In Washington DC Sunday, the Capitals’ Braden Holtby made 29 saves to help the Caps defeat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1, in the skills competition.
The Caps improved to 10-7-1 on the season.
T.J. Oshie had the only strike in the shootout to get the win for Washington.
“We’re getting on the same page,” Holtby said. “Obviously, every game is getting stronger. The biggest thing is we keep on it, keep growing, keep working on the small things. Those are the little things that win you games.”
After Edmonton took a 1-0 lead early in the third period, Washington’s Dmitry Orlov tied the game with a goal.
Jujhar Khaira had given the Oilers a 1-0 lead with less than two minutes gone in the third.
“That was a great goal for our line and for our team,” Khaira said. “Those are the goals we’re going to need from the third, fourth line. [Ryan Strome] and Pakarinen made a great play, and we were just whacking away and it went in.”
The Oilers hope they can build off the successful road trip.
“If you take away the empty-net goal [in a 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday], they’re all one-goal games that we played here,” the Oilers’ Darnell Nurse said . “You’ve got to take that as a positive. We showed that we can defend against some really good offensive teams, and it needs to continue.”
There is still some concern for Edmonton as thei8r head coach iwas not pleased with the entire bench’s effort in the loss.
“Some of them showed up with some urgency, and it paid off. We were able to get something out of those bottom-six players, and that’s nice to see. Now carry it forward. You’ve got a little momentum going. Put it on the ice again Tuesday [against the Vegas Golden Knights] and repeat it,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said of his team’s efforts.
[WATCH: All Oilers vs. Capitals highlights]
Laurent Brossoit made 18 saves for the Oilers who dropped to 6-9-2 on the season but were 2-1-1 on the road trip.
“It’s funny. I was told that Oshie likes to go five-hole in a shootout, so I was prepared for it,” Brossoit said. “And he still snuck it through.”
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