Connor McDavid scored with 1:33 left in overtime as the Edmonton Oilers earned a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over the Washington Capitals Wednesday night at Rogers Place.
“The effort from the people we dressed tonight was excellent,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said after the game. “Their goaltender played a heck of a game.”
After going 0 for 4 on the power play on Monday in Calgary, the Oilers were buzzing on their two-man advantages in the first period. However, Caps goalie Ilya Samsonov came up with several big saves.
Oilers netminder Mikko Koskinen made his best stop of the period when he snatched a shot from Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin. The Oilers outshot the Capitals 20-9 in the first.
“We talked in between the first and second period about outworking a goaltender and not hanging our head just because he’s making a few saves,” Woodcroft said.
“I thought our group was resilient tonight and found a way to get it done against a very good hockey team.”
Early in the second, Washington forward Nicklas Backstrom found a loose puck in front and tapped a backhand past Koskinen. Shortly after, the Capitals took a too-many-men penalty, the Oilers’ Kailer Yamamoto deflected a goal-mouth feed from McDavid for his 12th goal of the season.
“We had two big kills to keep them at one goal and the power play finds a way to get a goal, which is really important,” McDavid said.
“I thought that special teams really swung the momentum of the game, and we had a lot of guys like (Malone) and (Kassian) step up.”
The Capitals thought they went ahead on a power play later in the second, but John Carlson’s goal was overturned after the Oilers successfully challenged for offside.
Edmonton took the lead late in the second when Cody Ceci poked in his third during a goal-mouth scramble. Oilers forward Brad Malone had an assist on the play for his first NHL point since Feb. 28, 2016.
“I have a comfort level with Brad Malone,” Woodcroft said.
“If I was going to give him any critique tonight, it was his 0 for 3 in the faceoff circle,” the head coach joked after the game.
Oilers forward Evander Kane appeared to have a sure goal on the power play early in the third, but Samsonov camp up with a sprawling pad save. Not long after, Washington’s T.J. Oshie tied it with a shot from the right side on a Capitals power play. Backstrom earned his 1,000th career point with an assist on the goal.
The Oilers regained the lead with 9:29 left. Zack Kassian centred it to Malone, who flicked in his first NHL goal since Dec. 3, 2015.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk it yet. Feels pretty awesome, to be honest,” Malone said after the game. “That’s a great pass by Kass. We talked about it before the game, just to try to talk to each other, so I gave him a little holler and that was right on a tee for me.”
“He’s a guy that you want to cheer for,” McDavid said of Malone. “We really like having him around. His game speaks for itself.
“He works hard, plays physical and does everything right, so it’s great to see him get rewarded.”
Less than two minutes later, Ovechkin had Koskinen out of position but fired it over the net.
With Samsonov on the bench for an extra attacker, Oshie ripped a one-timer past Koskinen with 1.8 seconds left in the third.
“We need to find a way to close that out, but it didn’t hurt us, which was good,” McDavid said of the Oilers squandering the late lead.
In overtime, McDavid carried the puck down the right side on a two-on-one with Leon Draisaitl. McDavid beat Samsonov low for his 30th.
Koskinen finished with 29 saves while Samsonov stopped 36.
The Oilers (31-23-4) will host Tampa Bay Saturday night.
–With files from Brenden Escott, 630 CHED