“It might have been Pro’s best game as a Washington Capital,” Coach Peter Laviolette mentioned of Protas, whom Laviolette praised for his defensive efforts towards the Oilers’ prime line.
Washington improved to 11-12-4 general and 2-2-1 in its previous 5 video games. The Capitals conclude their six-game journey Wednesday in Philadelphia. They completed with a whopping 50 photographs on goal Monday and improved to 11-1-1 when scoring not less than thrice to finish a season sweep of the Oilers following a raucous 5-4 win Nov. 7 at Capital One Arena. Edmonton fell to 14-12-0.
“That was big,” Dowd mentioned. “We needed something positive to happen there. It’s been a tough road trip.”
Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 28 saves. He was in internet after beginning netminder Darcy Kuemper suffered an upper-body harm in Saturday’s loss at Calgary. Kuemper is listed as day-to-day.
The banged-up Capitals had a couple of extra harm scares Monday. Forward Marcus Johansson missed time within the first interval for undisclosed causes however performed his regular minutes for the remainder of the sport. Defenseman Erik Gustafsson took a tough crosscheck to the physique and briefly went to the dressing room late within the second however rapidly returned to the bench.
Washington performed one in every of its greatest first intervals of the season however ended up with nothing to point out for it. The Capitals racked up 22 photographs on goal and shut down the Oilers’ highflying prime line. The solely factor lacking was a goal — Skinner held agency within the crease. The Capitals had eight photographs on goal throughout their first energy play, however Skinner turned all of them away.
“We did the right things in the first period, and we had gotten away from that in the last couple games,” Laviolette mentioned. “The game had been dictated by the opponent, and I thought we did a good job [Monday] of trying to push it and trying to control the pace.”
Defenseman Brett Kulak gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead on some extent shot by means of site visitors at 1:44 of the second interval. The Capitals’ Lars Eller tied it at 7:25 with a pleasant particular person play. Robbed twice within the first interval, Eller bought the puck on their lonesome in entrance after a pleasant feed from Sonny Milano and scored after some nifty stickhandling. It was his fourth goal of the season.
“It felt like, on our line, we’ve had opportunities to score one, two goals in so many games, and we haven’t been rewarded. … It felt like it was coming, and I think that we have a lot more to give still — but always a good feeling to get on the board,” Eller mentioned.
Oilers celebrity Connor McDavid put Edmonton up once more at 15:25: He took benefit of a turnover by defenseman John Carlson and blitzed down the ice for a shorthanded breakaway goal. Just earlier than the person benefit expired, T.J. Oshie answered at 16:55 with a one-timer from the slot, setting the stage for Dowd’s game-winner within the third.
“We gave everything we had, and it was enough today,” Eller mentioned.
Here’s what else to know in regards to the Capitals’ win:
Given the harm to Kuemper, the Capitals recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from the Hershey Bears, their American Hockey League affiliate. Shepard was Lindgren’s backup towards the Oilers.
Shepard, 27, was 6-0-2 for Hershey and was named the AHL’s goaltender of the month for November with a 6-0-0 file. He has a 1.83 objectives towards common and a .932 save share however has but to make his NHL debut.
Defenseman Martin Fehervary was positioned on injured reserve after he suffered an upper-body harm Saturday towards Calgary. Players on injured reserve need to miss not less than seven days, so Fehervary won’t be eligible to return any sooner than Sunday at Winnipeg.
Fehervary was harm within the second interval when he was hit alongside the boards by bodily Flames ahead Milan Lucic. Fehervary sported a sling on his left arm after the sport towards Calgary however didn’t have one on Monday evening.
Defenseman Dmitry Orlov missed his 14th straight recreation, persevering with a protracted stint on injured reserve with a lower-body harm. Orlov has been making progress up to now week however has but to be medically cleared. General Manager Brian MacLellan mentioned over the weekend that Orlov’s harm has been arduous to diagnose and deal with.