GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Capitals 3 (OT)

EDMONTON, AB - Connor McDavid buried the overtime winner, while Brad Malone had a goal and assist on Wednesday night for the Oilers in a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals at Rogers Place.
T.J. Oshie had two goals for the Capitals, including a buzzer-beater with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation to force extra time, before McDavid capitalized on a 2-on-1 with Leon Draisaitl by going five-hole under Ilya Samsonov to earn Edmonton a vital extra point in the Pacific Division playoff race.
McDavid became the first player in the NHL this season to eclipse 80 points with the game-winning goal in overtime and an assist on Yamamoto's 12th goal of the season in the second period.
Brad Malone's go-ahead goal midway through the third period was the 32-year-old centre's first NHL goal since Dec. 3, 2015 when he was a member of the Carolina Hurricanes, with the veteran also tallying an assist on Cody Ceci's third goal of the campaign in the final two minutes of the middle frame.
Despite all the eyes being on Alex Ovechkin chasing goal #767 for sole possession of third all-time for goals, Capitals centre Nicklas Backstrom reached 1,000 points for his career with a goal and assist.

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FIRST BLOOD

On what looked like an innocuous play after the puck was sent on goal by Anthony Mantha just inside the Oilers blueline, Evan Bouchard knocked the puck down in front of Koskinen before Capitals centre Nicklas Backstrom spotted the loose puck and put a spin-around backhand through the five-hole of the big Finn for point #999 in his career.

PLAY OF THE GAME

The Oilers put emphasis on improving their power play at Tuesday's practice and cashed in on their third opportunity with the man advantage to tie the game eight minutes into the middle frame.
Bouchard passed off to McDavid, who glided down the left side and sent a pass onto the tape of Yamamoto at the back door to one-touch into the back of the net from one knee for his 12th of the season.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Mikko Koskinen committed highway robbery to steal goal #767 from Alex Ovechkin just over eight minutes into the contest with a monstrous glove save after the Russian found himself with a wide-open look and tried to pick the top-left corner on the Finnish netminder. Ovechkin came into Wednesday's game tied with Jaromir Jagr for third all-time in goals after scoring twice the night prior in Calgary.
Koskinen made 29 saves on 32 shots to improve to 20-9-3 this season.

TURNING POINT

Draisaitl worked the puck loose before it was picked up by McDavid, who waited for the German to catch up on the 2-on-1 before the captain looked off the other half of the Dynamic Duo and fired it five-hole under Samsonov, who did all he could to keep the Capitals in it all night with 36 saves on 40 shots.

PARTING WORDS

Malone on scoring a critical goal tonight and finding the back of the net for his first NHL goal in six years:
"I don't think it's really sunk in yet, to be honest. It feels pretty awesome, but I was just really happy there at the end of the game that we got two points. It's tough to have an individual game like that and feel good about yourself when you don't get the two points, so I know that's the cliché thing, but in all honestly, you don't want to be that teammate in the room. It's awesome we got the two points."
"Probably a lot of outside criticism and doubters in terms of my offensive ability, and I could probably agree with a lot of them on those things, but I think it's been a really good journey. I think I understood who I was as a player and kind of where I fit in things, and I've kind of been repeating in the last couple of weeks; just work ethic, detail, and trying to enjoy myself to be honest in a professional way... You get to work with a lot of great people in Bakersfield and up here, and if you just kind of rub shoulders with them, over a few years you get better. They elevate you as an individual, and that's kind of my experience."

McDavid on Malone's goal, two-point performance and presence in the locker room:
"He's a guy you want to cheer for. We really like having him around. His game speaks for itself: he works hard, plays physical, and does everything right. It's great to see him get rewarded."
McDavid on what he liked about the effort from the Oilers tonight:
"Special teams were good. I thought in the second period there we had two big kills to keep them at one, and the power play finds a way to get a goal which was important. I thought that really swung the momentum in the game, and I thought we had lots of guys step up like Bugsy [Malone] and Kass coming back into the lineup. I thought they were great."
Woodcroft on watching the journey of Malone from the AHL to scoring a big goal tonight:
"I'm happy for hi mand our team. I have a comfort level with Brad Malone, and I think he plays the game hard and navigates around the rink in the right fashion. I think he's got better as a player over the last few years, and I've seen it up close, He's risen to the occasion in numerous big moments, and that's what leads to that comfort level is those shared circumstances that we have."
"If I was going to give him any critique tonight, it was his 0-for-3 in the face-off circle," Woodcroft said with a smile.

Woodcroft on what he saw in the group's performance:
"I thought the effort from the people we had dressed tonight was excellent. I thought we came out and tried to assert ourselves in the first period. We did that. Their goaltender played a heck of a game. We talked in between that first and second period about outworking a goaltender and not hanging our head because he's making a few saves, and I thought our group was resilient tonight and found a way to get it done against a really good hockey team."