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Barker, Bolland help Blackhawks cruise past Oilers

Feb 4, 2009 - 5:47 AM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- The Chicago Blackhawks continue to feast on Canadian teams this season.

Defenseman Cam Barker and Dave Bolland scored second-period goals as the Blackhawks downed the Oilers, 3-1, on Tuesday.

Martin Havlat also scored for Chicago, which improved to 10-0-0 this season against Canadian teams.

"We played great, had a real good first period, but we were down 1-0," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "We liked the way we played, we had the puck a lot."

Trailing 1-0, Chicago rallied in the middle session, getting goals from Barker and Bolland.

The Blackhawks evened the score at 3:06 of the second period on their first power play of the night.

Barker's shot from the point beat goaltender Dwayne Roloson, who was screened by captain Jonathan Toews, allowing the defenseman to pick up his fourth goal of the season on a set-up from All-Star blue-liner Brian Campbell and Patrick Kane.

"We knew they'd come out hard and I think we still got pressure and killed off a few key penalties," Toews said. "We had a big goal in the second to tie it up and I think that third goal in the third period was a big one for us. It gave us confidence that we could close them out."

Bolland put Chicago up 2-1 with 3:48 remaining in the session after blasting a point-shot past Roloson for his 10th of the campaign off assists from Havlat and Matt Walker.

Bolland returned the favor in the final period. Defenseman James Wisniewski and Bolland picked up assists as Havlat added an insurance score at 9:50 of the third, coming out from behind the net and stuffing the puck past Roloson.

"For most of us, we're young kids, we haven't played here," Bolland said of Chicago's success against Canadian teams. "It's my second time coming to Edmonton, it was my first time going to Toronto. It's fun getting up here and getting to play against these Canadian teams."

Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish was frustrated.

"We couldn't handle their speed and their checking," MacTavish said. "They got to us in our defensive zone on our breakouts. They moved their feet well and we couldn't stop them."

Ten seconds after Zack Stortini and Matt Walker squared off in the first period, the Oilers got on the board, thanks to a goal by Ethan Moreau. The Oilers' captain flicked a backhander from behind the net that hit Campbell's shoulder then goalie Cristobal Huet in the back and bounced into the net at 4:48. The goal was Moreau's 12th of the season.

"It hit Campbell in the chest or somewhere," Huet said. "It happens. It happened for us with Havlat's goal."

On the night, Chicago fired 41 shots at Roloson while the Oilers managed only 21 against Huet.

"There were instances (in the game) where we definitely needed to compete harder," Edmonton's Shawn Horcoff said. "A big issue for us was on the boards in our own zone. Just in our own zone, period.

"There is no secret they are a team that skates really well but we have to take the opportunity when we have it to get pucks out and break them up clean. We weren't able to do that. We let them skate harder than us and win those little battles."

The Oilers also lost defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, who suffered a dislocated shoulder after a collision near the end boards in the third period.

"He'll be out a period of time," MacTavish said. "I don't even want to guess."

The Blackhawks have a chance to improve on their mark against Canadian teams as they face the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.