Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images
The Washington Capitals defeated the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 3-2 at Rogers Place on Monday night to improveto 2-2-1 on their season-long six-game road trip. The victory lifted Washington three points behind the Detroit Red Wings, who occupy the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and have three games in hand on Washington. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 28 saves in the win.
Capitals’ Lines at Edmonton
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Conor Sheary
Sonny Milano — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson — Lars Eller — Anthony Mantha
Aliaksei Protas — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson — John Carlson
Matt Irwin — Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev — Trevor van Riemsdyk
Lindgren
Hunter Shepard
Scratched: LW Joe Snively, RW Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Injured: RW Connor Brown (ACL, missed 23rd straight game, out indefinitely); D Dmitry Orlov (lower-body, 14th, day-to-day); LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 27th, indefinite); RW Tom Wilson (ACL, 27th, indefinite); C Nicklas Backstrom (hip, 27th, indefinite); LW Beck Malenstyn (finger, 16th, week-to-week); G Darcy Kuemper (lower-body, first, day-to-day); D Martin Fehervary (lower-body, first, day-to-day)
Irwin replaced Fehervary in the lineup.
Edmonton’s Lines
Leon Draisaitl — Connor McDavid — Zach Hyman
Mattias Janmark — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Jesse Puljujarvi
Klim Kostin — Devin Shore — Derek Ryan
Dylan Holloway — Brad Malone — Kailer Yamamoto
Darnell Nurse — Cody Ceci
Brett Kulak — Tyson Barrie
Philipp Broberg — Evan Bouchard
Stuart Skinner
Jack Campbell
Scratched: LW James Hamblin, LW Tyler Benson, D Ryan Murray
Injured: LW Evander Kane (wrist, 12th, indefinite); LW Warren Foegele (undisclosed, fifth, status TBD); C Ryan McLeod (undisclosed, fifth, status TBD)
First Period
Johansson left the game seven minutes in but returned.
Scoring
None
Shots: 23-12 Washington
Other Notable Stats: Washington posted one giveaway while Edmonton earned seven and led 10-9 in hits. Edmonton won 58% of the faceoffs and both teams failed to score on one power play.
Second Period
Scoring
1:44, 1-0 Edmonton: After Nugent-Hopkins got the puck in the corner, he skated up and passed the puck to Kulak who walked the line, wound up, fired, and scored blocker-side on Lindgren.
Stony’s own 🔥 pic.twitter.com/2YB9i8Oguf
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 6, 2022
7:25, 1-1: Following a turnover from McDavid on the half-wall, Eller caught it in the slot, walked in, deked, outwaited Skinner, and pot the puck in in front.
#ALLCAPS 1-1. ELLER TIES IT UP pic.twitter.com/8TLbyriFSX
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) December 6, 2022
15:25, 2-1 Edmonton (PPG): Carlson fumbled the puck to McDavid at the top and McDavid sped in all alone on a breakaway before putting it through the five-hole of Lindgren.
16:55, 2-2 (PPG): Oshie one-timed a shot down low to finish off a close tic-tac-toe with Strome and Kuznetsov. It marks Strome’s 10th power-play point (two goals), which ranks second on Washington (Ovechkin: 12). Strome and Kuznetsov are tied for the team lead in assists with 15 each. Washington has scored a power-play goal in six of their last seven games, dating back to November 23 (six goals on 21 opportunities = 28.6%).
#ALLCAPS 2-2. OSHIE TIES IT UP. FROM STROME ON THE PP.
stuart skinner playing pretty good today pic.twitter.com/ZRgQg9rIuN— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) December 6, 2022
Shots: 41-19 Washington (19-7 in second)
Other Notable Stats: Washington scored once on three power plays, led 20-14 in hits, and had seven giveaways while Edmonton tallied 14. Edmonton led 10-8 in blocked shots.
Third Period
Scoring
7:13, 3-2 Washington: Dowd pounced and wristed a shot past the glove of Skinner after Protas got the puck, raced up the ice, and threw it behind to Dowd.
#ALLCAPS 3-2. DOWD GETS US THE LEAD. GREAT PLAY. GOOD JOB PROTAS pic.twitter.com/8FB5oIx7VG
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) December 6, 2022
Shots: 50-30 Washington (11-9 Edmonton in third)
Other Notable Stats: Washington led 27-19 in hits, 15-14 in blocked shots, and had 10 giveaways while Edmonton tallied 19. Each team was on the board for seven takeaways.
Next game: Wednesday at Philadelphia Flyers (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market)
By Harrison Brown
That’s more like it!
5 out of 8 points in northwest trip isn’t too shabby.
Bring on the Flyers!
I keep saying it. Carlson is wrong for the pp point. this time a turnover that gives McDavid a goal.
I prefer Gus on the PP, just sayin.
Yawn. He is 3rd on the team in goals and 7th in assist with about 25% less games player.
I’m liking Gustafsson but still no goals….Sheesh, enough of beating up Carlson – go sign a top defensive defenseman to put with the guy. Without Johnny the Caps are f**k*d.
Sign Gus on a 3 yr deal!
I know there’s a lot of Carlson hate, but my whipping boy is Martha. Is there a more useless big man in the league? We gave up way too much for him, and pay him almost $6M/ yr to float around. All for .4 pts/gm. Can’t wait till he’s gone.
Love him but not going to lie, they need more out of him and 92 going forward
Strome has outplayed Kuzy, or at least matched him. Personally, I’d deal Kuzy at the deadline, and sign Strome to an extension, but that’s just me. I’ve been on the Trade Kuzy bandwagon for a few years now.
Kuzy always needs a fire lit under his rear before he gets to scoring goals. Surprised Lavi hasn’t don’t that.
This might be the stage where players are tuning Laviolette out. This is a veteran team, and has heard it all before. When it gets to this stage, heads usually roll.
Kuzy is the most tradeable asset we have. A Top 2 center with a Conn Smythe worthy playoff run under his belt should fetch some quality assets in return.
Good sign at MedStar:
How Swede it is!
That’s a sight for sore eyes.