The Washington Capitals open a five-game road trip when they visit the Connor McDavid-less Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.
The Capitals have won four games in a row and earned points in 10 straight (7-0-3), while the Oilers had a four-game winning streak snapped in a 3-2 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
Edmonton will be without McDavid, its captain and seven-time All-Star, who was suspended for three games for crosschecking Canucks forward Conor Garland late in the game Saturday.
The Oilers fell behind 3-0 against the Canucks and their rally came up short. It was the third straight game Edmonton fell behind by two or more goals.
“Third game in a row we chased from behind, and that makes it a little more difficult,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “I thought we had a pretty good push down three to make it 3-2 after the second period and we just couldn’t generate enough to get that third one.”
Leon Draisaitl scored twice and Stuart Skinner made 24 saves for the Oilers, who are 8-2-0 in their past 10 games.
Draisaitl extended his point streak to six games (four goals, six assists) — his third point streak of six games or more this season. He has 33 goals this season.
“Leon’s exceptional and he’s having an incredible season,” Knoblauch said. “Incredible career, but this year, especially, not only playing good 200-foot game but being able to score the goals that he has been able to do on the power play and even strength. He’s a big part of our success that we’ve had these last two or three months.”
McDavid had one assist to extend his point streak to four games (four goals, three assists). The Oilers will miss their No. 2 scorer (20 goals, 45 assists this season).
The Capitals pulled away late for a 4-1 win against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, extending their home point streak to 12 games (9-0-3). The Penguins had cut a 2-0 deficit in half before the Capitals scored twice late.
“The whole year kind of no matter what type of game it is, we’ve found a way to win,” forward Tom Wilson said. “There’s games where we have a lot of goals and we have some cushion. Then, there’s games where it’s tight. We gave them a little bit of life there, but then kind of squashed it and had a good answer. So, good win.”
Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois each had a goal and an assist, and Connor McMichael and Nic Dowd each had two assists for the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals.
Logan Thompson made 18 saves for the Capitals and took his bid for a third consecutive shutout into the third period before Bryan Rust scored.
“Yeah, it was fun. I don’t play for that,” Thompson said of the shutout streak. “My goal at the end of the day is to help this team get two points and I thought I did my job (Saturday). The guys were excellent all day. This was probably one of our best games in a couple of months now, so credit to them.”
Thompson was the NHL’s First Star of the Week after going 3-0-0 with a 0.33 goals-against average and a .984 save percentage.
With Charlie Lindgren back from an upper-body injury, the question is whether coach Spencer Carbery returns to alternating his goalies or rides Thompson’s hot hand.
Alex Ovechkin enters Tuesday with 874 goals, 21 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record (894).
–Field Level Media
