Two teams riding high with confidence will face off against each other tonight at Rexall as the Oilers try to extend their winning streak to the four the Capitals currently are running.
A pair of Russian forwards will be getting all the headlines as Alex Ovechkin and Nail Yakupov have been the hottest players for their teams.
The Oilers had one look at Andrew Miller on the top line before deciding he wasn’t a good fit, and they assigned Miller to Bakersfield and recalled RW Iiro Pakarinen. Pakarinen is a big body that showed he can play decent in the NHL last year with 17 games where he scored a goal, two assists and three points. It hasn’t been confirmed whether or not Pakarinen will be in the lineup tonight.
Backup goalie Anders Nilsson will face off against Capitals’ backup Philip Grubauer
Last Games:
Edmonton: The Oilers broke a winless streak against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday, defeating the club with a 3-1 effort.
The Oilers came out firing on all cylinders and got on the board courtesy of the power play. Nail Yakupov took a breakout feed pass from Justin Schultz before slowing things down as he gained possession in the offensive zone. Yakupov held the puck just enough to open a clean space to pass it in front to Mark Letestu. Letestu got a stick and a skate on the puck, directing it past Petr Mrazek at 12:32 of the first period.
In the second frame, the Oiler faithful got to witness some of that McDavid magic. Nail Yakupov made a nice chip out of the defensive zone to send Benoit Pouliot and Connor McDavid off on a two-on-two. Pouliot held possession into the offensive zone as McDavid out skated the Detroit defender before receiving a swift pass and absolutely undressing Mrazek for the 2-0 lead at 6:34 of the period.
30 seconds later, the third line of Purcell-Lander-Korpikoski went on a rush, as Teddy Purcell fired the puck on the net. The rebound was to hot too handle for Petr Mrazek and with Anton Lander rushing the net, the puck deflected of the Red Wing’s d-man to give the Oilers a commanding 3-0 lead heading into the their period.
Cam Talbot stood his ground and kept the Oilers in the game after they continued to take penalty after penalty. Tomas Tatar was finally able to convert for Detroit by picking up a rebound of Gustav Nyquist’s to ruin Talbot’s bid for a shutout at 6:49 of the final frame.
The Oilers held off the Red Wings the rest of the way en route to their third straight victory to be 3-4-0 on the season.
Washington: The Caps are coming off a come-from-behind victory against the Vancouver Canucks last night, with a 3-2 victory.
The Capitals and Canucks traded chances early in the first, but it was Jason Chimera who would score the game’s first goal, connecting on a 2-on-1 with Jay Beagle at 15:10 of the first period. Shortly afterward, Alex Ovechkin would get a terrific chance on another 2-on-1 but Ryan Miller would stand strong to keep the score at one.
In the second period, the Sedin’s went to work with last season’s line mate Radim Vrbata. The Sedin’s controlled the play and Vrbata went to the front of the net before seeing a puck rattle off his skate from a wrap-around pass from Henrik and into the net to tie the game at one 4:14 into the period.
Ten minutes later, the Sedin’s went to work on the power play and Henrik Sedin fired home a short side one-timer on a pass from brother Daniel. Vrbata picked up the other assist. The goal was scored at 14:01 of the second period.
In the third period, the Capitals started to push back to attempt to tie the game. After Ovechkin was robbed on another one-timer, the Capitals pressed and Jay Beagle deflected a point shot from John Carlson at 5:42 of the final frame to tie the game at two.
With time dwindling down in the third period, Dmitri Orlov fired up a hail-mart pass to Evgeny Kuznetsov to send him on a 2-on-1 with Alex Ovechkin. Setting up a perfect one-timer, Ovechkin would not be denied this time as the Capital’s captain put away his 5th of the season with an absolute bomb at 15:05 of the period.
The Canucks were unable to tie it up, and the Capitals won their fourth straight game following Ovechkin’s unfortunate absence due to a pm/am fiasco.
Last Meeting:
This is the first matchup between the Capitals and Oilers this season.
The Oilers actually swept the season series last year, defeating the Capital’s 3-2 in October, and 5-4 in the shootout in January. According to Jack Michael’s twitter, the Oilers have even won nine of 11 at home against the Caps.
Keys To The Game:
Edmonton: Staying out of the box. While the Oilers currently have the best penalty kill in the NHL, Todd McLellan warned that if they take as many penalties as they did against the Red Wings, then they would have hell to pay. The Capital’s power play is currently third in the league at 27.8% and boasts the likes of Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and of course Alex Ovechkin.
Washington: Weather the storm. It’s always important for a road team (especially one that played the night before) play simple to start the game and keep the home team scoreless throughout the first ten minutes. The Oilers have showed they can score from the outset, and can run away with games if given the chance. The Caps will have to lean on Grubauer and hope the Oilers don’t start them off in a hole.
Players To Watch:
Edmonton: Nail Yakupov is off to a great start for the Oilers, and he has actually been the fuel in the engine on his line with Connor McDavid and Benoit Pouliot. He’s making the right plays in the defensive zone and he’s getting to the areas where he can score in the offensive zone. With countryman Ovechkin in the opponent’s silks, Yakupov may have yet another hitch in his step tonight.
Washington: The Oiler’s have seen a lot of TJ Oshie throughout his time with Blues, but he looks even more dangerous with his new club. Oshie has found some chemistry with Alex Ovechkin and the Oiler’s will have to pay special attention to the entire line.
Lineups:
Edmonton Oilers:
Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Rob Klinkhammer
Benoit Pouliot – Connor McDavid – Nail Yakupov
Lauri Korpikoski – Anton Lander – Teddy Purcell
Luke Gazdic – Mark Letestu – Anton Slepyshev
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz
Andrew Ference – Eric Gryba
Anders Nilsson
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – TJ Oshie
Marcus Johansson – Nicklas Backstrom – Justin Williams
Jason Chimera – Jay Beagle – Tom Wilson
Andre Burakovsky – Chandler Stephenson – Brooks Laich
Brooks Orpik – John Carlson
Karl Alzner – Matt Niskanen
Dmitri Orlov – Taylor Chorney
Philip Grubauer
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