Blackhawks 6, Oilers 3
Jonathan Toews and Steve Montador both scored twice as the host Chicago Blackhawks cruised to a 6-3 home victory over the suddenly slumping Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night.
The Blackhawks have won three straight games and are tied with Dallas for the most wins in the Western Conference with 11. The loss was the third in a row for the Oilers, who have surrendered 15 goals during the skid.
It didn't take long for the Blackhawks to get to Oilers netminder Nikolai Khabibulin. Toews opened the scoring just 4:55 into the game and Montador doubled the advantage 34 seconds later, beating Edmonton defenseman Lennart Petrell before firing the puck past Khabibulin.
Ryan Smyth cut the deficit at 11:41 before the Blackhawks converted on the power play, with Montador redirecting a Nick Leddy shot as Jordan Eberle served a holding penalty.
Chicago effectively put the game out of reach just 22 seconds into the second frame, as Toews banged a loose puck past Khabibulin with defensemen Tom Gilbert and Ladislav Smid out of position.
Duncan Keith and Daniel Carcillo also scored for Chicago while Corey Crawford preserved the win with a 20-save performance.
Eberle and Shawn Horcoff countered for Edmonton, which went 2-4-0 on a six-game road swing spanning three time zones.