Pickard makes 27 saves, Oilers shut out Blackhawks for 15th straight win

EDMONTON -- Calvin Pickard made 27 saves, and Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist for the Edmonton Oilers in their 15th straight win, 3-0  against the Chicago Blackhawks at Rogers Place on Thursday.

Leon Draisaitl had three assists, and Zach Hyman scored for the Oilers (28-15-1), who tied the 1981-82 New York Islanders and 2012-13 Pittsburgh Penguins for the third-longest winning streak in NHL history. The Penguins won 17 in a row in 1992-93, and the 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets had a 16-game streak.

Edmonton was 31st in the League standings (3-9-1) when Kris Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft as coach Nov. 12. It is now third in the Pacific Division.

“Right now, the way the team’s started chasing teams, I think everyone’s just really excited to be moving up in the standings and giving ourselves a bit of breathing room,” Knoblauch said. “I think we’re trying to take it one game at a time.

“We’re just playing good enough to win right now. I think we’ve got a lot more in our group. As a coaching staff, we’re always pushing our guys to try and get better at something each day. And right now, I think we’ve been good enough to win games and that’s about it.”

Petr Mrazek made 31 saves for the Blackhawks (14-33-2), who have lost 19 straight on the road (0-18-1) dating to Nov. 12.

“I think everyone has to dig deep, guys take it differently, but it’s definitely hard on everyone,” Chicago defenseman Isaak Phillips said. “We’ve said it a million times, but the effort is there for us; we’re in these games and we’re one shot away, two shots away the whole time.

“We’re getting through the zone, we’re getting in and then it’s almost like 1-and-done, so we just have to find a way to sustain pressure."

It was Pickard’s first shutout of the season, and his first since Nov. 23, 2018, with the Philadelphia Flyers.

“I made some saves, but I thought we cleared out a lot of rebounds and blocked a lot of shots,” Pickard said. “So, it's definitely a team shutout for sure.”

McDavid gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead on a power play at 1:37 of the second period, scoring on a backhand after a cross-crease pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

McDavid has 36 points (11 goals, 25 assists) during a 17-game home streak. He leads Edmonton with 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) during its win streak.

“We expected a tough game tonight, and they lived up to it for sure,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “But when we needed it, we got the saves from [Pickard] and we just kind of stuck around and played within ourselves and stayed confident. Every time he has stepped in, he has been outstanding for us. In the Detroit game (a 3-2 overtime win on Jan. 11), he made some huge saves to keep us in it and it was the same thing tonight.

“I can’t speak for him, but I understand it wouldn’t be easy to just step in every once in a while. But every time he is in there he is dialed in and making those big ones when we need him to.”

Pickard preserved the lead when he stopped MacKenzie Entwistle on a penalty shot with 1:36 left in the second.

“Obviously, we couldn’t get it done. Close isn’t good enough,” Entwistle said. “They’re a great team and have a lot of highly offensive guys who can put the puck in the net.

“It’s frustrating, but we stuck in there, we hung in there. We were in it until the end of the game, which was a good thing, but no goals is not good enough.”

Hyman put the Oilers ahead 2-0 at 6:34 of the third period on an odd-man rush with McDavid, who sent over a cross-crease pass for the tap-in. It was Hyman’s 29th goal of the season.

McDavid scored an empty-net goal at 18:45 for the 3-0 final.

“Another really good goaltending performance,” Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse said. “We didn’t give up too much. It probably wasn’t the most exciting game to watch, but I thought we stuck to our structure. When things got a little bit hairy in the [defensive] zone, we collapsed and were able to take care of it.”

NOTES: Edmonton hasn’t lost since Dec. 19, 3-1 at the New York Islanders. Of the five teams in NHL history with a win streak of at least 15 games, the Oilers are the second to allow three or fewer goals in each throughout their win streak (Blue Jackets in 2016-17). … Nugent-Hopkins extended his point streak to four games (four assists) and played his 845th career game, which tied Glenn Anderson for fourth in franchise history. … Phillips had five hits in 16:57 of ice time.