In Edmonton, the visiting Washington Capitals stayed with the Oilers for 20 minutes on Wednesday night, trailing 3-2, after the first.
From there on out the Oilers took control and scored four goals over the final two periods for a 7-2 thrashing of the Caps.
Zach Hyman hit for a natural hat trick in the win.
“I think a lot of people thought he was a complimentary player, but he’s contributed so much to our team,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “He goes to the net, he gets his stick available. He doesn’t get tied up. He works hard but also pretty skilled and very smart.
“For a guy who’s going to get 50, I assume, you’re doing a lot of good things that other guys don’t have the skill to do.”
Stuart Skinner made 23 saves in the win.
The Oilers improved to 40-21-3.
Edmonton jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period.
Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring at 4:36 of the first period, scoring from the right side.
Connor McDavid extended the advantage to 2-0, scoring off a power play at 6:58, scoring off a shot from the elft side after the Caps defense sheltered in place and left him alone.
Ivan Miroshnichenko trimmed the deficit to 2-1 at 8:30 of the first, with the Caps first shot on goal of the game.
Connor McMichael tied the game midway through the opening stanza, scoring off a power play for a 2-2 score.
Hyman replied for Edmonton 29 seconds later for the first of his hat ahead, giving the Oilers a 3-2 lead after one period.
The Capitals dropped to 30-25-9.
“I actually thought we did some pretty good things 5-on-5,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “Penalty kill obviously is an issue for us. You’ve got to look at the opposition in that department, but I thought we were right there for a bit and there were just a couple of mistakes.
“[Martin Fehervary’s] turnover in the neutral zone, those little things against a team like this, then you get behind the eight ball. When you get down a couple, that becomes really, really challenging.
“It was a tough night, it’s not a great matchup for our team in general with their speed and skill.”
Hyman then opened the middle frame with a pair of goals.
He potted his double at 14:13 of the second for a 4-2 lead to the Oilers.
Hyman collected his hats with 52 seconds left in the second period for a 5-2 lead to Edmonton headed to the third period.
Hyman has scored 29 goals for the Oilers in 24 home games.
“I didn’t know that,” Hyman said. “I like playing here. I love playing in front of these fans. I love playing at home, I think our team loves playing here. You want to have success in your building.
“We were game. I thought special teams were good. They got a lucky, off the shin pad, great block by [Desharnais] that just landed on a guy’s stick. I thought ‘Stu’ responded and was great and we got three power play goals. The power play was working, obviously. It was great to be on the right side of it.”
In the third period, Warren Foegele struck midway through the period for a 6-2 lead for the Oilers.
Seventeen seconds later, Connor Brown hit for his first goal of the campaign and first since 2022, to make it 7-2
“It’s nice to have it in the past. It’s nice to get on the board and just go out and play,” Brown said. “I believed in myself. I know that I was just focused on feeling better, getting faster, stronger, playing better. I know that I’m around the net enough that one is going to pop in.”
Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves in the loss.
You must be logged in to post a comment.