What. A. Game.

On Saturday evening, the Edmonton Oilers took on the Washington Capitals for the second and final time this season. After losing the first game 7-4, the Oilers defeated the Capitals 6-5 in one of the most entertaining games of the season. Let’s take a look at what happened in this one!

Although the Oilers had a ton of chances throughout the first period, it took them until the final minute of the opening frame to get on the board. The Oilers won a puck battle in the corner, Zach Hyman passed it to Mattias Ekholm at the point, who passed it over to Evan Bouchard. He ripped a wrist shot past Charlie Lindgren, going bar-down in the process for the 1-0 lead, kicking off what would be a three-goal, six-point night.

Unfortunately, that lead lasted just 22 seconds. After getting the zone entry, the Capitals were able to get the puck to a trailing Rasmus Sandin. His initial shot was stopped by Connor Ingram, the first shot of the game for the Capitals, but Aliaksei Protas was able to bang in the rebound to tie the game heading into the first intermission.

Four minutes into the second period, the Oilers restored their lead. It was Bouchard again, as Hyman set a strong screen and Bouchard beat Lindgren, despite the netminder attempting to throw his trapper at the puck.

Again, that lead didn’t last for the Oilers, as the Capitals tied it less than three minutes later. It was another rush goal for the Capitals, as Justin Sourdiff broke into the zone, looked as if he was passing it, ripping it past Ingram high-glove to make it 2-2.

With about five and a half minutes left in the second period, the Capitals took their first lead of the game. Anthony Beauvillier attempted to pass it across the net, but the puck took a deflection off Spencer Stastny’s skate and went through Ingram’s five-hole to make it 3-2 heading into the third period.

The Oilers tied the game on four-on-four action. Once again, it was Bouchard, as the defenceman scored four and a half minutes into the third period. He was given way too much time to get his shot off, ripping it off the post and in.

Unsurprisingly, the Capitals answered right back, as Dylan Strome broke the deadlock 130 seconds after Bouchard’s hat trick goal. Connor McDavid’s former teammate with the Erie Otters ripped it off the post and in.

The Oilers received a power play, and then they scored on the said power play midway through the third. Like Bouchard’s third goal, McDavid was given far too much time to shoot in a high-danger area, beating Lindgren from the faceoff dot for his 31st goal of the season. Bouchard picked up an assist on this goal.

After the Capitals made it 5-4, the Oilers found a way. You knew this game was going to be exciting down the stretch, and with the net pulled and tons of pressure, the Oilers scored the game-tying goal with about half a minute left. McDavid got the puck to the front of the net, and Hyman did the rest to poke it home.

The Oilers capped off the comeback in overtime. Bouchard jumped high to grab the puck, was tripped, but was able to find McDavid for the breakaway. The best player of all-time made no mistake to win the game.

On January 14, 2006, Marc-André Bergeron scored all three goals in a 5-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators. It was the last time an Oiler defenceman scored a hat trick until Evan Bouchard did it on Saturday. He’s simply one of the best defenders in the league. Bouchard also picked up three assists and had a terrific zone keep in the dying seconds of the third period. The last time an Oiler defenceman had a six-point game was 40 years ago.

This was the Oilers’ third consecutive game where they faced a team playing in the second game of a back-to-back. Both the New Jersey Devils (Tuesday) and Pittsburgh Penguins (Thursday) played the Calgary Flames the night before, winning that game. The Capitals also played the Flames the night before, defeating the other Albertan team 3-1, but thankfully, the Oilers were able to pick up both points in this one.

Part of that is thanks to a full 60 minutes (plus overtime). They got off to a good start in the first period, as both Isaac Howard and Vasily Podkolzin had breakaways that were stuffed by Lindgren, while Matthew Savoie had a great chance early in the first. The Oilers were less than a minute away from keeping the opposition shotless in a period for the first time in franchise history.

Savoie in general had a solid game, especially in the first half. On top of that strong chance, Savoie drew a penalty and was just solid all around. Him and Howard are starting to develop some chemistry, but the line of those two and Jack Roslovic owned 24.51 percent of the expected goals during five-on-five action. It may be time to break up that line and put the rookies with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

It looks like the Oilers have finally figured out their fourth line. Aside from Curtis Lazar’s double-minor for high sticking, that line had 65.59 percent of the expected goals during five-on-five action, attempting eight shots to the opponents two.

It hasn’t happened often since he’s been called up, but Connor Ingram finished the game with a sub-.900 save percentage. Allowing three goals on 12 shots, it’s just the second time in 10 games that Ingram has finished with a save percentage below 90%. Ingram was pulled and Tristan Jarry stopped 13 of the 15 shots he faced, a slightly better outing than Thursday.

The officials were whistle happy in this game. Overall, the two teams combined for 24 penalty minutes, with both teams going 20% on their five power plays. However, the Capitals’ game-winning goal was scored shortly after a power play ended.

This was the fourth game of an eight-game home stand. That home stand continues on Monday, as the Oilers host the Ducks with a start time of 6:30 PM MT on Prime Hockey.