Skinner, Oilers shut out Caps, 5-0 Draisaitl scores twice off power play

In Washington, DC, Leon Draisaitl scored a double in the third period to help the Edmonton Oilers to a 5-0 shellacking of the Capitals on Friday.

His two goals came after the Oilers had built a 3-0 lead into the second period.

Connor McDavid had four assists in the win.

“You need your top players performing if you’re going to win on a regular basis,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Obviously, you want your third and fourth lines chipping in, helping with the offense. They can do it periodically and help you win games, but in the long run, you need your top guys going, and they certainly played really well.”

Stuart Skinner made 25 saves in the shutout win.

“For this one, it was just being able to rest, kind of throw that one away and just knowing who I am, knowing my game and just sticking to it,” Skinner said. “I think that was big for me. It’s nice after getting pulled in the first few minutes to get a shutout. It really feels good.”

Edmonton improved to 6-10-1.

The Oilers grabbed a 1-0 lead at 14:10 of the first on a strike by Evander Kane.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins extended the advantage to 2-0 at 15:24.

The Caps dropped to 10-5-2.

“Wasn’t good at all,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “Right from the drop of the puck, not good.”

Evan Bouchard pushed the lead to 3-0 off a power play strike at 3:44 of the middle frame.

It was the first of three straight power play markers form the Oilers.

Draisaitl scored at 4:48, and again at 18:37 of the second, each off the power play, for the 5-0 final.

“Previously I think that you could see a lot of frustration on the power play,” Knoblauch said. “Getting three power-play goals and the passes and the plays that they were making, it looks like they’re kind of out of that funk.”

Charlie Lindgren made 30 saves in the loss.

“I think we didn’t play at all,” the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin said. “We give them lots of space. When they control the puck, it’s dangerous. In the first period especially, we make lots of turnovers, make mistakes and they get the lead, 2-0.”