GDB 8.0 Wrap Up: Capitals @ Oilers

8 years ago

They just couldn’t get the field goal they needed. Final Score: 7-4 Capitals

It was funny, as I was watching this game, to see how many high draft picks were playing in this game. Obviously, the majority of them seem to be playing for the Oilers but the Capitals are no slouch in that department either. Regardless, there was a lot of talent on the ice on the Oilers were going to have to be sharp if they expected to come out of this one with two points on the board. It didn’t look good early and really didn’t get much better as the game went on.

The Capitals were relentless with their offensive pressure and were also able to capitalize on their chances. The Oilers gave up the puck, and were caught out of position, far too often to be successful. Tonight was arguably the first night that the goaltender was not able to keep the Oilers afloat whenever those mistakes were made. Anders Nilsson looked human, allowing more goals in tonight’s game than he had in all his prior starts combined. Cam Talbot was decent, but not great, in relief and by then it was already too late.

Generally speaking, you would expect to win the game when you put four goals on the board but that’s not what happened tonight. The Oilers made plenty mistakes and the goalie wasn’t able to bail them out. That’s not exactly a winning combination. Todd McLellan always talks about moving the needle, and you could argue that it moved backward tonight. The Capitals are a better hockey team, but the Oilers gave them way too much credit on the scoreboard by making too many mistakes.

The Oilers will need to bounce back quickly because it doesn’t get any easier with LA rolling in on Sunday.

We wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

the Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov line is hot fire right now. After trailing by a goal early in the first period, it was this line that pulled the Oilers back into it. Pouliot scored his 1st goal of the season off of a nice second effort by Nail Yakupov to get him the puck and he did not make a mistake. McDavid registered a secondary assist on the play after bringing the puck into the zone with speed that only he seems to be able to produce.
Connor McDavid continues to shine as he extends his point streak with another multi-point evening. The precious scored a goal and an assist giving him eight points on the year. Who said adjusting to the NHL was hard? He’s amazing and I don’t care that I’ve said it a million times.
Nail Yakupov extended his scoring streak with the aforementioned assist on Benoit Pouliot’s goal. Who knows where this ConYak duo will go but it sure has been fun to watch.
Nuge was great again tonight. After getting clipped by a skate in the first period he came back to put up two points, including a beautiful goal.
I have to say, I was happy to see Rob Klinkhammer score his first goal of the season. Klinkhammer is obviously fighting above his weight class playing with Hall and Nuge, but he’s doing his best to be productive and tonight he was rewarded for his hard work. Klinkhammer won’t be a permanent fixture on that line but for the time being he’s making it work.
Anton Slepyshev registered his first NHL point tonight with an assist on Nuge’s goal. Slepyshev has been quiet this season but he deserves the shout out for his first point.

THE FACE PALMERS

I was hoping Alex Ovechkin was going to sleep in again this morning. No dice.
Mistakes. Giveaways. Poor reads. Poor life choices.
The Oilers got caught puck watching on the first Capitals goal. To give the Capitals credit, it was a very pretty passing play from Ovi to Oshi to Kuznetsov for the finish. Kuznetsov was an absolute monster tonight. Coming in, all the talk was about Ovi but it was Kuznetsov that ran the Oilers’ show tonight by putting up five points, hat trick included.
Just because Kuznetsov led the Caps in points doesn’t mean that Ovechkin was quiet. He quietly put up two assists tonight.
Anders Nilsson was not the same goalie that we’ve seen earlier in the year. That’s not to say that all of the goals should be pinned on him, but he certainly can play better than his boxscore from tonight. Nilsson finished with 11 saves on 17 shots and a .667 save%. Ugly night.
Cam Talbot came into tonight’s game in a weird spot seeing that Nilsson had already given up six goals. Talbot would certainly like to have Kuznetsov’s hat trick goal back, but aside from that he was solid when called upon.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was clipped by a skate in the first period and missed the first few shifts in the 2nd period. Nuge did come back, but I know he must have been frightened about seeing the doctor about his ouchy.
Andrej Sekera got stuck out of position on the Backstrom breakaway. Sekera found himself too close to the boards which opened a huge hole for Backstrom to break in alone. He made no mistake on the chance.
Justin Schultz leads the Oilers in TOI this season and he did not have a good night. I give Schultz a lot of credit for increasing his compete level early on in this season, but tonight’s game looked more like one from the Eakins era. He needs to be better and he would admit that himself.
Andrew Ference is a hell of a human being, but not what he used to be on the ice. There’s no shame in that, but it wasn’t a great night for the former captain.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD
03:05	WSH	Evgeny Kuznetsov (1) Backhand shot – ASST: T.J. Oshie (3), Alex Ovechkin (3)	1 – 0 WSH
10:59	EDM	Benoit Pouliot (1) Wrist shot – ASST: Nail Yakupov (5), Connor McDavid (3)	1 – 1 Tie
12:07	WSH	PPG – Nicklas Backstrom (4) Snap shot – ASST: John Carlson (6), T.J. Oshie (4)	2 – 1 WSH
15:00	EDM	Rob Klinkhammer (1) Tip-in – ASST: Taylor Hall (3), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1)	2 – 2 Tie
19:39	WSH	Marcus Johansson (2) Tip-in – ASST: Justin Williams (5), Nicklas Backstrom (3)	3 – 2 WSH
2ND PERIOD
00:36	EDM	PPG – Connor McDavid (5) Wrist shot – ASST: Andrej Sekera (4), Mark Letestu (2)	3 – 3 Tie
06:17	WSH	Evgeny Kuznetsov (2) Backhand shot – ASST: John Carlson (7), Brooks Orpik (2)	4 – 3 WSH
09:26	WSH	Andre Burakovsky (2) Wrist shot – ASST: Evgeny Kuznetsov (7), Alex Ovechkin (4)	5 – 3 WSH
11:49	WSH	Justin Williams (1) Tip-in – ASST: Matt Niskanen (3), Evgeny Kuznetsov (8)	6 – 3 WSH
14:42	EDM	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (3) Snap shot – ASST: Anton Slepyshev (1)	6 – 4 WSH
3RD PERIOD
16:59	WSH	PPG – Evgeny Kuznetsov (3) Snap shot – ASST: Andre Burakovsky (3), John Carlson (8)	7 – 4 WSH

BEST OF THE TWEETS

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STREET STORE

What is the Street Store? Street Store will be hosting, in partnership with Boyle Street Community Services, a one-day pop-up shop for the homeless community in Edmonton. The event takes places on tomorrow, October 24, 2015 from 12-5pm with the goal of collecting warm clothing for those in need in our community. The store is intended to give community members a dignified shopping experience while providing them with warm winter clothing.

How can you help?

You can greatly assist this event by donating undergarments or basic hygiene items. These necessary items will be handed out to homeless individuals visiting the store alongside the donated clothing available at the store. Items may include (but are not limited to):

Toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, shampoo, deodorant, lipbalm, feminine hygiene products, underwear, warm socks, razors, shaving cream, and soap.

Want to help but don’t have clothes to donate? Tax receipts will be issued for all donations over $50.