An absolute showcase of superstar talent: Capitals beat Oilers 5-4

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The Edmonton Oilers were in town and that’s always special because it means Connor McDavid and Alex Ovechkin share the same ice. The two generational talents doing battle won’t be something we get to see much more of, so enjoy it.

It wasn’t either superstar that started the scoring Monday night as Dylan Strome ripped off Warren Foegele and sniped home the opening marker late in the first. The second featured five total goals from both teams and they came from Strome, McDavid, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Ovechkin.

Leon Draisaitl cut the Caps’ lead to one again early in the third. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nugent-Hopkins struck in quick succession very late.

Capitals beat Oilers 5-4!

  • The first period went a ton better than I thought it would with the incredibly injured Caps taking on Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and co. The defensive effort was unified and Charlie Lindgren was very solid. They even create more high-danger chances at five-on-five than Edmonton. Great start.
  • Guess who got to wear a letter on their jersey with Dmitry Orlov out of the lineup? Trevor van Riemsdyk! My boy TVR has been really good in the increased role he has been forced into with all of the injuries. I hope this stretch of play lets the coaching staff know they can lean on him more than just third-pairing minutes and penalty-killing responsibility.
  • The crossbar has been very unkind to the Caps in the past two games. First Nick Ritchie got a great bounce off of it to help the Coyotes down the Caps on Saturday and in the first period it denied Sonny Milano his first goal in DC. lucky, Dylan Strome Was able to avoid the cursed metal and put the puck onto the back bar instead for the opening goal.
  • The second period was even better than the first for the Caps. They pressed hard and played a ton of time in the offensive zone which led to the Oilers taking a whole bunch of penalties. The power play scored four times in the game and now has seven goals in their last five games.
  • Alex Ovechkin got on the board with his 788th career goal and his sixth in his last games this season. Oilers rookie netminder Stuart Skinner Ovi showed some love pregame and talked about being excited to face his legendary shot. Well, he did and became the 163rd different goaltender Ovi has scored on in his career.
  • Connor McDavid is a literal hockey-playing alien. The second he got to the top of the circle with that puck four-on-four I knew it was labeled for the back of the net. Congrats to him on his 500th career game.
  • I think I’ve already said this four or five times this season but a big thanks to the Chicago Blackhawks for letting the Caps have both Dylan Strome and Erik Gustafsson for free. Three-point night for both guys who the Caps probably should be in extension talks with yesterday. I never thought I’d be this impressed by Gustafsson but here we are. He needs to never leave the first unit of the power play ever again. Sorry, John.
  • Less good in the third but I had a feeling that was coming as the Oilers were going to get McDavid and Draisaitl on the ice basically every other shift.
  • Alex Ovechkin. That’s it. That’s the bullet. Also, Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his first two goals of the season. But, also, Alex Ovechkin though.
  • They scored a handful but they do that against everybody and Charlie Lindgren came up huge multiple times in the third period to keep his team in the game. What a breath of fresh air the goaltending has been overall this season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will come to town on Wednesday as the Caps get back into some Metropolitan Division action. The Pens have lost seven games in a row so they’ll be desperate for a win against their rivals.

Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB

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