EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers hope they are finally out of their funk.
Leon Draisaitl had a pair of goals and added an assist and Cam Talbot made 31 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Oilers came away with a 5-0 victory over the Western Conference-leading Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
“They’ve been playing some good hockey lately so it’s not an easy team to shut out by any means,” Talbot said. “We played a great team game. That’s a huge statement win for us tonight.”
Oscar Klefbom, Andrej Sekera and Anton Slepyshev also scored for the Oilers (11-8-1), who have won two in a row on the heels of a five-game losing skid. Connor McDavid has a pair of assists against the Blackhawks to move into the NHL scoring lead with 24 points in 20 games.
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“They’ve been playing really well and for us to get a win like that is definitely big for the confidence moving forward,” said McDavid. “We’ve been able to snap out of a bit of a funk and we’re looking to go on a run now. Once you get out of one of those, it is important you take off from there.”
Corey Crawford made 22 saves in the loss as the Blackhawks (13-5-2) had a two-game winning streak snapped.
“That wasn’t our team, it was a tough loss and we just have to forget about it and worry about the next game,” Crawford said. “I don’t take anything away from this one. We created a few good chances, but it was one of those games where nothing was going right.
“Everything they touched was going in and it just felt like one of those games.”
Edmonton started the scoring 2:39 into the opening period as McDavid skated the length of the ice before centring the puck, which ended up coming off the sideboards to Klefbom, who blasted a shot past Crawford. It was the third goal in as many games for Klefbom, who had been scoreless this season before that streak.
Draisaitl tipped in Klefbom’s blast from the point on the power play to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead with 34 seconds left in the first period.
Talbot kept Chicago from getting on the board four minutes into the second when he stopped Duncan Keith on a point blank power play shot.
Sekera scored on a long wrist shot with just 7.6 seconds left in the second period shortly after a power play expired to make it 3-0.
Edmonton took a 4-0 lead seven minutes into the third period as a deceptive Slepyshev shot from a bad angle handcuffed Crawford.
Draisaitl scored his second of the game late in the third on the power play to put the game away.
“That’s the closest we’ve come to a complete game,” said Oilers head coach Todd McLellan. “It’s a really good sign for our team going forward.”
Both teams return to the ice on Wednesday, as the Blackhawks play the fifth game of a season-high seven-game road trip in San Jose, while the Oilers start a two game trip in Colorado.
NOTES: It was the first of three games between the two teams this season. Chicago swept the season series last year, with McDavid missing all three contests for the Oilers due to injury… Despite their record this season, the Blackhawks are dead last in the NHL on the penalty kill, at just 69.5 per cent coming into the game… Veterans Benoit Pouliot, Mark Letestu and Eric Gryba remained healthy scratches for the Oilers.
