SECOND PERIOD
It continued to be a goalie’s duel in Chicago, but Connor Ingram was the one who came up with the bigger saves in the middle frame, where the Oilers outshot the Blackhawks 16-12 and added a goal to their tally on Bouchard’s 10th goal of the season only 16 seconds into the period.
After Nugent-Hopkins levelled a one-timer from Bouchard, the defenceman went to the net and battled for the loose puck before throwing it back into the crease from below the goal line, where it went off both skates of Knight and shuffled into the back of the net to give him a goal and an assist on Monday.
“I’d be lying if I said I meant to do that,” he said. “I was just trying to get it out front to where I thought one of our guys was. Luckily enough, it went in. “
With three points on Monday, Bouchard is on a five-game point streak (3G, 6A) and now has 12 points (4G, 8A) over his last nine games, along with 45 points (10G, 35A) over his last 40 games for third amongst NHL blueliners in points this season with 45, trailing only Cale Makar (51) and Zach Werenski (47).
“I’m happy with where my game’s at,” he said. “I’ve got to work on the defensive side. I think that’s the main focus. But when you’re playing with guys like Connor and Leon every night, you get them the puck and a lot of times they do the rest. So it’s contributions from all five guys on the ice.”