McDavid gives Oilers OT win against Capitals, spoils Backstrom milestone

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid scored his 30th goal 3:27 into overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 win against the Washington Capitals at Rogers Place on Wednesday.

McDavid kept the puck on a 2-on-1 rush with Leon Draisaitl against center Lars Eller and beat Capitals goalie Ilya Samsonov with a low shot.
"You know me, I'm trying to get him that puck, you always want to get 'Leo' the puck in those types of situations, and I thought Eller actually played it pretty well," McDavid said. "We didn't have a ton of speed, all three of us, so he kind of just stood in the middle and I just tried to take the shot that was there."
Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist to reach 1,000 NHL points, and Samsonov made 36 saves for the Capitals (31-18-10), who had won three straight.
T.J. Oshie tied it 3-3 with 1.8 seconds left in the third period on a one-time shot through traffic for the Capitals with Samsonov on the bench for an extra attacker.
"Just through experience, I have a pretty good feeling of how to hit that top glove side and threw it out there, and fortunately it made it in," Oshie said. "So real happy to get the point here. I'd like to have that play at the end back [overtime winner], but on a tough game last night [5-4 win at the Calgary Flames] and another tough one tonight, you always want to walk away with two [points], but I'm happy to get one."
McDavid and Brad Malone each had a goal and an assist, Evan Bouchard had two assists and Mikko Koskinen made 29 saves for the Oilers (31-23-4), who had lost three straight.

Alex Ovechkin did not score and remains tied with Jaromir Jagr with 766 goals for third place in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (894) and Gordie Howe (801).
"I felt like we were digging, I felt the guys kept competing and competing and didn't stop until the end," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "It's unfortunate and disappointing when it doesn't go your way because you work so hard for it to try and get it done and it doesn't happen. It was a heck of an effort by the guys."
The Oilers outshot the Capitals 20-9 in the first period.
"The effort was just excellent, we came out and tried to assert ourselves in the first period, we did that," Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. "Their goaltender played a heck of a game. We talked between the first and second period about outworking a goaltender and not hanging our heads just because he was making a few saves. I thought our group was resilient tonight and found a way to get it done against a really good hockey team."
Backstrom gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 2:17 of the second period. He swiped the puck past Koskinen after a pass from Anthony Mantha was batted down by Bouchard.
Kailer Yamamoto tied it 1-1 on the power play at 12:01, tapping in a cross-crease pass from McDavid.

John Carlson appeared to give Washington the lead on the power play at 15:56, coming in off the point and shooting from the high slot. The Oilers challenged for offside and it was determined Backstrom had entered the zone before Oshie carried the puck across the blue line, and the goal was waved off.
"All the guys came up and celebrated, and I said right away, 'I think it's offside,'" Backstrom said. "I saw it bounce off Oshie's foot there, but that happens."
Cody Ceci gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead at 18:12, on a rebound off a shot from Malone.
Oshie tied it 2-2 on the power play at 6:13 of the third period. He took a pass from Backstrom on the right wing and scored on a shot from the face-off circle. The assist gave Backstrom 1,000 NHL points.
Malone made it 3-2 at 10:31, converting a centering pass from Zack Kassian. It was Malone's first goal in 67 games, since Dec. 3, 2015 with the Carolina Hurricanes in a 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils.
"I don't think it has really sunk in yet, to be honest," Malone said. "It feels pretty awesome. I was just really happy that we got the two points at the end of the game there. It is tough to have an individual game like that and feel good about yourself when you don't get the two points."
NOTES:Backstrom has scored 263 goals with 737 assists in 1,037 games in 15 seasons with the Capitals. He is second in points in their history behind Ovechkin (1,390). … Ovechkin (four goals, three assists) and Capitals forward Conor Sheary (four goals, two assists) each had their four-game point streak end. … McDavid leads the NHL with 81 points (30 goals, 51 assists). He has scored at least 80 points for the sixth straight season. Only three players in Oilers history have had more 80-point seasons, Gretzky (9); Jari Kurri (9); and Mark Messier (8). … Kassian had an assist and five hits in 8:05 after missing 13 games with a fractured jaw.