• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Vermette, Crawford lift Blackhawks over Oilers

Mar 7, 2015 - 6:01 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Antoine Vermette delivered his first big moment as a Chicago Blackhawk, scoring the deciding goal in the third round of the shootout to give his new team a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

Vermette, one of two significant additions to the Blackhawks' roster at the trade deadline, snuck a backhand attempt through the legs of Ben Scrivens in the veteran center's second game with Chicago.

"Winning games is great, it doesn't matter how you do it," said Vermette.

The goal rewarded Corey Crawford for a stellar performance between the pipes, as the Chicago netminder turned aside 46 shots before denying all three Edmonton skaters in the shootout.

Brent Seabrook helped the Blackhawks pick up the important two points by recording the game-tying goal with 6:02 remaining in regulation.

Scrivens was outstanding as well, stopping 38 shots through regulation and overtime. Derek Roy accounted for the lone goal for Edmonton, which has now dropped three straight and five of six.

"I thought we battled all game long," Roy said.

The Oilers were in a position to win thanks to Scrivens' sharp effort until Seabrook wound up and launched a drive from near the blue line that made its way past the goaltender, screened by his own defenseman, in the game's 54th minute.

Crawford was able to keep it a 1-1 game by coming through with five saves in overtime, then stoned Roy, Jordan Eberle and Teddy Purcell -- all on attempts to his stick side -- in succession during the shootout.

Scrivens turned back Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp prior to Vermette's heroics.

The Oilers forged ahead during a strong opening period in which they ripped off 18 shots towards Crawford, who was fooled by a tricky turnaround shot from Roy just over 15 minutes in after Nail Yakupov set up the veteran forward in the slot.

Edmonton stayed in front by killing off an early penalty in the second and receiving 12 saves from Scrivens in the period. Crawford made 11 during the middle session and stopped 13 more in the third.

Game Notes

The Oilers have mustered just seven goals during their 1-4-1 stretch ... Center Andrew Desjardins, acquired by the Blackhawks from San Jose at Monday's deadline, made his Chicago debut ... The Blackhawks have now won six of the last seven meetings between the clubs, though the Oilers posted a 5-2 victory in Edmonton in the most recent matchup on Jan. 9 ... Toews assisted on Seabrook's goal and has seven points (4 goals, 3 assists) during a five-game point streak against Edmonton.