Capitals power play struggles continue to haunt them in loss to Oilers

The Washington Capitals fell to the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 in a game that they at least tried to fight and by try I mean they did at five on five. But on the man advantage they went 0 for 3 and I don’t think they even got a shot off. The third was the worst because a shorthanded goal was what did them in.

The Caps had to overcome an early 3-0 deficit early thanks to a high octane Oilers offense. Leon Draisaitl 90 seconds in followed by Evander Kane at 3:01 and then Connor McDavid on their lethal power play at 5:07 put the Caps in a hole.

Lars Eller got them on the board at 7:36. From the top of the key Justin Schultz found the tiger crossing in front of the net and he shot it into a wide open one. 3-1 was the score after 20 as the Oilers led in shots 12-6. It was Eller’s eighth goal of the season.

The Caps would pull to within one at 9:16 in the second as Nicklas Backstrom found Martin Fehervary who shot the puck. It went off the goaltenders pads and Conor Sheary was there to rebound it in for his 11th of the season.

The Caps led in shots 11-5 in the second period as the score was 3-2.

The Caps would tie it at 2:48. It at first looked like Herndon, VA native Joe Snively got his first NHL goal. But he didn’t actually touch the puck. Instead it went to Evgeny Kuznetsov who shot the puck from the boards for his 14th goal of the season.

The Caps would get a power play opportunity late in the third for a chance to take the lead. It backfired. Ryan Nugent Hopkins scored short handed at 15:57 and then an empty netter to seal it. Shots were even at 10 in the third.

Ilya Samsonov was pulled from the game after allowing three goals on four shots. Pheonix Copley came in for him and and stopped 21 of 22 the rest of the way.

Tom Wilson and Kuznetsov are now in Vegas for All Star weekend. Should be fun watching them play.