Oilers 4, Capitals 5 In theory it was the Washington Capitals who were shorthanded on Monday night. The Caps had $40 million worth of hockey players…
Finally got the Oilers on the board midway in the second on a brilliant effort, blowing past his man in the slot and deking Lindgren for his 252nd career goal. On the lone Oilers powerplay he just missed the post on a fine chance that was heavily screened. Key moment came on a second period penalty kill when on a clearing opportunity he overskated/overreached a puck in the slot and responded by hooking the Washington player who pounced on it. Had a chance on a 2-on-1 and likely made the right decision to shoot, but waited a split second to long allowing the d-man to get a piece of his shot and take most of the sting off of it. Strome came away with both a clear path to the net and the puck, which he promptly buried for Washington’s only even-strength tally of the night, opening the scoring in the process. Took a while to get going, but emerged in the final 2 periods to post 1-1-2, +3 on the night in 21 minutes of action. Took a careless high-sticking penalty late in the first with Washington scoring on the carry-over in the first minute of the second to establish their first 2-goal lead of the night. Had a horrendous night on the penalty kill, on which he played just 2:50 but was on the ice for 4 goals against. Had a terrific shift on the second period 4-on-4, Earned an assist on a nice 3-way passing sequence that led to McDavid’s goal, and won a key battle in the build-up to Draisaitl’s. Really turned on the jets to win a race to the puck and managed to force it in front where RNH rapped it home for the 3-2. 3 shots, 3 hits, and a number of good short passes that found #97 on the move. Couldn’t get his shot through the high defender when it was desperately needed late in the third, and took a high-sticking penalty in the aftermath that produced the game winning goal just 30 seconds later.