GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Blackhawks 0

EDMONTON, AB – Goaltending has been the gift that keeps on giving for the Blue & Orange on their way to an incredible 15 straight victories.

"You're not going to have many 15-game winning streaks without two goalies," Calvin Pickard said. "When I get my chance to play, I just want to go in, not put too much pressure on myself, stick with the things I know and just do my thing."

Oilers netminder Calvin Pickard stopped all 27 shots to secure his fifth career shutout as Edmonton extended their record streak to 15 wins in a row on Thursday night with a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Rogers Place.

Connor McDavid contributed two goals and an assist, pushing his point streak to 17 games and 36 points (11G, 25A), while Leon Draisaitl registered three helpers to pull to within two of the 800-point mark for his career in the victory.

Zach Hyman added his team-leading 29th tally of the campaign and now leads Edmonton with 11 goals over their 15-game win streak.

"Shutouts are definitely a team stat," Pickard said. "I thought we defended well all night. We took over toward the latter part of the game and I made some saves, but I thought we cleared out a lot of rebounds and blocked a lot of shots, so it's definitely a team shutout."

The Oilers aim to preserve their streak heading into the All-Star break on Saturday afternoon with two points in a matinée meeting with the Nashville Predators at Rogers Place.

FIRST PERIOD

Chicago came out the faster of the two teams in the first period as they looked to break out of their 18-game road losing streak on Tuesday night at the expense of Edmonton's exceptional run of results.

Mackenzie Entwistle struck the crossbar in the opening minutes on a Blackhawks' odd-man rush to indicate to the Oilers they were in for a hard battle that would be a turf battle for ice, which was confirmed at the first intermission after the shots were 7-7 with only a few decent scoring chances between them.

"We knew coming in wasn't going to be an easy one with the way these guys have been playing lately," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "I know they're pretty banged up, but they were just working and we experienced that in Chicago. I think we had 15 or 16 shots or something like that, so we expected a tough game tonight and they lived up to it. But when we needed it, we got the saves from Picks and we just kind of stuck around and played within ourselves and stayed confident."

McDavid was exposed to Chicago's physical side just after the eight-minute mark when he got wrapped up with Jason Dickinson along the half boards, leading to matching holding penalties and four-on-four hockey that produced Edmonton's best chance when Ryan McLeod's quick snap shot was gloved down by Petr Mrazek before the period's midway mark.

McLeod's opportunity was one of only two shots generated by the Oilers in the opening 10 minutes, with their next worthwhile opportunity coming in the dying seconds of the period with Edmonton on the power play. McDavid tried to flip a loose puck over the outstretched Mrazek as the clock winded down, but his shot exceeded the height of the crossbar and sailed out of play to relieve the Blackhawks in the final seconds of the period.

The Oilers would carry over 1:48 of that man advantage into the next period with the game scoreless through 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD

Vital interventions from McDavid on the power play and Pickard on a penalty shot bookended the middle frame to put the Oilers on the precipice of winning 15 straight games.

McDavid made no mistake with the man advantage just 1:37 into the period when Mrazek overslid Nugent-Hopkins's cross-ice pass and bundled into Hyman in front of Chicago's crease, leaving the captain with a wide-open net to slide a backhand along the ice home for his 18th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead for the Oilers.

McDavid has managed to assemble a home point streak that rivals Chicago's struggles on the road, stretching his personal run to 17 games.

The low-event contest would become more and more defined by its few moments of brilliance with every minute that passed on the clock, and Pickard had to come up with his most vital intervention before the intermission with a penalty-shot save against Entwistle, who rattled the crossbar against him in the game's early moments.

Vincent Desharnais committed a turnover along the Chicago blueline and had to reach in on the backtrack against Entwistle to stop the Blackhawks winger from taking his shot at tying the game on a breakaway.

The referee awarded the penalty shot, but after Entwistle came in on the left and tried to shoot five-hole on Pickard, the 31-year-old stamped out the opportunity to keep it 1-0 at Rogers Place after 40 minutes.

"I always remind myself to be patient and get out and have a good gap," Pickard said. "So when he took that shot, I was in a good spot. It was a good time to make a save right at the end of the second period there."

THIRD PERIOD

There are few players who can hustle like Zach Hyman, and the winger was beating anyone to the back post for that McDavid feed.

The Toronto, Ont. product notched his team-leading 29th goal of the season at 13:26 of the final frame from the right post when McDavid put a back-door feed onto his tape to redirect over Mrazek's pad to make it 2-0 and all but nail down the two points and victory No. 15 in a row for Edmonton.

Hyman was chopped down when looking for the empty-netter in the final minute, but after there was no call on the play, the puck still found its way to McDavid to patiently cradle through Chicago's zone and fire into the open net for his third point of the night and 19th of the year.

The Oilers saw out the final few minutes to secure their netminder his fifth career shutout with 27 saves, while also extending his personal win streak to four straight victories.

"Picks was great for us tonight. Another really good goaltender performance for us, but we didn't give up too much," Darnell Nurse said. "It probably wasn't the most exciting game to watch on the outside, but I thought for us, we stuck to our structure. When things got a little bit hairy in the zone, we collapsed and were able to take care of their chances."

With the shutout, the Oilers have now allowed two goals or fewer in 13 straight games.

"Over the course of last month and change, we've had a lot of these situations where we get into tight games and the only way you get comfortable with it is playing within those situations more and more, and we've done a good job of it lately," Nurse added.

"Hopefully, there are more games where if you play the right way, the offensive chances come a little more often than not because you've got to get more comfortable because as the season gets deeper, those games when four or five goals are being scored become more and more minimal.

"So for us, we've got to continue to get comfortable in these situations."

PARTING WORDS

Nugent-Hopkins on the play of Pickard on Thursday & this season as the dedicated backup:

"I think every time he stepped in, he's been outstanding for us. The Detroit game, he made some huge saves to keep us in it. Same thing tonight. Obviously, it can't be easy. I don't really experience that, so 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's in there, he's dialled in and he's making those big ones when we need him to."

Knoblauch on Pickard's play & presence in the dressing room:

"We're very happy with Picks. He's been a great teammate. His attitude, his work ethic, there are guys that you cheer for and you're happy when they have success. He's absolutely one of them. Since I've been here, I've noticed he's played really well and he's had some tough games where we haven't defended very well in front of him. But overall, I think every single game he's been really solid for us and tonight, he was outstanding."

Pickard on getting called up and contributing to Edmonton's turnaround in the standings this season:

"It's always what you're striving to do for sure. When I got called up, it started off with not much action there for a while, but I've been happy with where my game's been at the last couple of months and I just want to keep doing my thing.

Pickard on his relationship with Stuart Skinner:

"Yeah, it's been really good. He's been electric lately. It's been fun to watch him play and he's singlehandedly won us a few games on the streak, but off the ice, he's a great person. Makes it that much better, for sure, so it was nice to see him excited for me. Obviously he's been playing a lot lately and it was good to get him out of the net and get me in there, so it's good. It's a really good relationship."