Oilers Gameday – @ Capitals

The Oilers conclude a four game road trip tonight looking to hit the break even mark in Washington against the Capitals. It’ll also be Edmonton’s final game before the All-Star break, which comes up this weekend. This is the second and final meeting between the Oilers and Capitals this season.

Edmonton enters tonight with a healthy lineup, while the Capitals are also coming in at full strength health wise.

Ben Scrivens is expected to get the start tonight for Edmonton, while Braden Holtby will likely get the go for the Capitals.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers were in Florida to battle the Panthers on Saturday night in a pretty entertaining hockey game. The sides played an even first period, each recording over ten shots, but no one could find the back of the net.

Jordan Eberle finally opened the scoring 3:35 into the middle frame with a quick wrist shot, but Erik Gudbranson and Jonathan Huberdeau would each score goals to put the Panthers on top 2-1 after forty minutes. Gudbranson’s goal came just over two minutes after Eberle’s marker.

Edmonton got into penalty trouble in the third, but it mattered not as Matt Hendricks scored a short-handed goal to tie the game and force overtime at the 6:32 mark. OT solved nothing, and the sides went to a shoot-out.

Nail Yakupov scored on the first shot of the shoot-out, while Viktor Fasth was a perfect 3-for-3 to give Edmonton a 3-2 victory on the road, their first in 14 tries as the visitor.

Washington: The Caps were in Dallas for a shootout of their own on Saturday night, only this shoot-out was a little different, seeing nine goals in sixty minutes. Dallas got going early, as Tyler Seguin and Erik Cole each scored in the first period to put Dallas up a pair after 20.

Jason Spezza would make it 3-0 Stars just 4:13 into the second, but Washington would bounce back with an Eric Fehr marker under a minute later. Andre Burakovsky would add a goal late, setting up a classic third period.

Just 21 second into the third, Alex Ovechkin would tie things up with a goal, but Dallas would score two goals in 16 seconds, one from Antoine Roussel and another from Jamie Benn, to go up a pair. Nicklas Backstrom would add a marker late, but it was nothing more than a stat padder as the Stars hung on to win 5-4.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Capitals met back in October in Edmonton in an early season battle. Edmonton struck first, just 6:53 in, as Justin Schultz fired home a goal. The Caps would answer back quickly however, as John Carlson would score a power-play goal four minutes later.

In the second period, Mike Green gave the Caps a brief lead before Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nikita Nikitin would put Edmonton up late in the second for good.

Ben Scrivens would hold the fort in the third, giving the Oilers a 3-2 victory on home ice.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers F Boyd Gordon has had some success against his former club offensively, including a goal last season when the sides met in Washington. Gordon has been playing some terrific defensive hockey this year, and is due for a goal. I’ll say he gets one tonight against the team that drafted him.

Washington: Alex Ovechkin is back baby. OV has been sensational this season, buying in with new coach Barry Trotz, and scoring at his usual clip. Much is made about Ovechkin’s shortcomings, but he’s a sensational scorer. Keep a close eye on him tonight, these guys usually kill the Oil.

Quick Hits:

Edmonton is 4-4-2 since Todd Nelson took over the bench solo. The Capitals are an outstanding 12-2-1 in their last 15 against the Oilers at home. Boyd Gordon was originally a first round draft pick of the Washington Capitals, while Matt Hendricks is a former member of the team as well.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Benoit Pouliot – Derek Roy – Nail Yakupov

Matt Fraser – Anton Lander – Teddy Purcell

Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Rob Klinkhammer

Nikita Nikitin – Mark Fayne

Oscar Klefbom – Jeff Petry

Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz

Ben Scrivens

Washington Capitals Lines:

Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Andre Burakovsky

Marcus Johansson – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Troy Brouwer

Brooks Laich – Eric Fehr – Joel Ward

Jason Chimera – Jay Beagle – Tom Wilson

Brooks Orpik – John Carlson

Karl Alzner – Matt Niskanen

Jack Hillen – Mike Green

Braden Holtby