PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Blackhawks

The Edmonton Oilers look to earn their 15th consecutive victory on Wednesday night at Rogers Place against the Chicago Blackhawks.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Blackhawks

EDMONTON, AB – Can the Edmonton Oilers make it 15 wins in a row?

Only four teams in NHL history have ever reached the mark, and the Blue & Orange have ambitions of etching themselves into the record books as the fifth team on that list when they face off against the Chicago Blackhawks for the third and final time this season on Wednesday night.

The Oilers claimed their 14^th win in a row on Tuesday night with a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets, with netminder Stuart Skinner stopping 27 shots in a First-Star performance at Rogers Place to secure his 11^th straight win and break Grant Fuhr’s franchise record for consecutive victories by an Oilers netminder.

"It means a lot," Skinner said. "I was feeling a lot of emotion, especially when I went out on the ice as the First Star there just because it's pretty cool being able to break a record from one of the best goalies to ever live. So obviously, he's a guy that I look up to, a guy that I've talked to, and he's just one of the best, so I'm very fortunate to be able to break it."

Skinner was particularly excellent over the first two periods, making 21 saves to keep Columbus from taking advantage of his teammates’ 21 giveaways in the opening 40 minutes before Edmonton made good on their goaltender’s crease support in the final frame.

“I think it starts off with Stu keeping us in that game,” said Warren Foegele, who scored his 10^th goal of the season in the first period. “It honestly could have been 5-0 after the first two periods. He was rock solid and he's been playing unbelievable. And as a group coming into the third, we knew we needed to better. I thought we were playing quicker, direct, and you could see by the pace of play we were playing with in the third.”

Skinner made a massive breakaway glove save on former Flames' forward Johnny Gaudreau before conceding a goal to Dmitri Voronkov to make it 1-1 heading into the first intermission, but being able to keep his team in striking distance with his saves is just the kind of impact Skinner's been putting forward over Edmonton's incredible winning run.

"I think that's why us goalies love to play the game," he said. "I think moments like that where you're able to come up with a couple of big saves and keep your team in it, it's a big part of our job is just being able to give our team a chance to win. I think I did that for a couple of periods, and then in the third period, we took it home. So it's really good pushback by our group."

Evander Kane became the 10^th separate player on the Oilers with a game-winning goal during the streak when he gave his team the lead 4:53 into the third period before Connor McDavid scored just 55 seconds later to make it 3-1 on his 17^th goal of the season.

Dylan Holloway picked up his first goal since returning from a two-month injury absence in this past Saturday’s Battle of Alberta, and the 22-year-old's move centre on the fourth line has provided strong early returns for Edmonton's head coach Kris Knoblauch, who's liked what he's seen with his versatility since getting him back into the lineup.

"He's played two really good games for us and he's played a little bit night tonight on the left wing, but primarily he's been a centre," Knoblauch said. "It's nice to know that you've got that center depth because you never know what happens and it's nice to have that. And he's been physical, he's been fast, he's been really reliable just on the defensive side of the puck, so it's a good addition for our team."

The Oilers have won a franchise-record 12 straight games while allowing two or fewer goals in each contest, while the Blackhawks have scored two or fewer goals in six of their last seven games.

Chicago is currently in their ninth set of back-to-back games this season and are 1-7-0 this year in the second leg of consecutive games on consecutive nights. On Wednesday, the 'Hawks were defeated 6-2 by the Seattle Kraken to suffer their 18th consecutive road defeat – a losing streak where they own a -54 goal differential.