually played good hockey against an elite team in the Oilers – but stop us if you’ve heard that one before.
“Definitely a lot more good than negative so to speak,” Sorensen said. “But that’s the difference when you have those little lapses.
“But we really feel that the pushback after being down 3-1, we showed a lot of resilience there in coming back. That was really a positive and really good to see for our group.”
