The Oilers had a massive 5-3 win over the Caps Wednesday night, and there was no shortage of stuff to clip and quote. Alas…

On the game: “It wasn’t the prettiest win, that’s for sure, but a win’s a win and it’s against a really good Washington team. We’re happy with the result, we’re happy with the start. Finally getting the first goal again. We didn’t want them to come back in the game but we pulled through.”

On this game maybe being a defining moment in taking the next step: “Yeah, I think so. It’s a long season, an 82-game season. You have moments in your season I guess that define your team. You don’t know until further on. It was a big, important win for us to get going into the all-star break feeling good about our game. Then, when we get back, it’s a jam-packed schedule.”

Hyman on shooting: “I think as a team we want to shoot more, get more pucks to the net especially with a guy coming on a back-to-back. I think that it was important to get pucks on him. Luckily a couple went in there.”

On Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and his penalty kill goal: “Yeah, he’s awesome. Great player, great guy. I think we have some good chemistry together. we’re on the ice together a lot, and it’s really fun playing with him. He’s just so solid in all aspects of the game. Obviously a big night for him on the scoreboard, but even when he’s not on the score board he’s doing all the right things. It’s great to see him get rewarded.”

More on Nugent-Hopkins: “I think Nuggy and I just read off each other really well. If there’s an opportunity to go, we go, but it’s defence first obviously. With four minutes left in the game you’re not trying to score a shorthanded goal, but I think we read off each other really well and when the opportunity is there we go.”

On the game: “Great start putting lots on net and bearing down around there, but they slowly built their way back into the game there. Mikko held strong for us and we found a way to win. We have to get comfortable in those situations and close teams out.”

On his PK goal: “Obviously you defend first and don’t give up anything easy. If you get a chance to go, you got to try to take advantage. Usually, it’s just one guy up top, so you can take advantage and get some 2-on-1’s and at least control the puck. It’s good even if nothing comes out of it. You kill some time. We kind of have that mentality of if we see some daylight we’ll try to take it. (Hyman) made a great play, super strong on the puck every night, and made a great play to give me the tap in.”

On finding ways to win: “You got to find a way to win games. we found ways early in the season to win, then we found ways in that tough stretch to lose. You got to find ways to win in this league, it’s never an easy night. We put ourselves in a good position early in the game and it’s not like we just stopped playing. They just had a push and they fought their way back in the game. We stuck with it as much as we could and found a way to get it done.”

On the game: “We got off to a great start, they battled back and we got a huge penalty kill at the end. Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman found a goal for us. We hung on to win.”

On the PK: “Our pk has struggled a little bit and it’s by no coincidence those two guys were out for a while. They’ve come back and really settled things down for us. They got a huge goal for us as long with the goals.”

On Nugent-Hopkins and the respect he has in the room: “He’s a quiet guy, but he speaks volumes with his play. I’ll say from a coaching perspective, you look down the bench and you’re looking for a certain job done and he usually fits the criteria no matter what you’re looking for. Him and Hyman have been real good together. You look at the trip we had, five out of six points, Nuge had three goals on the trip. he’s back, he’s come around and he’s playing well.”

On heading into the all-star break: “We struggled for a while and now we feel like have all our players back. Schmiddy will be back after (the break) here. We’ve got things turned around, and we’re finding enough goals to win and Koskinen has played real solid for us. We feel like we’re heading in the right direction. Take a little rest now, and our schedule gets real hectic in February here. We’ll need everybody to make sure we’re ready. It’s only half the season, but it feels like the stretch run already. That’s what we’re going to gear up for.”

On Evander Kane: “He’s gotten better each game. He hasn’t played much this year. First game, it’s hard that first game coming in. Last game, he was a little better and tonight better again. He’s a solid player, does a lot of things well. He finds ways to capitalize on some chances around the net. Both his goals have been on deflections but he’s a big guy in front of the net. He gets rewarded to go there. So far, really pleased with what we’re seeing.”