How Blackhawks reacted last time Oilers blew them out

No doubt about it, Edmonton Oilers forward Sam Gagner is the talk of the hockey world after scoring a whopping eight points in one game. Still, for every historic producer, there must be a victim – and the Chicago Blackhawks played that role on Thursday.

Gagner and the Oil beat them 8-4 last night, but this wasn’t the first time Edmonton handed the Blackhawks a one-sided loss in 2011-12. The Oilers finished 3-1-0 in the season series, but the most notable other beating came when Edmonton topped Chicago 9-2 on Nov. 19.

To Chicago’s credit, the team went on a tear in the next 13 games.

The ‘Hawks started that run by losing 1-0 to the San Jose Sharks, but only after pouring 34 shots on a locked-in Antti Niemi. From that point, the Blackhawks went 11-2-1. It was a great way to close out 2011, but they’ve been a little shaky in the New Year (5-8-2 in 15 contests).

Surely it’s an embarrassing output for a franchise that won the Stanley Cup in 2010, but perhaps Joel Quenneville can transform that negative energy into a red-hot run – again.

If nothing else, they should be glad that it’s extremely unlikely that they’ll face the Oilers again until next season.