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The Chicago Blackhawks needed two periods to get up to full speed against the lowly Edmonton Oilers.

Niklas Hjalmarsson, Dustin Byfuglien and Jonathan Toews scored in the third period to help the Blackhawks beat the Oilers 5-2 on Wednesday night for their fifth victory in six games.

Marian Hossa and Dave Bolland also scored for the Blackhawks, who increasingly dominated as the game progressed. Patrick Kane added two assists as Chicago wound up outshooting Edmonton 47-14.

The Blackhawks were flat in a 5-3 road loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday night, their first game following the Olympic break. Six Blackhawks, including Toews, Kane and Hossa, took part in the Vancouver Games.

“The third period, that’s the way we can be,” said Toews, who won a gold medal with Team Canada and was selected the top forward in the Olympic tournament.

“I reckon we got our legs. The last two nights, we’ve played two teams everybody expects you to beat. There are 20-some games left, and you’ve got to focus on what you can do, no matter who you’re playing.”

Hossa, who played for Slovakia in Vancouver, added an help, as did Toews.

“Tonight, I thought he [Hossa] had a special game,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville. “Defensively, he was outstanding. He had the puck a lot.”

Robert Nilsson and Shawn Horcoff scored for Edmonton. The Oilers have lost three straight and seven of their last eight.

The Oilers, who made two trades before the deadline Wednesday, skated with a largely inexperienced group of defencemen, including recent AHL callups Dean Arsene, Taylor Chorney, Theo Peckham and Johan Motin.

“The kids did a pretty excellent job,” Edmonton coach Pat Quinn said. “We didn’t place the puck at the net enough and, once that turnover game starts going, it accentuates with the players who were playing in the minors and still learning their craft.”

Chicago’s Cristobal Huet made 12 saves in his first start in nearly a month. Antti Niemi had made five straight starts for the Blackhawks, but Huet replaced him early in the second period of the loss to the Islanders.

The Blackhawks failed to make a long-rumoured trade to upgrade their goaltending before the deadline.

After Wednesday’s win, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville called Huet’s performance: “OK. But this, him getting a win, will be helpful going forward.”

Huet, who faced just three shots in the third period, didn’t want to read much into his victory.

“I don’t want to look too far,” he said. “I don’t want to go to that No. 1 [netminder] talk, just go to the next game and have a chance to win.”

Edmonton backup Devan Dubnyk stopped 42 shots. He was recalled from Springfield of the AHL on Monday after playing there during the Olympic break.

“You never want to give up five goals, but I felt pretty excellent about my game,” Dubnyk said. “I’ll have a look back at the tape and go from there. It’s something to build on.”

Earlier, Edmonton sent veteran defenceman Steve Staios to Calgary for defenceman Aaron Johnson and a third-round draft pick. The Oilers also dealt Lubomir Visnovsky, their top-scoring defenceman, to Anaheim for defenseman and Ryan Whitney and a sixth-round pick.

Also, Edmonton claimed forward Ryan Jones off waivers from Nashville. Jones was in the lineup, but Johnson and Whitney didn’t arrive in time for the game.

Hossa place Chicago ahead 1-0 during a 4-on-4 at 3:26 of the second when he ripped in a high shot from the top of the left circle. Nilsson and Horcoff scored a 52-second span late in the second gave Edmonton a 2-1 lead.

Nilsson jammed the puck under Huet from the edge of the crease with 4:29 left in the second after Sam Gagne had driven to the net. Horcoff beat Huet with a screen shot from the top of the slot with 3:37 left in the period.

Bolland tied it at 2-2 with 1:57 remaining in the second when he batted in a loose puck from the left side of the net. The play was set up by Hossa, who intercepted a pass from Edmonton’s Tom Gilbert.

Hjalmarsson scored on a screen shot from the point 20 seconds into the third to give Chicago a 3-2 lead. It was only his second goal this season and first since Oct. 17.

Byfuglien made it 4-2 with a power-play goal midway through the third when he tucked in a shot from the edge of the crease.

The puck was accidentally deflected straight to Byfuglien by Edmonton’s Patrick O’Sullivan, who tried to cut off Kane’s pass from the right boards.

Toews completed the scoring with 3:44 left on a shot from the right circle.

Ryan Kesler scored twice and Olympic gold medallist Roberto Luongo made 28 saves as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Detroit Red Wings 6-3 on Wednesday night.

Alex Burrows, Kyle Wellwood, Sami Salo and Mikael Samuelsson also scored, and Henrik and Daniel Sedin each had three assists.

Jason Williams, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen scored for Detroit. Jimmy Howard made 17 saves before being pulled in favour of Chris Osgood midway through the second period. Osgood stopped 10 shots.

Wellwood’s breakaway goal 7:11 into the second period gave the Canucks a 3-2 lead. He beat Howard high on the glove side after taking a pass from Aaron Rome. Salo’s power-play goal with 8:27 left in the second made it 4-2. His screened wrist shot from the left point sent Howard to the bench.

Samuelsson scored his 22nd goal to make it 5-2 with 2:10 left in the second.

Kesler, from the Detroit suburb of Livonia, got his second goal, on the power play, and 18th of the season 6:35 into the third period.

Franzen scored on a power play with 4:47 left.

Zetterberg tied it at 2-2, for Detroit 1:47 into the second period with his 200th NHL goal. It was Zetterberg’s 17th of the season.

Kesler opened the scoring 3:34 into the game and Williams tied it 1-1 with 5:50 left in the period.

Burrows restored Vancouver’s lead just 1:30 later when he deflected Daniel Sedin’s pass out of the air and over Howard’s shoulder. Burrows has 28 goals this season.

Canadian ice dancers Scott Moir, left, and Tessa Virtue took home gold as Canada won 14 events at the Vancouver Olympics. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

Federal funding for Canada’s Own the Podium program looks like it’s getting a boost.

The government is expected to double funds for the Canadian amateur sport program when the federal budget is released Thursday, from $11 million to $22 million, CBCSports.ca learned on Wednesday.

Canada won 26 medals at the Vancouver Games, which finished on Sunday, setting a new national record. The total included 14 gold, which was first among all nations and set an Olympic record for most gold medals won at a Winter Games.

Much of the success was credited to Own the Podium. The program was instituted five years ago and came with a price tag of $117 million, with $66 million of that coming from taxpayers.

The stated goal of the program was to win the overall medal count at the Vancouver Olympics, and for Canada to end with over 30 medals total. Canada finished third in the overall medal total, behind Germany in second (30) and the United States in first (37).

Canada was small of its total medal target, but by winning the gold medal count and setting a new Olympic standard in that category many are arguing that Own the Podium succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations.

The Canadian Olympic Committee is targeting a top-12 end for Canada at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.