The Chicago Blackhawks’ 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens proved to be a big mental boost, but they also learned that sometimes it takes a “rinky-dink shot” to win.

A teammate of Connor Bedard has voiced a very powerful message to Chicago Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen about his playing time.

Kurashev has fallen from 54-point scorer to lineup exile in four short months. With his contract up after this season, the writing is already on the wall.

Connor Bedard extended his point streak to nine games, but the Chicago Blackhawks played one of their worst second periods of the season Friday in a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

Kurashev has sat in the press box more often than not. He is point-less in his last 11 games, and when he has played over the last month, he averaged less than 13:30 of

Connor Bedard has an incredible eight-game point ... to find something that worked for Bedard, especially since Philipp Kurashev, his linemate from last year, took a step back and has been scratched.

"It's just day by day, trying to improve the group — what we have right now — and not trying to look too far down the road," Sorensen said.

Despite one of the worst periods of hockey played by the Blackhawks, they managed to lose by 2 goals against a hot Red Wings team.

The Edmonton Oilers travel to Chicago to face the Blackhawks on Saturday, looking to get back in the win column after their four-game winning streak ended in Pittsburgh. The Oilers dropped a 5-3 decision to the Penguins on Thursday for their first loss since Dec. 29. Edmonton is 7-2-1 over its past 10 games and 12-3-1 in the past 16.

The Blackhawks signed Brian Campbell a year later, and Marián Hossa a year after that. There was no distant future. There was just now. And within three years, they were Stanley Cup champions. “We just expected to win,