THE BRIGHT SIDE

• After what seemed like an eternity without scoring a goal (165:58 to be exact), @Darnell Nurse ended the drought late in the first period after he went to centre the puck and it deflected in past Holtby off of a Capitals’ defender. It wasn’t the prettiest goal by any means, but Gord knows we’ll take it.
• @Leon Draisaitl pulled the Oilers to within a single goal (3-2) after being the business end of a perfectly executed 2-on-1 with Connor McDavid. The duo hadn’t had much luck on their 2-on-1s in the past couple of games, but they absolutely nailed it with this one. Since scoring on a perfectly executed 2-on-1 was so fun in the third period, the dynamic duo decided to do it again in overtime with Leon being the recipient of another perfect pass from the captain that he was able to smash past Holtby.
• @Connor McDavid had been quiet for the past couple of games which was concerned to some but he was much better tonight, culminating with the game-tying goal he scored in the final moments of the third period. The Captain looked more like himself as he was flying around the ice, making plays, and causing havoc for Washington’s defenceman basically every time he was on the ice, especially in the third period. How about another three-point night for the captain?
• Mikko Koskinen was back between the pipes for the Oilers tonight, and he had a big job ahead of him considering the calibre of shooters the Capitals have in their lineup. After being perfect in the first period, Koskinen faced some adversity in the second as he was tagged for three straight markers, with the first goal being one that he’d definitely want back. However, Mikko shut the door in the third period and it gave the Oilers the backdrop they needed to complete an incredible comeback victory, something that wouldn’t have happened without the big Finn shutting the door. Was it a perfect win? No, not at all, but Mikko Koskinen finds himself on a five-game winning streak and a big reason the Oilers came away with two points. He finished the night with 25 saves and a .893 save%.
• @Ethan Bear played a monster 26:48 tonight which led all Oilers defenders in ice time. I know I say this every night, but Bear continues to impress and he seems to get better and better as Tippett keeps giving him more minutes. The kid is hands down one of the best stories of this season so far.
• @Sam Gagner made his season debut with the Oilers tonight and I thought he did a nice job of doing what was expected of him, meaning that he helped contribute a few offensive chances to a lineup that desperately needed them.
• For a team that ranks dead last in the NHL in shots on goal, the Oilers were able to throw 40 at Holtby and it’s hard to argue that this wasn’t a major reason they were able to come back.

THE FACE PALMERS

• @Jakub Vrana tied the game (1-1) with a spin-o-rama shot from the boards that snuck through Koskinen near the body and it was a goal that the goalie would definitely love to have back.
• Moments after Vrana’s goal. @Alex Ovechkin gave the Capitals the lead (2-1) after he parked himself in the high slot and deflected a high point shot in past Koskinen. In less than a minute, the Oilers went from leading the game to trailing by one. Midway through the second period, Ovechkin added a second goal on the power play after he found himself with all kinds of time that allowed him to pick the top corner with a perfect snipe.
• The bottom six needs to get something going offensively because they’re not doing much more than killing minutes right now and that’s a tough spot to put this team in once again. I mean, we saw this movie last year and it doesn’t end up so well so I’d really like to see someone (ANYONE) on those bottom two lines chip in with a point or two. Lawd.
• I don’t know what happened to the Oilers’ power play in the last week but it seems to have been haunted by some kind of demon. Does anyone know how much an exorcism costs?
• Speaking of special teams, the PK didn’t fare much better. On two kills, the Capitals were able to score once and those kinds of percentages that make it more difficult to win hockey games.
• @Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has had so many great scoring chances this year without being able to finish that it’s starting to drive me nuts. By my count, he’s at about seven or eight posts already and tonight he got robbed by Holtby with after pulling off a nice little move to his backhand on a second period powerplay. The guy is getting his share of chances but he’s not getting any puck luck to go along with them.
• NHL site had the giveaways as 19-11 for the Oilers and I’d have to agree that they were coughing up the puck too much. Get rid of a few of those needless passes and I think we can bring this number down.
• Do we care about 49% in the faceoff circle? We don’t, do we? Not tonight.

SCORING SUMMARY

#GOODCONTENT

HOPE WILL NEVER DIE