In Edmonton, the Washington Capitals got a goal from Nic Dowd in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and send the Caps to a 3-2 win over the Oilers on Monday night.
The goal came on a breakaway effort.
“He just made a great play. I was following it up and it just came back to me,” Dowd said of Protas passing up the breakaway attempt. “He was on his backhand and he maybe thought he got caught. It was an unbelievable play by him.”
Charlie Lindgren made 28 saves in the Caps win.
Washington improved to 11-12-4.
“I thought every guy in there played really hard,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. “Came out the right way and did the right things in the first period. We had gotten away from that for a couple of games. I thought we did a good job tonight of trying to push it and trying to control the game. Tonight was really complete.”
After a scoreless first period, Brett Kulak put the Oilers ahead 1-0 in the second.
“We’ll go stretches where we barely spend any time in our zone and playing well, and we’ll go stretches where we’re hemmed in and are giving up Grade A’s,” Kulak said.
Washington replied with a goal from Lars Eller for a 1-1 tie.
Edmonton dropped to 14-12-0.
“We weren’t as quick and physical as we wanted to be in the defensive zone,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “Our goalie stood tall. We’re 2-2 going into the third period. We made a critical error, and it ended up in the back of our net.”
The Oilers are consistent at one thing this, being inconsistent. They are having difficulty stringing wins together, or even several decently played games in a row.
Connor McDavid hit for his 22nd of the season to reclaim the lead for Edmonton, 2-1.
T.J. Oshie tied the game, 2-2, at 16:56 of the second.
“When they got that short-handed goal and the coaches kept the same unit out there, we were ready and we were determined and once we got that second one, we were confident in this room that we were going to go out and get the third,” Oshie said. “It’s a big stepping stone for us.”
Stuart Skinner made 47 saves in the Oilers loss, 22 saves came in the first period.
“I think if you get a few [early] chances on you and make all the saves, it’s a little bit of a confidence booster,” Skinner said. “They got on the power play and I got a few shots on the power play, so after that I was ready to go.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.