GAME RECAP: Oilers 5, Capitals 3

WASHINGTON, DC - Win with a capital 'W' to end off this road trip.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the game-winner shorthanded with 4:03 remaining in the third period before adding an empty-netter as part of a three-point night on Wednesday to help lift the Oilers to a thrilling 5-3 victory over the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.
The Oilers jumped out to an early three-goal lead in the opening five minutes before the Capitals slowly chipped away to tie the game, but Nugent-Hopkins' shorthanded marker became the difference as the Oilers improved to 23-16-3 heading into the NHL All-Star break.
Mikko Koskinen made big save after big save, being victimized by two unlucky bounces but making 24 saves on 27 shots to improve to 16-8-2 on the season. Leon Draisaitl and Evander Kane each had a goal and assist, while defencemen Duncan Keith and Cody Ceci both contributed with two helpers.

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FIRST BLOOD

With only one-half of the Ovechkin-Draisaitl matchup making the lineup because of the Russian's late omittance after entering COVID-19 Protocol late in the afternoon, the German took the spotlight.
Draisaitl worked a give-and-go with Cody Ceci at the blueline and put a quick touch on the defender's return saucer pass just 1:30 into the contest, fooling Samsonov by putting it over the Caps netminder and into the top corner to bury his 32nd goal of the season and the first of three goals for the Oilers in the opening 5:07 of play.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Off the back (literally) of a great piece of vision by McDavid, the Captain converted the Oilers first powerplay of the night from below the goal line by putting his effort off the right shoulder of Samsonov and into the net to mark his 23rd goal of the season for his fourth goal in five games.

SAVE OF THE GAME

When it no longer looked possible, Mikko made it happen.
The puck careened off the backboards and through the legs of the Finnish netminder and onto the tape of Dmitry Orlov, who only had to place it into the empty net. But Koskinen laid out and put the left pad onto Orlov's effort to make a miraculous save and keep the Oilers ahead 3-2 late in the middle frame.

TURNING POINT

Tyson Barrie was forced into taking a professional penalty to prevent Garnet Hathaway from breaking in alone in the final five minutes. But while the defender was in the box, the shorthanded unit went to work. Hyman picked up a loose puck in the Oilers zone and went in on a partial 2-on-1 with Nuge, who was perfectly positioned after the initial shot to accept Hyman's cross-crease feed and put it into the empty cage for the all-important game-winning goal.

TOP PERFORMER

Nugent-Hopkins made all the difference with a three-point night, including the game-winner and insurance empty-net marker. Special shoutout to Mikko Koskinen, who came up big on multiple occasions with huge saves despite the Caps comeback.

PARTING WORDS

Hyman on the Capitals comeback but the Oilers getting the goal needed to earn the win:
"It wasn't the prettiest win, that's for sure, but a win's a win and it's against a really good Washington team. From the start we finally got the first goal again, and obviously we didn't want them to come back in the game, but we were able to pull through."
"It's a long season. Over an 82-game season you have different moments that define your team. You don't really know until later on, so it definitely could be [a defining moment]. It was a big and important win for us to get going into the All-Star break feeling good about our game. When we come back, it's going to be a jam-packed schedule."

Hyman on combining with Nugent-Hopkins on the game-winner:
"I think Nuggy and I just read off each other well. If there's an opportunity to go, we go, but it's defence first. With four minutes left in the game, you're not going out and trying to score a goal, but I think we read off each other really well. We were able to get one there."
Nugent-Hopkins on the mentality killing penalties leading to the game-winning goal:
"It's kind of been like that all year. Obviously you defend first and don't give anything up easily, but at the same time, if you get a chance to go, you've got to try to take advantage. Usually, it's just one guy up top so you can get some 2-on-1's or at least control the puck. It's good even if nothing comes out of it. You can kill some time and maybe get the puck back and kill a bit more time, so we kind of have that mentality where if we see some daylight, we'll take it.
"He just made a great play. Super strong on the puck every night and made a great play to give me that tap-in there."

Nugent-Hopkins on the Capitals eating away at the three-goal lead:
"Great start putting lots on net bearing down around there, but they just slowly kind of built their way back into the game. Mikko held strong for us and we found a way to win, and obviously that's the important thing, but we've got to get comfortable in those situations and be able to close things out."
Head Coach Dave Tippett on the victory:
"We got off to a great start and they battled back. We got a huge penalty kill at the end, and Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman found a goal for us. Nuge found a couple with the empty-netter, so we hung on to win."
"You look at the trip we had and it's five-out-of-six points. Nuge had three goals on the trip. He's back, he's coming around, and he's playing really well... We feel like we finally have all our players back, and Smitty will be back right after the trip here. We've got things turned around and we're finding enough goals to win. Koskinen's played real solid for us in these five games, so we feel like we're back going in the right direction. We'll take a little rest now, come back, and our schedule gets real hectic in February here. We'll need everybody to make sure we're ready."