Capitals get blanked by Oilers on Black Friday

Charlie Lindgren, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Charlie Lindgren, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

If you decided to do some Black Friday shopping instead of watching the Washington Capitals this afternoon, you made the right choice. The Capitals got blanked 5-0 by the Edmonton Oilers which ended their five game winning streak.

Evander Kane struck first at 14:10. Ryan Nugent Hopkins doubled their lead at 15:24. In the second period Evan Bouchard made it 3-0 at 3:44. Leon Draisaitl made it 4-0 at 4:48. Those goals by Bouchard and Draisaitl came on the power play as did Draisaitl’s second goal of the day at 18:37.

The Caps were outshot 21-6 in the first period. The Caps outshot the Oilers 11-9 in the second period and 8-5 in the third period while the Oilers had the edge in shots overall 35-25. Nobody scored in the final third period.

The Caps lost T.J. Oshie in the second period as Mattias Ekholm cross checked him to the face with his stick. No call from infamous ref Wes McCauley as he stole the show. In the third period the Caps lost Alex Alexeyev as he fell hard on the ice with his left shoulder.

The Caps thought they had finally ended their power play woes with an Alex Ovechkin goal but it got called back by McCauley with a mis draw. It was that type of bad day for the Caps.

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said Oshie will not travel with the team to California. Carbery also added this about the atrocious power play, which went 0 for 5:

“We’re going to have to change a bunch. Tons of different things personnel wise, puck management wise, puck recoveries, decisions, routes. You name it, I saw it tonight from both units. We’ll continue to look to try to find a combination of five guys that are able to execute the power play and be able to do the necessary things required to have an effective power play in this league.”

light. Must Read. Capitals win epic overtime game against Sabres

The Caps hit the road with a five game road trip beginning with three games in California. First up is the San Jose Sharks on Monday night at 10:30 p.m. eastern on Monumental Sports Network 2.