Oilers claim road win over Blackhawks
CHICAGO – Matt Benning, Milan Lucic and Connor McDavid scored goals and Cam Talbot made 38 saves as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Saturday night at the United Center.
Lucic produced the game-winner for Edmonton, which won its third straight game, when he scored an unassisted goal midway through the third period.
Lucic slipped a shot between the legs of Corey Crawford, who had kept the Blackhawks within a goal earlier in the period when he denied McDavid.
McDavid appeared to have an angle after taking a cross-ice pass before Crawford slid over and knocked the shot down.
McDavid sealed the victory with an empty-netter, his 20th goal of the season and his 67th point.
After Talbot stopped 34 straight shots for the Oilers (32-19-8), the Blackhawks got on the board when Richard Panik beat Talbot with just under five minutes to play. But despite maintaining a large advantage on shots for most of the night, the Blackhawks (35-18-5) had their five-game winning streak.
Crawford finished with 19 saves for Chicago.
The Blackhawks were playing for the first time coming off a bye week and continued a league-wide trend of teams struggling in their return to the ice. Talbot played a major role in shutting down the Blackhawks, who outshot the Oilers 39-22 on the night.
Edmonton took a 1-0 lead five minutes into the second period when Benning scored a power-play goal. Benning's shot skirted by Crawford after it grazed the skate of defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk.
The Oilers went to the power play after Blackhawks right winger Ryan Hartman was whistled for instigating and then given an additional five minutes for fighting and a 10-minute game misconduct. Hartman went after Eric Gryba, who planted Blackhawks center Tanner Kero into the boards.
NOTES: Oilers LW Benoit Pouliot missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury. ... D Kris Russell missed his fifth straight game (lower-body injury), but he is with the team and could return during the Oilers' six-game road trip, which continues Tuesday in Tampa. ... Captain Connor McDavid played his first game at the United Center after missing last year's game in Chicago with a broken clavicle. ... LW Jujhar Khaira and D Jordan Oesterle ere scratched. ... Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival did not play Saturday but could return from a foot injury on Sunday against Buffalo, coach Joel Quenneville said. Rozsival has been out since late January when he suffered the injury. "He gives us some depth on the back end. He's ready to play as soon as we put him in," Quenneville told reporters at the team's morning skate. ... Chicago RW Jordin Tootoo was scratched.