PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers at Capitals

WASHINGTON, DC – Luckily for the Oilers, the opportunity to respond to Saturday's defeat in Philadelphia will arrive quickly.

After not having their best collectively coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break yesterday afternoon in a 6-3 loss to the Flyers, the Oilers will look to get their game on track against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals on Sunday in the second of back-to-back matinées.

The Oilers conceded four even-strength goals to the Flyers in the first two periods by way of their own mistakes at Wells Fargo Center, committing turnovers that wound up in the back of their own net before Andrei Kuzmenko's power-play goal late in the second period and an empty-netter from Rasmus Ristolainen in the final frame dampened any hopes of a late comeback from the Blue & Orange.

"I think what really cost us was the turnovers and trying to make plays when there's not a play to be made, or not being able to get the puck in deep," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said post-game. "Four even-strength goals, and all of them were just direct result of turnover. We're not in a good position to defend because usually on turnovers, everyone's thinking something else and they capitalized."

Stuart Skinner was tagged for five goals on 31 shots, but the bench boss said his teammates in front of him didn't provide a lot of help, as every mistake they made with the puck seemingly sent the Flyers back up ice with numbers on the rush to score off a fast break or take advantage of a gap in their defence.

"We left Skins out there to dry way too many times giving up breakaways," Knoblauch said. "Two-on-nones and it wasn't a very good or sound effort by us defensively whatsoever."

Defenceman Darnell Nurse picked out Edmonton's execution as the main culprit of their performance and added that they didn't play a simple game that could've helped them coming off a lengthy two-week break without action.

"Execution," Nurse said. "Then as D-men, we didn't deny the line enough and we also didn't get back fast enough, so you have that combination against a team with skill, it's gonna sting you."

"I think when we're playing our best, there's a level of simplicity to our game as well, and I think we have to bring more of an element of simplicity and especially going to the next game."

The Oilers will have to turn things around quickly, as their road trip doesn't get any easier with the League-leading Capitals on tap before they continue their road trip down the East Coast for games against Tampa Bay, Florida and Carolina.

"To a man, I think a lot of those plays and the execution, we can have a higher level," defenceman Darnell Nurse said. "This is a big trip coming up, and competition only gets higher from here. So for us, we gotta shake it off and tomorrow's another big test for us."

Among the few brights spots for the Oilers on Saturday was forward Matt Savoie, who had an impressive Oilers debut in only his second-career NHL game by recording his first-career point with an assist on Leon Draisaitl's 41st goal of the campaign during the first period. The St. Albert product showed his speed on the forecheck to win the puck before throwing it in front to the German to bury the tying goal at the time, giving a good glimpse toward his skillset.

Coach Knoblauch said he liked his defensive game as well, which is a good barometer for NHL readiness from a player who was second in team scoring for the Bakersfield Condors with 37 points in 45 AHL games prior to his call-up to the Oilers for this road trip.

"I thought Matt was one of the bright spots of our team. I thought he played really well," Knoblauch said. "Obviously he gets on the forecheck, sets up the first goal, and the next shift after that he made an unbelievable play on the breakout that led to a partial two-on-one. He made some defensive plays on the back check. I was very happy with this game."

The Oilers will now look to respond against a Capitals team that's coming off an eight-goal explosion in a 8-3 win over the Penguins in the first of their own back-to-back on Saturday night at Capital One Arena. Alex Ovechkin, who's 16 goals away from matching Wayne Gretzky's NHL goal record of 894, had a five-game point streak snapped with no points on Saturday after recording four goals and three assists in his previous five matches before the break.

The Capitals have earned a point in 19 of their last 20 games with only one regulation defeat (13-1-6), with goaltender Logan Thompson having yet to tast regulation defeat since Dec. 17, going 12-0-3 with a 1.95 GAA and .931 SV% in those games.

Oilers captain Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet in Philadelphia coming off the experience of winning gold for Canada in overtime at the 4 Nations Face-Off and needs four assists to reach 700 for his career and become the third player in NHL history to record 700 assists in 700 or fewer games.

McDavid needs 29 points over Edmonton's remaining 26 games to make himself the 13th player to record at least five consecutive 100-point seasons. Forward Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist against the Flyers and now has 41 goals and 85 points on the season as he tracks down a potential Rocket Richard, Art Ross and Hart Memorial Trophy with another 100-point campaign that would be his fourth straight and the fifth of his career.