McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman combine for 9 points as Oilers rout Chicago

The Edmonton Oilers didn't leave anything in the tank before their all-star break hiatus.

Tyson Barrie scored a pair of goals as the Oilers headed into a nine-day break in the schedule on a winning note, coming away with a 7-3 home victory over lowly Chicago on Saturday.

Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman each had a goal and two assists, and Evander Kane and Ryan McLeod also scored for the Oilers (28-18-4) who have gone 7-0-1 in their last eight games leading into a break that sees them idle until Feb. 7.

"We took [the game] over in the second period, but there were still a couple of things I'd like to clean up," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "But our team is 10-3-2 since the Christmas break and you couldn't script it better for us. I think we've taken a step here, it's a credit to our players."

WATCH | Barrie provides offence for Oilers:

A pair of goals by Tyson Barrie leads Edmonton to win over Chicago

2 years ago

Duration 2:02

Tyson Barrie led all Oiler goal scorers as Edmonton defeated Chicago 7-3 Saturday night.

Jason Dickinson, Jonathan Toews and Taylor Raddysh replied for Chicago (15-29-4) who have lost three of their last four and entered the night sitting in second-last place in the NHL.

Despite Saturday's drubbing, Chicago still managed to win seven of their last 11 games. They are now off until Feb. 7.

"It is tough losing the last game before a break, but I feel like we have taken a big step in the last month and have been building on our game in all areas with every line chipping in at different moments," Raddysh said. "That is what we are going to need the rest of the way and we have to keep giving it our all every night and keep getting better."

Oilers strike early, often

Chicago had a glorious early chance when Andreas Athanasiou was sent in on a clear breakaway, but he bobbled the puck and was unable to get a shot on Oilers starter Jack Campbell.

Dickinson tied the game 5:25 into the middle frame as he scored his seventh on a partial breakaway after picking up a backhanded feed through the slot from Patrick Kane.

Edmonton's lethal power play put them back in front just over a minute later as McDavid sent a nifty backhand return pass from behind the net to Draisaitl, who beat Mrazek for his 29th of the season.

The Oilers surged ahead with a pair of goals less than a minute apart with about eight minutes to play in the second period. Barrie scored his second goal of the game and seventh of the season after Hyman tipped a shot that trickled behind the Chicago goalie, allowing him to sweep in and whack it into an empty net.

McDavid then scored his league-leading 41st of the season, wheeling out from behind the net before elevating a beauty of a backhand shot past Mrazek.

Hyman picked up his third point in a 2:33 span a minute-and-a-half after that, smacking home the rebound of a McLeod shot for his 26th of the campaign. Hyman has now scored in five consecutive games.

Chicago got one back on the power play as Patrick Kane sent a perfect feed in front that Toews tipped past Campbell for his 14th.

McLeod made it 7-1 with eight minutes to play as his shot was deemed to have crossed the line before defender Seth Jones could bat it out, even though play went on for a while before the horn sounded.

Chicago made it look better with five minutes left as Max Domi took advantage of a giveaway to send Raddysh in to score his 14th on a nice deke.

Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner came down with a sudden illness, forcing them to activate emergency backup goalie Matt Berlin, a player from the University of Alberta Golden Bears. With their big lead, the Oilers put him in net with 2:26 to play, saving the only shot he faced.

WATCH | Oilers emergency backup goalie Matt Berlin enters game: