Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a short-handed goal at 15:57 of the third period to break a tie and lead the visiting Edmonton Oilers to a 5-3 victory against the Alex Ovechkin-less Washington Capitals on Wednesday.
Nugent-Hopkins’ winning goal came on a two-on-one break with Zach Hyman. After the original shot was stopped, Hyman sent the rebound across the goalmouth to Nugent-Hopkins, who tapped the puck in.
Nugent-Hopkins added an empty-netter at 18:55 to clinch the victory.
Leon Draisaitl, Evander Kane and Connor McDavid also scored for the Oilers, who extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1). Cody Ceci and Duncan Keith each had two assists, and Nugent-Hopkins, Kane and Draisaitl added one assist apiece. Edmonton’s Mikko Koskinen made 24 saves.
Lars Eller, Conor Sheary and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for Washington, which had a two-game winning streak snapped.
The Oilers took a 3-0 lead in the opening 5:07, beating Washington goalie Ilya Samsonov three times on four shots. Pheonix Copley, making his first NHL appearance since April 6, 2019, came off the bench and stopped 21 of 22 shots to give the Capitals a chance.
The Capitals were without leading scorer Ovechkin, who was placed in the COVID-19 protocol earlier in the day and will miss this weekend’s All-Star Game festivities in Las Vegas.
Draisaitl opened the scoring just 1:30 into the first period, converting on a three-on-two break.
Kane made it 2-0 at 3:01 with his second goal in three games since signing with the Oilers as a free agent. He tipped Keith’s shot from the left point into the net.
McDavid scored a power-play goal to make it 3-0, banking the puck from a narrow angle off Samsonov’s back and into the net.
The Capitals got a goal back at 7:36 of the first as Eller juked Koskinen before sliding a backhander into an open net.
Sheary made it 3-2 at 9:16 of the second period on a rebound.
Kuznetsov tied the score at 2:48 of the third after Tom Wilson forced a turnover in the right wing corner. Kuznetsov wheeled and fired the puck toward the net, with it going off a defenseman and under Koskinen.
–Field Level Media
