Top 3 winners against the Oilers
The Washington Capitals earned a gutsy 3-2 win on Monday night over the Edmonton Oilers. They kept that high flying offense in check and the offense was there when it needed to be and generated chances throughout the night.
The Caps tied a season high for shots in a period with 22 in the opening 20 minutes. They didn’t score but had two in the second period, each one to tie the game.
The game winner came in the third period with a goal by Nic Dowd off a sweet pass from Aliaksei Protas on the breakaway.
Here were the top 3 heroes and winners from the game.
#3 Aliaksei Protas
Aliaksei Protas provided the game winning assist. He stared down Oilers net minder Stuart Skinner and could’ve shot the puck. But he very well could’ve been stopped as Skinner made 47 saves on the night.
Instead he found Nic Dowd for the game winner. He was wide open and charged toward the net and it totally faked out Skinner.
Capitals bench boss Peter Laviolette said, “It might have been Pro’s best game as a Washington Capital.”
"Yes, for sure we needed that win. Now it's time to find the consistency to win games and keep it rolling."
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 6, 2022
Aliaksei Protas postgame.#CapsOilers pic.twitter.com/DolDmaeQWE
Other than that Protas was good on defense as he shut down the Oilers top line. He’s only 21 but he used his towering presence throughout the game.
#2 T.J. Oshie
T.J. Oshie had a goal in the second period to tie the game at two apiece. It came on a tic tac toe type of play. Oshie positioned himself in front of the net. Evgeny Kuznetsov worked the puck to Dylan Strome behind the net. Strome found a wide open Oshie for the bang bang play.
The goal came on the power play at 16:55 in the second period. It was a one timer from the slot.
For Oshie it was his third power play goal of the season. His three power play goals rank second on the Capitals behind only Alex Ovechkin, who has six.
The set up by Strome marked his 10th power play point which ranks second on the Capitals. Strome has two goals and eight assists on the man advantage while Ovechkin has 12 power play points.
Timothy Jimothy 😍 pic.twitter.com/8LSfKs5gYJ
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 6, 2022
Strome and Kuznetsov are tied for the team lead in assists with 15 each. The Caps had four power play goals in their previous win against the Oilers on Nov. 7. The Caps have scored a power play goal in six of their last seven games dating back to Nov. 23 which is six goals on 21 opportunities, equaling out to a success rate of 28.6 percent.
#1 Nic Dowd
Nic Dowd provided the game winning goal in last night’s game. He was fed the puck as he was charging down the ice toward the net by none other than Aliaksei Protas. The game winning tally came at 7:13 of the third period. Nick Jensen had the secondary assist.
B-e-a-u-tiful pic.twitter.com/x9EEnU7VMj
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 6, 2022
Protas said after the game, “I knew he was gonna be coming, he’s going to help me out there. I knew one game was on (Garnet Hathaway) and one guy was on me. So I knew he (Dowd) was going to be wide open.”
For Dowd, it was his fourth goal of the season. Two of Dowd’s four goals this season have come in the third period. The Caps are now 11-1-1 when scoring three or more goals this season.
Dowd was also effective on the penalty kill which has improved tremendously. The Caps have killed off 54 of 64 power plays which is a shutdown rate of 84.4 percent over their last 22 games dating back to Oct. 22nd.
During that span, Washington’s penalty kill percentage ranks second in the NHL.
Hot. Aliaksei Protas easily earns MVP against Oilers. light
Next up for the Capitals is their sixth and final game of the long road trip. They’ll finally be back on the east coast to take on the Philadelphia Flyers.